Lamborn seeks military branch for satellites

COLORADO SPRINGS» Pulling the nation’s military satellites into a separate space service could shred Pentagon red tape and bring another fourstarred military headquarters to Colorado Springs, Republican U.S. Rep. Doug Lamborn told The Gazette.

The space corps plan was a late-night addition to the House Armed Services Committee’s 2018 spending plan and goes against the wishes of Pentagon brass who want to keep space missions under the Air Force umbrella. Lamborn contends that the Air Force and the Pentagon are paying too little attention to rising dangers in orbit.

“We need to organize space in such a way that it has more prominence,” Lamborn said Friday in a phone interview from Washington.

Lamborn admits he’s seldom opposed Air Force leaders who have criticized the space force plan. But he said growing American dependence on military satellites combined with growing enemy capability to shoot those satellites out of orbit justify his decision.

Before the Pentagon starts changing its stationery, the space corps idea must face a full House vote and consideration in the Senate, where several lawmakers already have expressed skepticism.

The idea for a standalone space branch of the military has been gaining steam since April, when Alabama U.S. Rep. Mike Rodgers pushed the idea at the Space Symposium in Colorado Springs.

In committee hearings on the 2018 defense budget, Rogers swayed colleagues.

“The intent is to ensure a senior military official can focus on and is responsible for training and equipping for operations in space and, likewise, for any future war fighting in this critical domain,” the committee said in a news release.

The military’s efforts in space now mainly fall under Air Force Space Command in Colorado Springs.