On 18 December, U.S. President Donald Trump officially ordered the creation of the "Space Command", a new organisational structure within the Pentagon that will have overall control of military space operations. But this command will be separate from Trump's goal to create an entirely new branch of the army called "Space Force", which has not received approval from Congress. "I direct the establishment, consistent with United States law, of United States Space Command as a functional Unified Combatant Command," Mr Trump said in a memo to Defence Secretary Jim Mattis.
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| Vice President Mike Pence speaking on 18 December 2018 at the Kennedy Space Center (Picture source: U.S. DoD) |