Kaitlyn Johnson, an expert on space policy
at the Center for Strategic and International
Studies, says bipartisan congressional support
for Space Force makes it likely that Biden will
not push for its undoing.
“I think this is a good thing, as the Space Force
has had barely a year to set itself up and get to
work,” she said. Adds her think-tank colleague,
Todd Harrison, “The odds of it being repealed
are close to zero.”
Space Force was launched in December
2019 as the first new military service
since establishment of the Air Force as an
independent entity in 1947. Its leader, Gen.
John W. “Jay” Raymond, has a seat at the table
with the other Joint Chiefs, although Space
Force operates as part of the Department
of the Air Force, much like the Marine Corps
is a separate service but is overseen by the
Department of the Navy.
The push for more emphasis on space has
gone beyond Space Force. A separate but
related move in August 2019 reestablished
U.S. Space Command; it is not a military
service but a central command for military-
wide space operations. Space Command
had been dissolved in 2005 and absorbed by
U.S. Strategic Command, a post-9/11 move
aimed at freeing up resources to strengthen
homeland defenses.
Trump also reconstituted the National Space
Council, which coordinates policy in civil,
commercial and national security space
matters. It had been dormant since the
administration of President Bill Clinton.