Is There a Space for Us

  Exterior of the Blockhaus d'Éperlecques.

Is There a Space for Us?

It probably started in Germany at the end of World War II, much of that activity housed in a huge concrete building (pictured above) in Nazi occupied France. Some of Germany’s best scientists – including Warner von Braun who was later forgiven of atrocities (e.g., designing and building V2 rockets that randomly fell on civilian targets in the UK) and picked as a necessary rocket scientist by the United States – were dedicated to elevating the Nazi regime’s military capacity to attack even from space. The scientists even worked on a “death ray” that was intended to knock aircraft out of the sky. Allied bombing made that Nazi program difficult to continue.

After the war, the United States quickly located its initial rocket and missile design team to Huntsville, Alabama, a small town where strangers (read: Soviet spies) would stick out like a sore thumb. The Air Force, the Army and NASA carved out future of America’s ventures up into the upper atmosphere and beyond. The world of science fiction, from Star Wars to Star Trek became mainstays of American culture… and inspirations for space travel and discovery… and the more sinister goal of securing a military advantage, from spy satellites to space-based weapon platforms, against our enemies. Ray guns, nuclear missile platforms and EMP weapons. Treaties modified some of these capacities, but it was clear that space was now a military and civilian priority. From GPS systems to communications satellites to those classified weapons and surveillance platforms, the world had changed.

In 2018, President Donald Trump initiated a program for a new military branch of service, the Space Force under the aegis of the US Air Force, much as the Marines are part of the US Navy. “The Space Force officially came into existence on December 20, 2019, when the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) guaranteeing its funding was signed into law…

“Prior to the Space Force’s creation, U.S. military space operations were managed by the Air Force Space Command, a major command within the U.S. Air Force. Although some of the Space Command’s activities are classified, it is public knowledge that the Command’s personnel are engaged with the procurement and operation of military space technology, such as spaceplanes, satellites and the rockets used to launch them into orbit. Programs under the Space Command’s purview include the Global Positioning System (GPS), the Defense Meteorological Satellite Program and the Space-Based Infrared System Program. The Command also operates the Delta II, Delta IV and Atlas V launch vehicles…

“In 2018, President Trump proposed the formation of a new military branch to take over the Space Command’s responsibilities, citing the country’s increasing need to both protect its military space technology from foreign threats and to preserve ‘American superiority in space.’” Forbes, January 27, 2020. But this initiative was from a president that was uniquely unpopular with the opposing party. Could this program find its way on to the dust heap of unnecessary bureaucracies within the Biden administration, or will this concept be expanded and refunded? The Space Force did not begin with rousing bipartisan support.

“Then-Sen. Bill Nelson (D-Fla.), ranking member on a Senate committee that deals with aviation and space, disliked the idea of consolidating space programs from the other military branches, saying at the time there were ‘too many important missions at stake’ to ‘rip the Air Force apart.’… The idea of the new service became fodder for late-night comedians and a Netflix sitcom…

“Whether it can achieve [its stated] mission is an open question. Though Trump champions the initiative, he has done little to ensure it has the funding, staffing and authority to succeed. When he exits the White House next month, the Space Force’s trajectory remains unclear… The Space Force has gained control of some space operations, but many others are still spread throughout the nation’s other military branches.

“Within the Defense Department, the Air Force has the lion’s share of space programs and budget for space operations. It’s responsible for supporting and maintaining satellites for GPS, missile warning and nuclear command and control, as well as paying United Launch Alliance and SpaceX to launch national security satellites… The Army and Navy also have their own space operations…

“Consolidating these disparate programs into the Space Force has been slow. Some Air Force missions have transferred to Space Force control or are in the process of doing so — last week, Vice President Mike Pence announced that Cape Canaveral Air Force Station and Patrick Air Force Base in Florida would change their names and become the first two Space Force installations. Eventually, all Air Force space missions are supposed to follow suit. But there has been no progress on integrating the Army‘s or Navy’s space missions.

“‘The last thing you want ... after all of this reorganization and creating a new military service is to continue to have the fragmentation of our space programs and space organizations across the military,’ said Todd Harrison, senior fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies think tank. ‘The whole point of this was to consolidate.’

“Compared with the budgets and personnel of the other branches of the U.S. military, the Space Force is lean. And technically it’s part of the Air Force, just as the Marine Corps is part of the Navy… Consisting of about 2,100 people as of Nov. 1, the Space Force commanded a budget of $40 million for its operations and maintenance in fiscal year 2020… At this point, it’s ‘highly unlikely’ that the Biden administration would try to eliminate the Space Force, Harrison said. ‘It would be 10 times more disruptive if we tried to reverse it at this point.’” Los Angeles Times, December 15th. 

With the pandemic, immigration complexities, racial justice, climate change, crumbling infrastructure and resetting our international relationships and alliances taking center stage, undoing this new military branch, the first since the Air Force was separated from the Army in 1947, just might be an unnecessary distraction. Given rather dramatic efforts from both Russia and China to militarize space, the ability to be able to resist and counter those movements, strengthening our own strategic weapons, are clearly necessities. So one way or another, President-elect Biden is going to have to address these realities… one way or the other.

I’m Peter Dekom, and there are so many political balls being juggled of necessity that there has to be concern about material issues being ignored and falling between the cracks.