Because global hegemony needed a branding campaign in time for the debut of the latest Star Wars film. And the border wall got some direct funding. But with Space Force, and like other boondoggles, Trump “wanted a favor, though”, and remains a question to be asked in the 2020 campaign.
In the 2020 budget, the Pentagon would request $64 million to stand up the Space Force headquarters, $120 million for the Space Development Agency and $84 million for U.S. Space Command —
Future administrative costs, depending on the scope and size of Space Force support functions, could add anywhere from a few hundred million to $2 billion a year.
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DoD analysts estimate that tens of billions of dollars worth of unclassified military space programs and personnel eventually will transfer to the Space Force. The Air Force, Army and Navy are expected to transfer between $10 billion to $12 billion billion worth of space programs and personnel to the Space Force between 2021 and 2024.
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In terms of units and formations, the existence of Air Force Space Command (AFSPC) was terminated by the 2020 NDAA, and all of its personnel, organizations, and components became part of the Space Force. AFSPC's principal components were 14th Air Force and the Space and Missile Systems Center.
U.S. President Donald Trump first publicly spoke about the idea of a Space Force during a speech in March 2018.[13] In a meeting with the newly revived National Space Council he directed the Defense Department to begin the process necessary to establish a space force as the sixth branch of the United States Armed Forces.[14]
Astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson has stated that a space force, in addition to war fighting responsibilities, should have the roles of space debris cleanup and asteroid defense.[15][16]
In August 2018, U.S. Vice President Mike Pence announced a plan that would establish the Space Force by 2020.[17] On February 19, 2019, Space Policy Directive-4 was signed, which calls for the Space Force to be initially organized within the Department of the Air Force, and at a later date transitioned to the Department of the Space Force. All space operations forces of the Air Force, Army, and Navy would be transferred into the new service branch.[7] Provisions for the establishment of the U.S. Space Force were included in the 2020 National Defense Authorization Act, which was passed by both the House of Representatives and the Senate.[18]
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Since the Cold War, the Treaty on Principles Governing the Activities of States in the Exploration and Use of Outer Space, including the Moon and Other Celestial Bodies (the "Outer Space Treaty") and the International Telecommunications Union have served as the constitutional legal framework and set of principles and procedures constituting space law.[7][8] Further, the United Nations Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space (COPUOS), along with its Legal and Scientific and Technical Subcommittees, are responsible for debating issues of international space law and policy. The United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs (UNOOSA) serves as the secretariat of the Committee and is promoting Access to Space for All through a wide range of conferences and capacity-building programs.[9] Challenges that space law will continue to face in the future are fourfold—spanning across dimensions of domestic compliance, international cooperation, ethics, and the advent of scientific innovations.[3][10][11] Furthermore, specific guidelines on the definition of airspace have yet to be universally determined.[3]
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Many ethical questions arise from the difficulty of defining the term "space." Scholars not only debate its geographical definition (i.e. upper and lower limits), but also whether or not it also encompasses various objects within it (i.e. celestial objects, human beings, man-made devices). Lower limits are generally estimated to be about 50 kilometers. More difficulties arise trying to define the upper bounds of "space," as it would require more inquiry into the nature of the universe and the role of earth (along with within it.)[10]
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