Space Force Series: Where are all of the Spaceships?

The United States Space Force was officially announced as an independent military branch under the United States Air Force on December 20, 2019. Within the government, there have been discussions of making a military space department since the 80s. Now, finally a reality after being brought forward in Congress in 2017 with the bipartisan support of Jim Cooper(TN-D) and Mike Rodger(AL-R). Currently, the Space Force is an independent version of the Former Air Force Space Command, still operating under the Department of the Air Force. However, it may be a while before any member of the Space Force goes to space. The problem? The Space Force does not currently have a single spaceship. 

Since the retirement of the Space Shuttle in March of 2013, the United States has been sending humans to space through Russia’s Soyuz rocket system in Kazakhstan. Now, the US has been looking toward the private sector to finally return to launching astronauts into space from U.S. soil. More specifically, Elon Musk’s SpaceX and the world’s largest aerospace company, Boeing, are the two foremost competitors for carrying out these missions. 

While the government has made great progress through commercial companies towards returning astronaut launches to US soil, it is imperative that NASA and the Space Force begin to work together to gain this capability as well. Currently, the Space Force has control of many different satellites and constellations and will conduct various other space activities, but it must immediately put a focus on developing a Human Space Flight program. 

 The United States has been the leader in space without any competition since the fall of the Soviet Union, but the US has become lazy. Long has China been seeking ways to mitigate America’s military advantages in space. At one point China even considered cluttering space with so much debris, Low Earth Orbit would be rendered useless. Now they have realized that it is not only possible to catch up to the US, but overtake them as leaders in space. China has by far the most momentum of any national space program at the moment. It is in the process of having its own space station complete with human space flight capabilities. China has even made long term plans for a nuclear-powered fleet, something the US has ignored due to misinformed opinions of nuclear technologies. Russia has also increased its role in space. As mentioned before they have the only human space flight program and have increased surveillance and tracking of US satellites. They even have a satellite following an American satellite leaving experts wondering what capabilities it has and why it is tracking our own recon satellite. 

America can not afford to lose its leadership in space to Russia or China. Human Space Flight is an important identifier of who is leading in space, both in capabilities and in prestige. The domain of space and its role in political and military affairs is changing at a significant rate. This is exactly why the Space Force was passed almost unanimously by Congress. The US must be ready for the changes, and human space flight is the first step to being prepared and reaffirming US leadership in space. It is unacceptable to be dependent on Russia or even private companies for this. The Space Force currently does what the Air Force Space Command formerly did. This includes military satellites, communication, threat warning, and ground to space defense systems. However, the Space Force was made an armed force. It is well known that several nations have ASATs that can do harm to US spacecraft, with and without human presence. As long as Americans are in space, they will need protection from other nations’ cyber and kinetic attacks. The men and women of the Space Force will need reliable access to space for both military, security, and civilian purposes. The Space Force will even eventually include its own special operations teams which will need reliable access to US assets in space, especially for security purposes. Without reliable access to its domain, the Space Force will be significantly limited in what it can accomplish for US National Security. It was created because it was painfully apparent that the Air Force’s Space Command was not enough to accomplish what is now necessary for US security in space. The Space Force must immediately address these shortcomings and human space flight should be at the top of the list.

Coming Soon:

Space Force: In relation to the civilian agency, NASA

Space Force: Impact on Cybersecurity

Space Force: Should seek Nuclear Propulsion and other Nuclear Technologies

Space Force: Role of Commercial Space and the military

Joshua Bell is a senior in the School of Foreign Service studying Science, Technology, and International Affairs (STIA). He is a Co-President and Co-Founder of Georgetown University Space Initiative.