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London’s Mayor, Sadiq Khan, and his colleagues at City Hall have officially given the go-ahead to fly a “yuge” balloon above London during President Trump’s visit scheduled for next week according to The Independent – and Trump supporters are not exactly thrilled at the prospect.

WASHINGTON — If and when a new military branch for space gets off the ground, its ranks would be dominated by airmen. But Army soldiers also would have a role by virtue of much they rely on military satellites in peacetime or in war. More than 70 percent of the Army's major weapons and equipment need satellites to function. About 2,220 active-duty soldiers, reservists and civilians make up the "space forces" under the U.S. Army Space and Missile Defense Command/Army Forces Strategic Command headquartered at Redstone Arsenal, Alabama. "We are the biggest users of space," said Brig. Gen. Tim Lawson,...

The announcement that President Donald Trump wanted to create a “Space Force” that would serve as a co-equal branch of the Armed Forces brought a wide range of reactions. Some experts believed we needed it to defend U.S. interests above the clouds, including protecting our satellites and preventing orbital bombardment by China or Russia. Others posited it as a dangerous step toward the irrevocable militarization of space. And some said it didn’t matter, either because the unilateral expansion of the armed forces is beyond the scope of presidential power, or because Trump says he’s going to do a lot of...

Last week President Trump announced he would be initiating the creation of the “Space Corps” as a sixth branch within the armed forces of the United States. It soon became subject to “Star Wars,” “Star Trek,” and other science fiction themed memes that scorched across the Internet and remains a complex and tentative policy proposal within itself.Nonetheless, it is a strong reminder of both how the Trump Administration has revitalized much of our country’s space programs and the increasing economic and national security need for doing so.President Trump’s announcement follows his directive last year to reconvene the National Space Council,...

Russia has pledged severe repercussions if President Donald Trump’s order to set up a new, space-oriented military branch violates a treaty banning nuclear weapons in the cosmos. Trump said this week he will establish a sixth branch of the military named the “Space Force,” pending budgetary approval from the U.S. Congress. The idea could require the U.S. to withdraw from the Outer Space Treaty of 1967, which prohibits the deployment of weapons of mass destruction but not conventional arms in space. Viktor Bondarev, head of the Committee on Defense and Security of Russia's upper parliamentary house, told the state-run RIA...

Here's a first look at the ranks and insignia designs of the new 6th military branch, the United States Space Force. The ranks are right out of Star Trek's Starfleet Command.

"That's no moon. It's a space station." - Obi Wan Kenobi, Star Wars IV A New HopeAir Force, Space Force: may the Force be with you. At a meeting of National Space Council intended to transfer space responsibilities from military to civilian hands, president Donald Trump surprised attendees by ordering the top US military officer to launch a new branch of the military in space.While the creation of a Space Force has been debated for several years, the move has been opposed by the military, which has instead begun restructuring the Air Force Space Command to better address threats in...

President Donald Trump announced Monday that he has ordered the creation of a new military branch, adding the "Space Force" to the Army, Navy, Marines, Air Force, and Coast Guard. "It is not enough to merely have an American presence in space, we must have American dominance in space. Very importantly I'm hereby directing the Department of Defense and Pentagon to immediately begin the process necessary to establish a space force as the sixth branch of the armed forces, that is a big statement," Trump said at a meeting of the National Space Council on Monday. "We are going to...

President Trump announced on Monday during a press conference that he is aiming at creating a Space Force as soon as possible, and he already ordered the Pentagon to “make it so”. Obviously, service guarantees citizenship, to quote from a famous sci-fi movie from the 90s. The US Space Force would make for an independent service branch and I bet dollars for donuts that today, June the 19th, 2018 will become famous in the future as the day when the US Intergalactic Space Force was created, and all that jazz. Joke aside, President Trump has said on Monday that, just...

US President Donald Trump announced a sweeping new space policy on Monday that will focus both on reducing satellite clutter in space as well as creating a specific “Space Force” as the newest branch of the military. “It is not enough to merely have an American presence in space. We must have American dominance in space,” said Trump, saying that he wished to revive the US’ flagging space program that has been bogged down by rising costs and a lack of political will. Trump said he does not want “China and Russia and other countries leading us.” […] He also...

