Last week, Vice President Mike Pence unveiled the Trump administration’s plans for establishing Space Force as the sixth branch of the military. Our “Political Insiders” think that idea fizzles on the launch pad.
Majorities of our “Political Insiders” and readers opposed the creation of the Space Force. Most of the anonymous comments from our respondents said the government should focus on more pressing issues on Earth before turning their attention to the cosmos. Others said NASA and the Air Force already have space covered.
58% of the Republicans on our panel, 93% of the Democrats and 84% of our readers disagreed with the idea of a Space Force.
Selected anonymous comments:
I don’t believe in establishing a space force, but I do think creating a new military branch dedicated to cybersecurity is a good and necessary idea.
Yes, it is the logical thing to do.
Only if Pres. Trump is stationed in a Galaxy far, far away.
Things Utah families care about: healthcare being so expensive, jobs with good wages, finding a house they can afford, their kids getting a good education. Oh weird, did I forget a Space Force? No, no I did not.
Hell yeah. I volunteer as tribute. I’ll finally be able to put the last 25 years of Klingon lessons to use. reH SuvwI!
Stupidest thing I’ve ever heard of.
It may very well be time to be thinking about this, although it scares me to think there may be battles in space above the earth. If not the US, then it will be the Russians or the Chinese, so we can’t cover our eyes and pretend that it won’t otherwise happen. Where are the aspirational days of the “Star Trek” TV series where the entire earth banded together to explore space rather than fighting with each other?
Is f*** no! An additional option I’m not seeing?
NASA was established to avoid the expansion of the military industrial complex and to foster a peaceful expansion into space. But, NASA wasn’t Trump’s idea…
Seriously?? Let’s deal with the problems on our earthly borders, like the way the current administration separates children from their parents and then loses them. What a dumb idea.
If civilians already knew the foreign attempts to mess with our satellites, we would be at war already.
Space is the final frontier. If we can dominate space, we will dominate threats to our sovereignty. Totally worth the investment.
Joint operations between all branches of the military currently occur. There remains a plausible argument to combine all military forces to reduce the number branches and cut overhead costs. The “outer space treaty” should reign supreme right? No bad actor country would think to exploit space as an offensive military posture, right?
We need another branch of the military like we need another branch of the military! We have NASA, an amazing group of motivated, smart, talented scientists who discover and innovate like crazy. The inventions from our past space program efforts have made the world a better place. Invest in NASA.
Even if it were a good idea (and I don’t think it is), establishing a Space Force right now tells the world that we no longer believe that space should be demilitarized, which has been US policy – and that of every other civilized nation in the world – for decades. Of course, most advanced nations are already putting dangerous things in space, but to make that a blatant national policy casts us in a very unfavorable light (as if, with Mr. Trump as President, we needed any more negative publicity.)
We have enough ACTUAL threats to waste money on here in earth including a trillion dollar deficit thanks to the Republican tax cut.
We should spend resource funds on fixing water crisis issues around our country first!
I’m all for investment and prioritization of space-related research so if Space Force leads to progress in that arena, great. That said, the core concept of a space-faring military force is more than a little laughable at present.
The US is party to a treaty prohibiting the militarization of space, not to mention that other global space powers will follow suit but likely with much less oversight and regulation.
I think it’s probably something useful in like 50 years, but now it’s a money suck and a vanity project.
NO, NO, NO, NO, NO, NO, NO, NO, NO, NO, NO, NO, NO, NO, NO, NO, NO, NO, NO, NO!
I’m not sure what they would even do. It seems like a waste of time and an effort to further boost Trump’s ego.
We’re already the bully on earth. We don’t need to be the bully in space too. Plus we already have NASA, and it’s doing fine, just let them keep going.
Added expense for no good reason. Let the Air Force handle it. It sounds too much like propaganda.
Let’s fix some problems here on Terra before we start creating new ones 120 miles up in the ether.
The DoD and NASA could certainly take care of our needs in this area, if properly funded. We have so many other pressing problems in our country that are not being addressed by this hyper-partisan administration. This supposed need can wait until issues with infrastructure, Veterans & the VA, healthcare, cybersecurity, low wages & wage disparity, and environmental impact/climate change are addressed with some successful planning and implementation of corrective measures. It is painfully obvious this is only B.S. misdirection being employed by Trump’s administration to distract as many people as is possible, from the damaging policies, legislation, and Executive Orders being implemented by the most corrupt presidency in our nation’s history.
We could possibly eliminate a branch or two if we created/expanded a space branch and a tech branch focused exclusively on cyber warfare.
Absolute terrible idea. Why would the military need another organization in an already bloated Department? You guessed it; they don’t. The military doesn’t want it, nor do taxpayers!
Military spending is already at ridiculous levels in this country. Maybe if this was paired with cuts to military spending, but this sounds like an excuse to continue to perpetuate our current military industrial complex.
Redundant. Simply give the Air Force dominion over the program. NASA does the scientific and exploratory side. DARPA conducts proof of concept. Leave the Air Force (or rename to reflect expanded scope) to conduct non-terrestrial and non-naval military operations in air and space.
There has long been an international consensus that space should not be militarized. A waste of taxpayer money to stroke a narcissist’s ego.
International law prohibits weaponizing space, and the Air Force is already tasked with countering threats from space. The Space Force is a failure waiting to happen and will potentially waste billions of taxpayer dollars.
We have bigger problems, and we have a great military and space program that is funded to do just that. Trump just wants to sell merchandise and make more money off of the taxpayers.
We already have militarized space, so why not have an open and transparent branch of government that can be held accountable?
This is just as far-fetched as when Reagan proposed it.
Flies in the face of reason. It’s redundant, and not fiscally conservative. Universal health care for all is a much bigger priority. What manufacturers are behind this ludicrous idea?
If it were President Marco Rubio or President Jeb Bush suggesting the Space Force, I would probably agree that now is the time to do this. Because, however, it is the untrustworthy Trump administration (just as though it were the Hillary Clinton administration), I cannot conclude that now is the time to take this step. Here again, the presence of Donald Trump is undermining the success of conservative issues.
We already spend too much on the military and the battles of the future will not be fought in space. We already have satellite targeted rockets and anti-ballistic weapons.
I’m not sure about the Space Force. I’m not surprised that there may be some bad actors that may want to disrupt satellites and so-forth, but; time will tell. Maybe Comcast intends to eliminate Dish Network and establish worldwide supremacy. I think that Alf, my favorite extraterrestrial, could be included in patches the space cadets might wear on their uniforms. When it comes to entering space as another frontier for military expansion, I’m still tentative. But, when it comes to Congress, who will have to decide: “Beam me up, Scotty. There is no intelligent life down here.”
We are cutting SNAP, SS, and Medicare. The deficit is crippling. And Trump is spending billions of taxpayer money on golfing and campaign rallies. WE CANNOT AFFORD ANY MORE LUNACY.
The bureaucracy of a separate branch will cost dollars & focus. If really needed, a joint task force of the various affected branches makes more sense.
The US Air Force has had domain over space operations for decades. This is an entirely unnecessary and laughable attempt to expand government. A separate military branch is not needed, just as cyber warfare has been assigned to various branches.
Bad idea. Just another money sinkhole for large defense contractors and a new bloated federal bureaucracy. Meanwhile, drugs, lack of jobs, homelessness affecting young people, mostly young men, is causing a lost generation that could be a productive generation for all of us.
There are far better things that could be done with that money without leaving the surface. Where does this funding originate??
Can we focus on the environment, health care, and stopping the trade war first, please?
