James Mattis voices support for new Space Force as new combatant command

Defense Secretary James Mattis on Tuesday threw his support behind the Trump administration’s push to create a new U.S. military force to fight future wars in space, saying the effort to create the new force is already underway.

Speaking to reporters at the Pentagon, the former four-star general said the United States needed to begin seriously preparing to counter defense and national security threats emanating from space. “Absolutely we need to address space as a developing warfighting domain,” Mr. Mattis said during a press gaggle ahead of a visit by British Defense Minister Gavin Williamson to the Pentagon.

“We’ll get it right. We’ll work it through the Congress. We have the direction from the president and we’re underway,” he told reporters. But Mr. Mattis broke slightly from the White House with his comments Tuesday, saying a U.S. military presence in space should be akin to other regional combatant commands, like U.S. Central Command or U.S. Pacific Command.

When Mr. Trump first floated the idea of a new Space Force last month, he indicated he would like the new organization to be a “separate but equal” branch of the armed forces — on par with the Army, Navy, Air Force and Marine Corps. Mr. Trump’s June announcement on social media of the new Space Force reportedly took the Pentagon by surprise. Defense Department officials had expressed their reservations over the new Space Force to the White House, in the days and weeks after the announcement.

Since then, the notion of standing up an entirely new military branch to address future national security threats from space has been met with consternation and skepticism among officials inside and outside the Pentagon. At issue was the notion a new Space Force military branch would simply replicate existing military capabilities already residing within the current military branches. Space-centric directorates in the Air Force and Navy are already tasked with countering threats from space.

However, U.S. military leaders have pressed forward with drafting options on a new Space Force for the White House. The proposals, first reported by Defense One, include the creation of a new combatant command for space, a new joint military agency tasked with buying new space-based weapons and satellites and a joint venture that would draw units from the various branches into a single military collective. The options are expected to be unveiled later this week.