President Trump announced Monday that he is directing the Pentagon to "establish a Space Force as the sixth branch of the Armed Forces." Trump, who floated the Space Force idea earlier this year, added Monday that it is "so important for our military" but "people don't talk about it."
The Air Force and Defense secretaries both reportedly oppose the creation of the Space Force; space-related missions are already overseen by the Air Force. "We are going to have the Air Force and we are going to have the Space Force," Trump insisted in his comments Monday. "Separate but equal. It is going to be something."
Trump said that the Space Force will do more than "plant our flag and leave our footprints" on distant celestial bodies, with its objectives including building "a foundation for an eventual mission to Mars" and implementing "a state of the art framework for space traffic management." Watch the announcement below. Jeva Lange