<p>WASHINGTON — Trump announces he’s directing Pentagon to create ‘space force’ as independent service branch.</p> <p>Copyright 2018 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.</p>

12/7/2007 - PETERSON AIR FORCE BASE, Colo. -- "Air Force Space Command performs a national, and in some cases, an international space mission," said Gen. C. Robert Kehler, the new commander of AFSPC. "The space capabilities we provide today are embedded in all of our combat operations," he said. "They're also embedded in our military operations, short of combat, across the board. In fact, we cannot fight the way America fights today without space capabilities." A central piece of this is the nation's intercontinental ballistic missile mission.

9/1/2007 - PETERSON AIR FORCE BASE, Colo. -- More than 70 senior leaders and experts from across the Services, joint agencies and Intelligence Community came together Aug. 28 at Headquarters Air Force Space Command to discuss the way ahead for Operationally Responsive Space. The objective -- a clearly defined joint process for identifying and developing ORS requirements and capabilities; how they are integrated and deconflicted; and ways to create, follow and use common standards. "We need a new process to get off the ground quickly and deliver effects rapidly," said Gen. Kevin P. Chilton, AFSPC commander. "We need everybody pulling...

On January 11, 2007 the Chinese launched a missile from a mobile transporter-erector launcher (TEL) armed with a kinetic kill vehicle and destroyed the Fengyun-1C weather satellite. This satellite was orbiting the earth in a low, polar orbit. This missile was launched with no advanced warning from the Chinese Foreign Ministry, and they didn’t respond to the test until much later. According to Air Force Space Command, 700 spacecraft in low Earth orbit are now at risk due to the debris cloud created. I would say in addition to the debris cloud, all of our satellites and manned spacecraft, within...

In May the Pentagon issued its “Annual Report to Congress on the Military Power of the People’s Republic of China.” The absence of an explicit overarching Chinese “grand strategy,” the ambiguity of China’s “no first use” policy on nuclear weapons, its red lines regarding intervention in Taiwan, and the vagueness of its definition of what would constitute an attack on its sovereignty or territory are all highlighted in the report. The same goes for the possibility that much of this is due not only to “uncertainties, disagreements, and debates that China’s leaders themselves have about their own long-term goals and...

6/11/2007 - CAPE CANAVERAL AIR FORCE STATION, Fla -- The U.S. Air Force's 45th Space Wing supported NASA's successful launch of Space Shuttle Atlantis from Kennedy Space Center today on a mission to install and activate a new truss segment on the International Space Station. Atlantis carried seven astronauts on its 28th flight and the 118th shuttle mission. Rick Sturckow, a Marine colonel, is commanding the flight. Air Force Col. Lee Archambault joins him in the shuttle's cockpit as the pilot. Several units across the 45th SW played vital roles including helping validate pad readiness after the shuttle rolled out,...

The United States cannot trust that China will restrain itself against exploiting space for weapons and other military uses, and it must bolster its defensive and offensive capabilities high above the Earth, a longtime Senate proponent of missile and space systems said Jan. 29. Conservative Arizona Sen. Jon Kyl, a leading Republican party policymaker in that chamber, also asserted that further arms control agreements regarding space could be "dangerous" in limiting the United States while adversaries continue their developments.

WASHINGTON Oct 18, 2006 (AP)— President Bush has signed an order asserting the United States' right to deny adversaries access to space for hostile purposes. Bush also said the United States would oppose the development of treaties or other restrictions that seek to prohibit or limit U.S. access to or use of space. The provisions were contained in the first revision of U.S. space policy in nearly 10 years. Bush's order, signed more than a month ago, was not publicly announced although unclassified details of his decision were posted on the Web site of the Office of Science and Technology...

NASA and the United States Air Force have formed an aeronautics research partnership. NASA Administrator Michael Griffin and Secretary of the Air Force Michael Wynne signed a Memorandum of Understanding Monday at a Pentagon ceremony. The agreement builds upon and expands on the longstanding relationship between the two organizations. "Although NASA and the Air Force have differing missions, there are common aeronautics research goals that dictate we maintain a close partnership,” Griffin said. “Besides the obvious benefits, it's in the nation's best interest for us to work together.” "This is a great day for aerospace," Wynne added. "It's a renewal...