Will U.S. get a Space National Guard?

WASHINGTON — The United States has a new military service, the Space Force, but it has never been clear whether or not the country will also have a Space Guard and Reserve.

Many observers on Capitol Hill were hoping the Pentagon would have clarified the question by now. But a Feb. 3 report to Congress on the Space Force organizational plan — written by the Air Force, which oversees the Space Force — did not offer any answers.

And now, a draft Defense Department legislative proposal that is supposed to cover integrating the “active and reserve” elements of the Space Force into U.S. law also does not resolve the matter, according to officials familiar with the document.

The report is said to be sitting in Defense Secretary Mark T. Esper’s inbox. The legislative blueprint, required by the fiscal 2020 defense authorization law, was due to Congress last week.

Instead of answering the Space Guard question right away, leaders of the Space Force and of the Air Force are instead launching an in-depth study of the options, Air Force officials say.

Yet another report to Congress — on personnel management issues pertaining to the Space Force — is due March 19. But it will almost certainly not answer the question either, officials acknowledge.

Into this void Congress may step.

The National Guard and many of its staunchest advocates on Capitol Hill are impatient to capitalize on the momentum of the Space Force’s launch, and they want to move faster to create a Space Guard as soon as possible.

These lawmakers include Democratic Rep. Tim Ryan of Ohio and Republican Rep. Steven M. Palazzo of Mississippi, the cochairs of the House Guard and Reserve Caucus, which comprises about one-third of the chamber.