Trump renews his plan for Space Force

Initiative is unlikely to get approval in Congress

President Donald Trump relaunched his call for a Space Force on Monday, and at a National Space Council meeting, he directed the Pentagon to create a new command in the Defense Department ASAP.

One problem: Congress needs to sign off on the plan first – and it probably won’t any time soon.

“It is not enough merely to have an American presence in space; we must have American dominance in space. So important,” the president said.

Trump said he would direct the Pentagon “to immediately begin the process necessary to establish a Space Force as the sixth branch of the armed services.”

“We are going to have the Air Force, and we are going to have the Space Force,” Trump said.

He instructed Marine Gen. Joseph Dunford, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, to carry out the assignment.

“Separate but equal. It is going to be something,” the president said.

Several times and as recently as last month, the president has promoted the idea of a fighting force dedicated to defending the United States and its interests in Earth’s orbit and beyond.

The proposal has languished in Congress. Last month, the House of Representatives rejected a plan that would have carved out space-related combat functions from the Air Force.

The president needs congressional authorization to approve the move and cover the costs of such a realignment.

Sen. Bill Nelson, D-Fla., a leading voice on space issues in Congress, wrote in a tweet shortly after the president’s comments that “now is NOT the time to rip the Air Force apart. Too many important missions at stake.”

There’s consensus among lawmakers that it’s time to grant special attensince

POOL PHOTO BY OLIVIER DOULIERY President Donald Trump gives a pen to astronaut Buzz Aldrin after signing an order to re-establish the National Space Council on June 30, 2017. On Monday, Trump called for “American dominance in space.”