{"id":38374,"date":"2018-08-03T21:28:54","date_gmt":"2018-08-03T21:28:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/uncategorized\/2018\/08\/03\/pentagon-redoing-space-defenses-but-will-trump-demand-more\/"},"modified":"2026-08-07T23:02:25","modified_gmt":"2026-08-07T23:02:25","slug":"pentagon-redoing-space-defenses-but-will-trump-demand-more","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/space\/2018\/08\/03\/pentagon-redoing-space-defenses-but-will-trump-demand-more\/","title":{"rendered":"Pentagon redoing space defenses, but will Trump demand more?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">WASHINGTON \u2014 President Donald Trump wants a Space Force, a new military service he says is needed to ensure American dominance in space. But the idea is gaining little traction at the Pentagon, where the president\u2019s defense chief, Jim Mattis, says it would add burdensome bureaucracy and unwanted costs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Pentagon acknowledges a need to revamp its much-criticized approach to defending U.S. economic and security interests in space, and it is moving in that direction. But it\u2019s unclear whether this will satisfy Trump, who wants to go even further by creating a separate military space service.<\/p>\n\n\n\t<aside class=\"smg-interstitial-link wp-block-smg-interstitial-link\">\n\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/space\/2018\/08\/02\/one-possible-job-for-spacexs-bfr-taking-the-air-forces-cargo-in-and-out-of-space\/\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__inner\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__media\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"169\" src=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/moon-bfr.jpg.jpg?w=300\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__image wp-post-image\" alt=\"\" \/>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__content\">\n\t\t\t\t<span class=\"smg-interstitial-link__kicker\">Related<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t<h3 class=\"smg-interstitial-link__title\">One possible job for SpaceX\u2019s BFR rocket? Taking the Air Force\u2019s cargo in and out of space.<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"smg-interstitial-link__excerpt\">Air Mobility Command is interested in partnering up with companies like SpaceX and Blue Origin for faster ways to transport its equipment.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/aside>\n\t\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The administration intends to announce next week the results of a Pentagon study that is expected to call for creating a new military command \u2014 U.S. Space Command \u2014 to consolidate space warfighting forces and making other organizational changes short of establishing a separate service, which only Congress can do. Any legislative proposal to create a separate service would likely not be put on the table until next year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Mattis, who said prior to Trump\u2019s \u201cSpace Force\u201d announcement in June that he opposes creating a new branch of the military for space, said afterward that this would require \u201ca lot of detailed planning.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\t<aside class=\"smg-interstitial-link wp-block-smg-interstitial-link\">\n\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/newsletters\/military-space-report\/2018\/08\/01\/gao-thinks-hosted-payloads-are-a-good-idea-for-dod\/\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__inner\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__media\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" src=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/4049586.jpg.jpg?w=300\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__image wp-post-image\" alt=\"\" \/>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__content\">\n\t\t\t\t<span class=\"smg-interstitial-link__kicker\">Related<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t<h3 class=\"smg-interstitial-link__title\">GAO thinks hosted payloads are a good idea for DoD<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"smg-interstitial-link__excerpt\">The GAO found that government payloads launched aboard commercial satellites saved money, achieved on-orbit capability faster and increased deterrence and resilience, but throughout the Department of Defense, there is fragmented knowledge about the practice.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/aside>\n\t\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Mattis is allied on this with key Republicans on Capitol Hill including Sen. James Inhofe, a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee who opposes a separate Space Force but is open to creating a Space Command. The command would coordinate the use of space forces of existing services, such as those that operate military satellites, but would not be a separate service.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Mattis\u2019s chief spokeswoman, Dana W. White, said Friday he believes that consolidating space functions will \u201censure we move at the speed of relevancy. Space is a joint warfighting domain that the U.S. must dominate.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\t<aside class=\"smg-interstitial-link wp-block-smg-interstitial-link\">\n\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/congress\/2018\/07\/26\/us-defense-policy-bill-clears-house-rockets-to-senate\/\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__inner\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__media\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"169\" src=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/ARM-Hunter_oped-0723.jpg.jpg?w=300\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__image wp-post-image\" alt=\"\" \/>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__content\">\n\t\t\t\t<span class=\"smg-interstitial-link__kicker\">Related<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t<h3 class=\"smg-interstitial-link__title\">US defense policy bill clears House, rockets to Senate<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"smg-interstitial-link__excerpt\">U.S. Senate lawmakers are expected to finalize Congress\u2019 annual defense authorization bill early next week following the House\u2019s passage of the measure Thursday.