Director of National Intelligence (DNI) John Ratcliffe said the U.S. intelligence community will soon integrate the U.S. Space Force as the 18th member, SpaceNews reported Wednesday. Ratcliffe made the announcement Wednesday during a National Space Council meeting at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
A spokeswoman for the Office of the DNI told the publication the plan for the Space Force would help strengthen the partnership between the IC and the Department of Defense (DoD) and that ODNI expects a decision on the move “in the next few months.”
Ratcliffe said his office and the Space Force plan to establish a national space intelligence center focused on technical intelligence to help protect space systems from potential anti-satellite weapons from Russia and China.
