The Space Force, the sixth and newest branch of the U.S. military, was authorized by Congress and signed into law by President Donald Trump in December 2019. The initiative had been shaped within the armed forces and Congress over the previous 25 years, based on the premise that as satellite and space technologies evolved, America’s military organizations had to change as well.
From the start, the Space Force had detractors. Air Force officials wondered if it was necessary, while some political observers believed that it signified the start of a dangerous (and expensive) militarization of another realm. What seemed harder to argue against was how nearly every aspect of modern warfare and defense — intelligence, surveillance, communications, operations, missile detection — has come to rely on links to orbiting satellites.
The recent battles in Eastern Europe, in which Russia has tried to disrupt Ukraine’s space-borne communication systems, are a case in point. And yet the strategic exploitation of space now extends well beyond military concerns. Satellite phone systems have become widespread. Positioning and timing satellites, such as GPS (now overseen by the Space Force), allow for digital mapping, navigation, banking and agricultural management. A world without orbital weather surveys seems unthinkable. Modern life is reliant on space technologies to an extent that an interruption would create profound economic and social distress.
For the moment, the force has taken up a problem not often contemplated outside science fiction: How do you fight a war in space, or a war on Earth that expands into space? And even if you’re ready to fight, how do you make sure you don’t have a space war in the first place?
This story was recorded by Audm. To hear more audio stories from publications like The New York Times, download Audm for iPhone or Android.
The Sunday Read: ‘What I Saw Working at The National Enquirer During Donald Trump’s Rise’
How One Family Lost $900,000 in a Timeshare Scam
The Staggering Success of Trump’s Trial Delay Tactics
Trump's Abortion Dilemma
How Tesla Planted the Seeds for Its Own Potential Downfall
The Eclipse Chaser
The Sunday Read: ‘What Deathbed Visions Teach Us About Living’
An Engineering Experiment to Cool the Earth
Israel’s Deadly Airstrike on the World Central Kitchen
The Accidental Tax Cutter in Chief
Kids Are Missing School at an Alarming Rate
Ronna McDaniel, TV News and the Trump Problem
From Serial: Season 4 - Guantánamo
Hamas Took Her, and Still Has Her Husband
The Newest Tech Start-Up Billionaire? Donald Trump
Democrats’ Plan to Save the Republican House Speaker
The United States vs. the iPhone
A Terrorist Attack in Russia
The Sunday Read: ‘My Goldendoodle Spent a Week at Some Luxury Dog ‘Hotels.’ I Tagged Along.’
Chuck Schumer on His Campaign to Oust Israel’s Leader
Create your
podcast in
minutes
It is Free
Up First
Post Reports
The Journal.
The Ezra Klein Show
Today, Explained