The United States Space Force was signed into law on December 10, 2019, as part of the 2020 National Defence Authorization Act. It is the sixth branch of the US military service which is tasked with missions and operations regarding the rapidly evolving space domain.
The Space Force is the newest branch of the military after 70 years, following the establishment of the US Air Force in 1947. Its first official "space guy" is Gen. John "Jay" Raymond which will serve as the first chief of space operations and commander of the US Space Command.
According to Space, the goal of the force is to defend the US and partner assets in space, as well as develop capabilities that might be needed in the future, particularly in the 22nd century. Gen. Raymond said that many young people are excited to join the service, but he has one essential requirement for applicants before becoming members of the Space Force.
Space Force Attracting Digitally Fluent Individuals
In the official press release of the US Department of Defense, Gen. Raymond said during the virtual event yesterday at the Halifax International Security Forum that many are excited to join the Space Force and implement the force's goals in the future.
The service is attracting many young people because they think they will be deployed to space. But he said that every member of the Space Force must be digitally fluent.
The service is shifting towards a digital engineering model which means that having a digital headquarters and digitally fluent people on the team is necessary to adopt this digital engineering standard to their model for all acquisitions going forward.
The jobs available in Space Force include acquisition experts, cyber experts, engineers, software programmers, and space operators. The Space Force relies greatly on the Air Force for support functions, such as civil engineering and security forces, according to the press release.
Moreover, Gen. Raymond is proud to say that they are working diligently to integrate with coalition partners, a feat they think they have the most significant gains for the past years. They are also strengthening their interagency partnerships, like NASA and the National Reconnaissance Office.
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Commercial Space Economy in the Future
"We're building a Space Force not just for today, but for 100 years from now," Gen. Raymond said. "We have to build a service that not only can do what it needs to do today, but also has the vision of where it might go."
It is most likely that there could be a commercial space economy valued at over trillion dollars a year in the next decades, and there is a need for enhanced security in that domain. The mission of Space Force is to provide stability across the domain so nations and commercial companies can flourish.
Gen. Raymond added that the service is focused on providing joint and coalition partners space capabilities, such as communications, GPS, situational awareness, and weather updates, that they have become to rely on heavily.
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