- READ MORE: Follow all the political news on our LIVE BLOG
Donald Trump has promised to create a Space Force National Guard if elected president.
The Republican candidate told the National Guard Association of the United States in Detroit that a reserve force is essential for defense in outer space.
Fears that Russia is developing nuclear weapons specifically for use in space have grown in recent months.
Space is also becoming a vital area of national security as adversaries develop their celestial military capabilities.
Trump created the Space Force in December 2019, forming the first new branch of the military since 1947, when the Air Force became its own entity.
Donald Trump has promised to create a Space Force National Guard if he is elected president.
He now wants to include a primary combat reserve, announcing his plans at an event where he won the backing of former Democratic congresswoman and presidential candidate Tulsi Gabbard.
“One of my most significant accomplishments in my first term was creating the Space Force, the first new branch of the military in more than 70 years,” he told the group of about 4,000 members on Monday.
“The time has come to create a Space National Guard as the primary combat reserve of the U.S. Space Force,” he added.
“As president, I will sign historic legislation creating a space National Guard.”
The Space Force operates under the Air Force, similar to how the Marines are part of the Department of the Navy.
The idea of a Space Force National Guard was already raised during the Biden administration.
But the plans have already encountered obstacles in Congress, the Pentagon and state officials.
Governors in 48 states, including Kamala Harris’ running mate Tim Walz, and five U.S. territories said they opposed the plan to move thousands of reserve troops to focus on space missions in April.
Joe Biden had proposed adding about 700 Air National Guard members to the Space Force.
But the governors said the plan would undermine their authority and impact “long-standing alliances” and “military readiness.”
Trump created the Space Force in December 2019 to form the first new branch of the military since 1947, when the Air Force became an independent entity. He presents the flag in the Oval Office in 2020
The Space Force, starting in 2023, will have 14,000 military and civilian members known as “Guardians.”
The agency’s responsibilities (which encompasses a multitude of space functions across the Department of Defense) include satellite acquisition and ensuring GPS and communications systems are accessible.
In April, the Space Force conducted its first test of a ground-based warfare system to protect against attacks “from space” by countries including Russia and China.
The device, which looks like a satellite dish, was designed to jam satellite communications in orbit by overloading radio waves with competing signals.
Moscow has already demonstrated how lethal it can be from space by testing an anti-satellite missile with direct-attack technology in 2021.
Russia has destroyed a decommissioned spy satellite launched in 1982 in a bomb attack, shattering it into 1,500 pieces, sparking outrage around the world.
The U.S. Space Force’s Space Readiness and Training Command (STARCOM) began testing the Remote Modular Terminal (RMT), a satellite jamming device intended to protect troops from satellite-based attacks, earlier this year.
Air Force and Space Force personnel handle RMT equipment during a test of the new system. The devices are designed to be deployed in large numbers and operated remotely.
In 2020, Moscow fired an anti-satellite weapon from its Cosmos 2543 satellite while it was in orbit.
Vladimir Putin has also threatened the West with his most lethal hypersonic missile yet, which could fly into space and hit multiple targets on the ground.
The nuclear-capable Avangard missile, which can reportedly hit targets at 27 times the speed of sound, is seen in new footage installed in an underground launch silo in Russia’s Orenburg region.
The 20,000 mph missile with a hypersonic glide vehicle will be able to leave the Earth’s atmosphere before reaching any target in the world in less than 30 minutes, according to Moscow.