Joe Biden – What will Joe Biden do with Space Force? Little has been said about the Trump-era policy
In December 2019, president Donald Trump launched Space Force, the US’s first new military service since 1947, declaring space the “world’s new war-fighting domain”.
Space Force’s mission was part of a broader vision to achieve American dominance in space.
But now with Joe Biden in office, what happens to the $57 million-per-year project?
White House press secretary Jen Psaki was asked about it
Specifically, Ms Psaki was asked whether President Joe Biden had made a decision on “keeping or keeping the scope of Space Force”.
Her reaction was somewhat sarcastic.
“It is an interesting question. I am happy to check with our Space Force point of contact — I’m not sure who that is, I will find out and see if we have any update on that.”
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Her reaction did not go down well with some Republicans
Top House Republican Mike Rogers wants Ms Psaki to “immediately apologise”.
“The Space Force was passed with near-unanimous support in Congress, the same type of ‘unity’ President Biden is supposedly working towards.
“Jen Psaki needs to immediately apologise to the men and women of the Space Force for this disgraceful comment.”
Mr Psaki’s comments also drew the ire of Florida congressman Mike Waltz who said China was working overtime to become the dominant force in space.
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So what will the Biden administration do with Space Force?
While Mr Biden has quickly undone other Trump initiatives, Space Force is unlikely to go away.
That’s mainly because eliminating the military branch would require an act of Congress, where there’s a bipartisan consensus that holds that America’s increasing reliance on space is a worrying vulnerability that is best addressed by a branch of the military.
Space Force has been linked to an increasing US wariness of China, which is developing capabilities to threaten US satellites in space and which some see as a national security challenge.
Russia also stands accused by Washington of seeking to challenge American dominance in space.
Last week, Space Force announced its officer rank names across all of its systems, another indication it could be here to stay.
Joe Biden hasn’t commented publicly on his intentions with Space Force and defense secretary Lloyd Austin has been noncommittal while also stressing the strategic importance of space.
What has Space Force done since it launched?
The new military wing launched a $1 billion national security satellite in March 2020.
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It was the sixth and final one in the military’s Advanced Extremely High Frequency series.
Upgraded from the older Milstar satellites, the constellation has provided secure communication from 35,400 kilometres up for nearly a decade.
In December, Space Force also entered the US intelligence community, joining National Intelligence, CIA, Army, Navy, Marine Corps and Air Force, among others.
Making it a co-equal member of the intelligence community aims to improve the access and sharing of information across the nation’s intelligence agencies.
Space Force was a project Donald Trump was very proud of
To the last moments of his presidency, Mr Trump trumpeted Space Force as a creation for the ages.
During his farewell speech, Mr Trump mentioned Space Force as an “amazing” achievement.
“What we’ve done has been amazing, by any standard,” he said.
ABC/AP
