Outer space

Congress Wants a New U.S. Military Branch, a ‘Space Corps’

Late last month, the House Armed Services Committee approved a version of the annual U.S. military budget that includes something far from routine—the creation of a new military branch devoted specifically to combat in outer space.

It would be the first new U.S. military branch since the creation of the Air Force in 1947. Today the U.S. Armed Forces consists of the Army, Navy, Marine Corps, Coast Guard, and Air Force.

This “Space Corps,” as outlined in the current version of the 2018 National Defense Authorization Act, would take many functions currently handled by the Air Force and its Space Command and spin them off to a sixth military branch that would report to the civilian Secretary of the Air Force.