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/aside>\n\t\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Trump mentioned as recently as Tuesday that he had ordered the Pentagon to begin the process of creating a Space Force as a new branch of the military, but he did not repeat the phrase he used in June \u2014 a \u201cseparate but equal\u201d service. That may open the possibility of the Pentagon proposing to establish a cadre of space experts that would be part of a space \u201ccorps\u201d attached to the Air Force rather than as a separate service.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Trump\u2019s focus on this has generated an unusual level of talk about space, but with little clarity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cAt the moment, there is no concrete proposal on the table for what a Space Force will look like or what it will do,\u201d said Brian Weeden, an Air Force veteran who is director of program planning at the Secure World Foundation, which promotes peaceful uses of outer space. \u201cIt\u2019s just sort of a notional concept.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Weeden points out that creating a new service would not address what is generally seen as a need for a more coherent force to defend U.S. interests in space, since by law a service recruits, trains and equips troops but does not do combat. That is why a Space Command is being considered, since it would be the combat arm for space much as Central Command is the organization responsible for combat operations in the Middle East.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Aside from the organizational issues, the Pentagon\u2019s role in space is under scrutiny because of a recognition that the United States is increasingly reliant on satellites that are difficult to protect in space. Satellites provide communications, navigation, intelligence and other services vital to the military and the economy. Whereas space has long been America\u2019s technological edge, it is increasingly seen as its Achilles&#8217; heel.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">War in space is not just Hollywood fiction. The U.S. intelligence agencies reported earlier this year that Russia and China are pursuing \u201cnondestructive and destructive\u201d anti-satellite weapons for use during a future war.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">A related problem that the Pentagon has struggled to address is the sluggish pace of developing and acquiring satellites through the Air Force Space and Missile Systems Center, which could be replaced by a new space development agency.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In an interim report to Congress in March on ways to reorganize its space organizations, the Pentagon said it is making changes to \u201censure that we are prepared for\u201d potential conflicts in space. This includes making satellites more resilient to potential attack by Russia or China.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Deborah James, who was the civilian leader of the Air Force for the final three years of the Obama administration, said at a think tank forum Monday that creating a separate Space Force does not address the legitimate concerns about U.S. space defenses. One of the criticisms of the Air Force, which is the primary service responsible for military satellites, is that it devotes too little money and attention to space.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cIf money is your issue, Space Force is not your answer,\u201d she said. If the logic of creating a separate space service were applied broadly, she said, it would imply other radical changes such as creating a single nuclear service by combining management of the strategic nuclear weapons of the Air Force and Navy, which no one is considering.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><i>Associated Press reporter Lolita C. Baldor contributed to this report.<\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>President Donald Trump wants a Space Force, a new military service he says is needed to ensure American dominance in space. But the idea is gaining little traction at the Pentagon, where the president\u2019s defense chief, Jim Mattis, says it would add burdensome bureaucracy and unwanted costs.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":77979,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-noindex":"","_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-nofollow":"","_yoast_wpseo_canonical":"","_acf":"","_yoast_wpseo_primary_category":23,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_smg_distribution_targets":{"2":{"categories":["pentagon-congress","news","left-column","home","middle-column"],"primary_category":"pentagon-congress"},"4":{"categories":["pentagon-congress","news","daily-news-roundup","newsletters","left-column","home"],"primary_category":"pentagon-congress"},"5":{"categories":["pentagon-congress","news","middle-column","home","daily-news-roundup","newsletters"],"primary_category":"pentagon-congress"},"6":{"categories":["pentagon-congress","news","middle-column","home","daily-news-roundup","newsletters"],"primary_category":"pentagon-congress"},"7":{"categories":["pentagon-congress","news","daily-news-roundup","newsletters","middle-column","home"],"primary_category":"pentagon-congress"}}},"categories":[19,23],"tags":[],"coauthors":[2531],"class_list":["post-38374","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-pentagon","category-space"],"acf":{"subheadline":"","legacy_arc_id":"AZ2XKWLVVJDZDNC7WG5FDI6DGY","arc_canonical_url":"\/space\/2018\/08\/03\/pentagon-redoing-space-defenses-but-will-trump-demand-more\/","remove_feature_photo":false,"is_sponsored":false,"subtype":"","redirect_url":"","disable_inline_ads":false,"native_logo_pretext":"Presented By:"},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v26.0 (Yoast SEO v28.1) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Pentagon redoing space defenses, but will Trump demand more? - Defense News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"President Donald Trump wants a Space Force, a new military service he says is needed to ensure American dominance in space. 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