Does America Need a Military "Space Corps"?
Join us and tell your reps how you feel!
The Air Force is poised to fly even farther, with the possible addition of a new, U.S. "Space Corps."
A key House subcommittee approved a measure to create the program. Its mission: protect America, and American assets, from threats occurring beyond Earth’s atmosphere. "Assets" include imaging and communications equipment, spy satellites, and other military gear in the stratosphere and beyond.
The measure has bipartisan support. During consideration of the program in a House Armed Services subcommittee, Congressman Mike Rogers (R-AL) warned,
"It has been painfully apparent from the briefings we’ve gotten from our general officers that both Russia and China have nearly caught us in space capabilities."
But some in the military, including the Secretary of Defense himself, General James Mattis, think it’s premature to launch a new program.
The Air Force already has a Space Command wing; adding the Space Corps would create "a separate military service responsible for national security space programs for which the Air Force is today responsible." Think of it the way the Marine Corps functions within the Navy. Or Starfleet operates within the United Federation of Planets. The Space Corps would be led by its own chief, who’d have a spot on the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
This week Secretary Mattis voiced his opposition to the idea in a letter to like-minded Congressman Michael Turner (R-OH).
"I strongly urge Congress to reconsider the proposal of a separate service Space Corps." Mattis continued, “I believe it is premature to add additional organization and administrative tail to the department at a time I am trying to reduce overhead.”
The Air Force also doesn’t want it. Secretary Heather Wilson told Turner in a letter that the Space Corps,
"...would create additional seams between the services, disrupt ongoing efforts to establish a warfighting culture and new capabilities, and require costly duplication of personnel and resources.”
Cost is another concern. The Trump administration’s proposed budget asks for $7.7 billion to increase space systems within the Air Force. That’s independent of the $19.1 billion earmarked for NASA, which is a civilian agency. The projected pricetag of a Space Corps has not been announced.
Beyond the question of whether the U.S. needs a military presence in space, some see an echo of "Star Wars," President Ronald Reagan’s failed Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI). That program was intended to defend the U.S. from long-range Soviet missiles. But SDI proved to be too costly, its technology too complex, and later administrations scrapped most of its work.
Another question: with a burgeoning commercial space industry, is a new government program really necessary? The Pentagon already works with satellite imaging company DigitalGlobe and the private, cosmo-juggernaut SpaceX. In the last decade, the lines between commercial, military and scientific exploration of space have become increasingly blurred.
(Writer's Note: The one thing all parties seem to agree on? Astronaut ice cream needs some new flavors. Perhaps "Pentagon Peanut Butter," or “Cosmic Cookie-Dough.”)
Do you think the U.S. should establish a Space Corps within the military? Should the Pentagon consider commercial space options instead? Does America need a military presence in space? Hit the Take Action button and tell your Reps!
--Josh Herman
(Photo Credit: U.S. Department of Defense)
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