"When it comes to defending America, it is not enough to merely have an American presence in space. We must have American dominance in space...We are going to have the Air Force and we are going to have the Space Force, separate but equal."
- POTUS Donald J. Trump
First, this is the most 1950s pulp magazine announcement that I've ever heard in my life, and it breaks my heart a little that Robert A. Heinlein, author of Starship Troopers, was not alive to hear it. Second, when you look past the Planet Stories feel of the whole thing, it's actually kind of intriguing. Realistically, a demand for a near-Earth military presence would lead to all kinds of research and development for which there previously just hasn't been funding. For example, to date there's been no real reason for the development of vehicles with complex vacuum manoeuvring capabilities, but a Space Force would certainly need the equivalent of fighters, bombers, helicopters, troop carriers and so on, which could easily be adapted for civilian needs. And, I'm sorry to admit this, but given that my other hobby is military history, I'd be interested to see how the United States military would adapt to the challenges of zero-gee vacuum combat.
However, I do see one problem. President Trump has also announced his plans to privatize the ISS by 2025 - where will the Space Force and its, ah, forces be based? Maybe the Space Force could construct its own orbital facility, perhaps a large globular battle station of some sort. My co-worker David agrees completely with this, and suggests that it could be called something really cool like "the Death Star". My personal vote is for Starkiller Base, but I think that either one would be suitable to be the new home of the Space Force.
- Sid
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