The world’s richest man and Amazon.com Inc’s chief executive waved an arm and a black drape behind him dropped to reveal the two-story-tall mockup of the unmanned lander dubbed Blue Moon during an hour-long presentation at Washington’s convention center, just several blocks from the White House.
Alabama, California and Colorado are the three finalists to host U.S. Space Command, a unified hub similar to U.S. Central Command or U.S. Cyber Command, which will oversee and coordinate all aspects of Pentagon space policy. The establishment of Space Command is a key step in the process of standing up Mr. Trump’s full Space Force, which in time would become the sixth branch of the armed forces.
Detailed planning for the proposed Space Force is expected to be handed over soon to the U.S. Air Force, a sign that Pentagon leaders — many of whom opposed the notion of consolidating military space operations in a new organization — have found a version that they can support.
Unveiling a revamped missile defense plan, President Donald Trump said Thursday that the United States is prepared to make use of space as a potential battleground. "My upcoming budget will invest in a space-based missile defense layer," Trump said in remarks at the Pentagon, and it is "ultimately going to be a very, very big part of our defense – and, obviously, of our offense."
Trump signed a one-page memorandum Tuesday authorizing the Defense Department to create the new command. Speaking at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, Vice President Mike Pence said, “a new era of American national security in space begins today.”
