The Space Force Is a Very Bad Idea

President Trump has said that the U.S. needs a Space Force as a sixth component of its military force structure to ensure "American dominance in space." Among the problems associated with Trump's proposal is that the U.S. Air Force already has a Space Command (AFSPC), and there is an Outer Space Treaty that prohibits introducing war fighting into outer space.

The Space Command has its headquarters at Peterson Air Force Base in Colorado. The command supports U.S.military operation worldwide, through the use of many different types of satellites, launch and cyber operations. It has over 30,000 military and civilian employees. The main mission is to keep the  global world of GPS satellites peaceful.

The Outer Space Treaty was signed on January 27, 1967, and ratified by the United States on October 10, 1967. The Treaty was designed to bar the use of outer space for military purposes. Although it has 17 articles, the core substance is found in Article IV. First, it forbids placing in orbit around the earth, installing on the moon or any other celestial body, or otherwise stationing in outer space, a nuclear or any other weapons of mass destruction. Second, it limits the use of the moon and other celestial bodies exclusively to peaceful purposes, and expressly forbids their use for establishing military bases, installing, fortifying, or testing weapons of any kind, or conducting military maneuvers.

Currently, there is no guidance for how a war or armed conflict might happen in space, or what a "war fighting domain" might look like. A Space Force would create a new bureaucracy, further swell an already bloated Pentagon budget, possibly cause other nations to place weapons in space, and lead to the abrogation of an international treaty designed to keep outer space peaceful.

A poll that came out shortly after President Trump had announced his intention to create a Space Force showed that 57 percent favored its creation. It has long been the case that any candidate for national office who calls for a significant cut in the Pentagon's budget finds it difficult to be elected. Nations and even civilizations -- consider the Roman Empire --  that devote a considerable amount of their resources to build their armed forces, end up in the dustbin of history.