‘Space Force’ wrong approach to real challenge

Such a move would needlessly expand the military bureaucracy and budget, while at the same time being unnecessarily provocative.

It would be great if world leaders, including our own, could be expending resources and energy on using space exploration as a unifying pursuit, with treaty obligations in place to prevent the militarization of this “final frontier.” Alas, that rocket blasted off long ago. The reality is that since humans first accessed space beginning in the 1950s, gaining a military advantage has been a major priority. It is no surprise, perhaps, given the nature and history of humanity.

Satellites play a critical part in supporting intelligence gathering and guiding military operations. They are vital to everyday communication, commerce and travel. Disrupting or destroying these communication links would upset social order and economic functions, which makes them prime targets if war were to again escalate to a global scale.

In 2007, China destroyed a nonfunctioning weather satellite in a test run for taking war into space. China’s research has continued toward targeting satellites in high orbit, which would make military space assets vulnerable.

Russia, which led the expansion into space (U.S. astronauts depend on Russian rockets to get them to the International Space Station) has made no secret of its interest in military applications.

It would be foolhardy for the United States military not to prepare for the possibility of war expanding to space, as discouraging and frightening as that may sound. The potential for the U.S. to respond in kind to an attack provides deterrent value, as has proved the case with nuclear weapons, at least for seven decades.

But the United States does not need an added branch of the military — a “Space Force” — as the Trump administration is proposing. Such a move would needlessly expand the military bureaucracy and budget, while at the same time being unnecessarily provocative.

The nation already has a section of the U.S. Air Force dedicated “to provid(ing) resilient, defendable and affordable space capabilities for the Air Force, Joint Force and the Nation.” And it is nothing new.

In 1985, Congress created the U.S. Space Command. In 2002, it merged into the U.S. Strategic Command. Today, within the Strategic Command, is the Air Force Space Command.

It could be argued that more resources should be devoted or diverted to military capabilities in space. If Congress sees it that way, it should pursue the more sensible course of working within the existing command structure, rather than developing a new military branch that adds to operational overhead.

The Trump administration should also do what it can to discourage military expansion into space, enforcing and potentially building upon the Outer Space Treaty negotiated in 1967 and signed by 107 nations, including the space exploring nations.

The 1967 treaty prohibited the placing of weapons of mass destruction into orbit or on any other celestial body. It prohibits military bases or weapons testing on the moon or other planets. And governments can’t take natural resources from the moon and other planets.

President Trump brings too much glee to the prospects of developing and deploying his “Space Force,” rather than approaching the subject with the cautious calculating it deserves. This is not a sci-fi thriller. This is reality.