After years of little importance given by the United States to space, intended not as a place of exploration and research but as a "geopolitical space" in which a super power must be able to move, with the presidency of Trump is back in vogue. In fact, the fear of the US president is that Russia and, above all, China can increase their capacity in space and oust the United States from being the main actor in that field. Nevertheless NASA, despite the almost 500 million cuts implemented by the Trump administration, is still the leading agency in research and space exploration, but what has long been missing from the United States is a real space policy. This is because the collapse of the Soviet Union and the emergence of the US as the only world power have meant that the attention to space diminished, at least until the moment when China started to impose itself on the world scene as a super power no more regional.
Last year, despite the decision to reduce the budget to NASA, Trump had re-established the National Space Council, office that has the task of: "Advise and assist the president about the policy and strategy to be implemented in relation to space"(Executive Order 13803, Section 1). This decision was the anticipation, in some respects, of what was stated by Trump last Monday during a public meeting of the same council, or to establish a Space Force. All in order to protect American interests in space, initiatives that, said of Trump: "They would be great not only in terms of jobs, but also for the psyche of our country". The idea of Space ForceHowever, it is not new and this statement is only the confirmation of what was already said by Trump in recent months about it, but in this case, during the speech, the president also received the executive order to provide for the creation of the Sixth Force US Army: "General Dunford (the chief of staff of the Defense)If you brought this order to the Pentagon, I would be truly grateful", He" ordered "Trump.
Creating an Armed Force geared only to space would be an explicit declaration of the US intention to aim for a "domain" of space, but it could also represent a step backwards from the attempts made with China and Russia, in the last twenty years, so that limits the risk of military conflict in space to a minimum, protecting the interests of all states. It would be a disruptive decision that, if it were to develop, will ensure that the Space Force becomes an Armed Force totally independent from the USAF (United States Air Force), which currently deals with all matters relating to space and which assists, where necessary, NASA. In the event that we continue on the path marked by Trump, we would have to wait some time before witnessing the birth of the Sixth Armed Force, time that would be necessary both for its constitution and to fully define its objectives and the means necessary to achieve them. This lengthy process could slow Trump's ambitions to "control" space, especially as it should be (in primis) accepted by the Pentagon e in secundis Congress should also be expressed: a rather long bureaucratic intrigue in a country that does not shine at the speed of bureaucracy.
In addition to this, the opposition to such a project had already arrived last year directly from the US Defense Secretary Mattis who, in a letter addressed to one of the proponents of the Space Force, the Republican Mike Turner, had expressed his opposition to it, because he would have added: "A burdensome organizational and administrative queue, creating an additional and unnecessary economic cost". "Even because - Mattis had warned - at a time when we are trying to better integrate the Department's inter-departmental operational capabilities, it is not desirable to add a separate Armed Force that has a narrow approach to space operations.". Presumably, despite the idea now coming directly from President Trump, Mattis' position will remain the same as a year ago and without the support and endorsement of the Secretary of Defense it is very difficult to witness the birth of the Space Force. In addition, even the heads of the USAF, as imaginable, are opposed to a decision that would amputate them from the space sector.
The fact remains that so far the United States has managed to achieve and maintain its leadership in space, especially in the military field. The satellites in orbit around the earth, in fact, are mainly from the United States and thanks to these they can perform at best every request coming from the Armed Forces and the Pentagon. However, this superiority in the satellite field puts the United States in a potentially unfavorable position, especially because Russia and China are independently trying to develop technologies that can guarantee a first strike in the space field. The risk, in fact, for the United States is to suffer an attack, either missile or electronic, which totally blinds the satellites, consequently bringing the American Armed Forces to grope, literally, in the dark, seeing themselves deprived of the main instruments of SIGNIT, satellite surveillance and GPS guidance for missiles and aircraft. The US Department of Defense and, consequently, the president of the United States are aware of this criticality and the goal is precisely to prevent such an eventuality.
Follow what was announced by Trump, or constitute the Space Force on the one hand it could be functional for this purpose, because it would allow to bring together all the space activities in a single Armed Force and consequently in a single chain of command. The choice, however, could only pay in the long run because, as already said, before it came to form this new armed force would spend a lot of time, which is instead valuable to face the challenges of today but, above all, those of tomorrow , to maintain military dominance in space.
It is not a return to the race to the real space, but in the next few years space, most likely, will return to be at the center of US policy, both to continue the space explorations and related research and to maintain the primacy over Russia and "to the fierce" China.
(photo: US DoD)
