War In Space: House Panel Plans 'Space Corps' Split From US Air Force

The U.S. Air Force is preparing for a potential war in space.

The House Armed Services Panel laid out its plans to create the “Space Corps” that will split from the U.S. Air Force and allow the military to engage threats outside of Planet Earth. Members of the panel said they intend to mark up the measure ahead of the fiscal 2018 calendar, Roll Call first reported.

“There is bipartisan acknowledgement that the strategic advantages we derive from our national security space systems are eroding,” said a joint statement from Mike D. Rogers, R-Ala., and Jim Cooper, D-Tenn., the panel’s chairman and ranking Democrat. “We are convinced that the Department of Defense is unable to take the measures necessary to address these challenges effectively and decisively, or even recognize the nature and scale of its problems. Thus, Congress has to step in.”

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Rogers compared the move to the U.S. Army Air Corps’ transition into the Air Force after World War II. He blamed bureaucratic errors for not pursuing a future generation of space leadership that is separate from terrestrial Air Force military operations. He said the Space Corps would be a “separate military service responsible for national security space programs for which the Air Force is today responsible.”

“How can we have the world’s best national security space program if we don’t grow and retain the best men and women to lead it, and give them the budget and authority they need?” Rogers asked.

He added that space programs should not be led by people who “get up each morning thinking about fighters and bombers…you cannot organize, train, and equip in space the way you do a fighter squad.”

Lt. Col. Kyle Pumroy, chief of Space Force Structure Plans for the Space and Cyberspace Superiority Division of the Air Force's Directorate of Strategic Plans, told Military.com in April that the U.S. needs to start “preparing for an age in which war extends into space because that’s where the capabilities are going to be able to operate.”

"The nature of the threat has changed," added Pumroy.

US Space Command To Feature Nuclear Division

The Armed Services Panel’s mark would create U.S. Space Command as a four-star position under U.S. Strategic Command. In order to avoid cyber threats, the Pentagon would be barred from purchasing satellite services if it’s deemed a threat or has been compromised by another country. They also plan to authorize a $705 million Israeli missile defense system developed by both Israel and the U.S. There would also be a nuclear operations sect of the military space program.

At the 33rd Space Symposium in Colorado Springs in April, Rogers reiterated his belief that Congress needs to begin addressing this space force sooner than later.

“The amputation is not going to begin tomorrow,” he said. “I believe reform is needed. We must start no. This is a system that moves too slowly, and we don’t have the time to wait. And I won’t.”