2002•Defense Technical Information Center (DTIC)Requires access
A Separate Space Force: An Old Debate with Renewed Relevance
Kurt S Story
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Abstract
Space systems are fundamental to modern military operations and national security. They play a central role in the ongoing revolution in warfare because of their special capabilities for collecting, processing, and disseminating information. Space systems support the strategic, operational, and tactical levels of war. They are force multipliers that are progressively important in sustaining an effective level of U.S. offensive and defense capability as the overall force is transformed. A commission was set up by the FY 2000 Defense Authorization Act to consider space management reorganizations, including the possible creation of a separate military service -- the United States Space Force. The commission's analytic report stops short of calling for an actual separate branch of the armed forces devoted to military uses of space, but there are members of Congress who still favor the U.S. Space Force concept. The ongoing argument over the formation of a separate Space Force has been debated by military and political leaders since the wide spread acknowledgement of the value of space operations to national security. The purpose of this fellowship research paper is to analyze the need for an independent Space Force. As such, it does not debate the legal and political ramifications associated with the weaponization of space and the use of space power, but focuses on the best structure to execute space missions. Given the United States' increasing reliance on space and emerging threat technology, this paper assumes that our country has the political will to use space power as a means of achieving national security objectives. Additionally, this paper assumes that technological obstacles will be reduced, allowing the further exploitation of space, and that warfare from space will become a reality. The research method for this paper centered on a detailed literature search and review, and interviews with personnel possessing extensive knowledge and experience in space. 7