Space for peace, not 'battleground'

China yesterday said it opposed the “weaponization” of space, as it criticized US President Donald Trump’s orders to create a new command center for controlling military space operations.

“China has consistently proposed the peaceful usage of space, and opposes the weaponization of space and a space arms race,” said Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying.

“We oppose even further turning space into the new battleground.”

On Tuesday, Trump ordered the creation of Space Command, a new organizational structure within the Pentagon that will have overall control of military space operations.

SpaceCom, as it will inevitably come to be known, will be on equal footing with other US military commands, such as Central Command in the Middle East or Indo-Pacific Command in Asia. It will require a new headquarters as well as a commander and deputy commander who will need Senate approval. It will be the Pentagon’s 11th combatant command.

It is not the first military space entity proposed by the US president this year.

In June, Trump said he wanted to create Space Force, an entirely new branch of the military, alongside the Navy, Marine Corps, Army, Air Force and Coast Guard. He insists such a move is necessary to tackle vulnerabilities in space and assert US dominance in orbit.

But its creation is not a done deal, as it needs to be approved by Congress. The concept has met with some skepticism from lawmakers and defense officials wary of the cost and added bureaucracy.

The command will be separate from the 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,” Trump said in a memo to Defense Secretary Defense Jim Mattis.

Speaking at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida’s Cape Canaveral, Vice President Mike Pence said Space Command would integrate space capabilities across all branches of the military.

“It will develop the space doctrine, tactics, techniques and procedures that will enable our war fighters to defend our nation in this new era,” Pence said.

America’s vast military divides the globe into various commands.

The creation of a new Space Force would also set off a turf war within the Pentagon, particularly with the Air Force, which currently is responsible for most space operations.

Pence was in Florida to watch the launch of a SpaceX rocket scheduled to carry a new generation of satellite ordered by the US Air Force that are much harder for adversaries to jam.

Additional GPS III, or third generation, satellites will be launched in the coming years, creating a new constellation of orbiting craft.

The Air Force asked for US$1.5 billion for fiscal year 2019 for the program.

Space plays a vital role in just about every aspect of modern warfare, with many military technologies reliant on a network of orbiting sensors and satellites.

Tuesday’s launch was scrubbed at the last minute due to an issue with some sensor readings, and was rescheduled for yesterday morning. But SpaceX halted the launch yesterday due to a technical issue with its rocket. This meant it failed to complete its first designated national security mission.

The Falcon 9 rocket was due to carry a US$500 million global positioning system satellite into orbit.