To the last moments of his presidency, Donald
Trump trumpeted Space Force as a creation for
the ages. And while President Joe Biden has
quickly undone other Trump initiatives, the
space-faring service seems likely to survive, even
if the new administration pushes it lower on the
list of defense priorities.
The reason Space Force is unlikely to go away is
largely this: Elimination would require an act of
Congress, where a bipartisan consensus holds
that America’s increasing reliance on space is a
worrying vulnerability that is best addressed by
a branch of the military focused exclusively on
this problem.
The new service also is linked to an increasing
U.S. wariness of China, which is developing
capabilities to threaten U.S. satellites in space
and which has become, in the minds of some,
the singular national security challenge. Russia,
too, stands accused by Washington of seeking to
challenge American dominance in space.