Vice President Mike Pence told attendees at the Satellite 2019 conference in Washington, D.C. that the proposed space force will “soon be a reality,†National Defense magazine reported Monday.
Pence, also the chairman of the National Space Council, noted that the Trump administration is working with Congress to stand up the sixth military branch. He warned that adversaries like China, North Korea and Russia have been “aggressively deploying†space technologies such as GPS signal-jamming capabilities, ground-based electronic attacks and other satellite communications technology.
“We recognize that space is a warfighting domain just like the land, air and sea and America is going to be as dominant for our security in space as we are here on Earth,†he added.
In addition, Pence noted that the administration is working on space situational awareness efforts to foster data sharing among industry players. The administration also seeks to promote private sector initiatives to develop guidelines and standards for activities such as space launches and traffic management.
