USAF Secretary Heather Wilson announced in a memo on 14 September that the cost in the first five years would be to the tune of US$12.9 billion (Eur10.9 billion). As per President Trump’s desire for a military arm whose scope encompasses the security of space, she proposed that the Pentagon seek the authority and funding from Congress for a Space Force headquarters by 2020. Adding to this, she hearkened back to the days of the early space race against the Soviet Union, saying that a “strategic competition with Russia and China” is the focus of their approach to this plan. Such an undertaking has also not been seen since the dawn of the Cold War with the establishment of the Air Force as an independent military service in 1947. The issue of operational matters such as the increased overhead costs and doubling up of specialist personnel as part of a new branch were key points raised by senior members initially against the idea, most notably US Secretary of Defense James Mattis. His clarification of his earlier stance and support for the plan has been labelled as “back-tracking” and “face-saving”. Mattis’ concerns however are neither new or unshared, the plan for a Space Force had already been resisted by the Air Force prior to Trump’s rally on March 13. Perhaps the strongest driver for an independent Space Force is the development of China and Russia’s capabilities as well as the advancements made by the private sector at the hands of SpaceX, Virgin Galactic and Boeing, to name a few. The Pentagon’s top engineer, Michael Griffith, accused Moscow and Beijing of weaponizing space and reiterated Washington’s policy of preventing their peers of eclipsing them and to work on projecting their national power on their adversaries. As the international space race picks up momentum again, the Outer Space Treaty will enter the debate and will likely need amendment or become obselete altogether.
Trump’s Space Force cost announced, top brass on board
