A White House official predicted that a full-fledged Space Force won't become reality until at least sometime in President Donald Trump's second term. | Alex Wong/Getty Images space Trump to approve lean Space Force The presidential directive will set the groundwork for a subsequent legislative proposal for Congress.

President Donald Trump will sign a directive on Tuesday to establish a new branch of the military dedicated to space but instead of being a fully independent department it will remain part of the Air Force to assuage concerns in Congress, a senior administration official told POLITICO.

The presidential directive, formally called Space Policy Directive 4, will set the groundwork for a subsequent legislative proposal for Congress, which will have the final say over what has been a signature military objective since Trump announced his intentions nearly a year ago.


The U.S. Space Force would be the first new military branch since the U.S. Air Force was established out of the Army Air Corps in 1947 — and it will be structured similarly to how the Marine Corps falls under the Department of the Navy.

The initial startup cost for the Space Force is expected to be less than $100 million, the official said. It will include a four-star general as its chief of staff, who will also serve on the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and its top civilian will be a new undersecretary for space.

The approach falls short of Trump's earlier claims that the Space Force would be co-equal with the Army, Navy and Air Force.

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The official stressed, however, that the White House still hopes to achieve that goal.

"We didn’t see a way to go there in one step,” the official said. “The thought was to leverage the facilities and functions already within the Air Force since that’s where the bulk of space capabilities really are."

"We’re trying to moderate things and respond to some congressional concerns," added the official, who agreed to preview the directive on condition he not be identified.

The official predicted that a full-fledged Space Force won't become reality until at least sometime in a Trump second term — after lawmakers have seen the current model function for a couple years.

The administration maintains a Space Force will help counter threats in space from adversaries like Russia and China, which according to a recent report from the Defense Intelligence Agency is pursuing anti-satellite weapons.

“As their actions make clear, our adversaries have transformed space into a warfighting domain already. And the United States will not shrink from this challenge,” Vice President Mike Pence said at the Pentagon in August. “Under President Trump’s leadership, we will meet it head on to defend our nation and build a peaceful future here on Earth and in space.”

Trump last June called for the Pentagon to stand up a military branch focused on space and has since made it a major applause line at his raucous rallies and other public events.

"We are going to have the Air Force and we are going to have the Space Force: separate but equal, it is going to be something so important," Trump said in June.

But the forthcoming directive only orders the secretary of defense to periodically review whether a fully separate department is needed.

In the meantime, the president is calling for all military and civilian personnel now working on space operations to be folded into the new Space Force.

Excluded will be the National Reconnaissance Office, a joint agency run by the Pentagon and intelligence agencies that builds spy satellites, as well as civilian space agencies such as the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration or NASA.

What the Space Force's uniforms will look like is also still up for debate. "It’s probably not wings and squadrons or battalions and brigades,” the official said. “Uniforms reflect ranks and ranks reflect structure. … It might look more like ship departments in the Navy.”

Yet it will ultimately be up to Congress to decide whether a new space service becomes reality and what it looks like.

Leading lawmakers like House Armed Services Chairman Adam Smith (D-Wash.) have expressed concern about creating an expensive new bureaucracy without making military space operations more effective.

“We’ve heard them very clearly about what their concerns are,” said the official, describing recent informal conversations with congressional leaders about the proposed structure. “They’re pleased we’re taking it seriously and that we’re flexible on this.”

But even if it is not everything Trump wanted initially, he added, he would still be achieving his biggest goal: "The president’s top priority was a separate armed service."