(Image: One of the U.S. Air Force's X-37B unmanned spaceplanes that orbits for hundreds of days at a time on classified missions.)

Speaking today at Marine Corps Air Station Miramar in San Diego, President Trump said that space is becoming a contested "warfighting domain." He went on to suggest that the United States could need a new military branch to defend space, or a Space Force.

"My new national strategy for space recognizes that space is a warfighting domain, just like the land, air, and sea," Trump said at the California base. "We may even have a Space Force. ... We have the Air Force; we'll have the Space Force."

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President Trump is not the first politician to propose a new military branch for space. The House Armed Services Committee, led by Republican Rep. Mike Rogers and Democrat Rep. Jim Cooper, introduced legislation in 2017 to create a new military branch called the "Space Corps" to serve under the Department of the Air Force, similar to the Marine Corps that serves as part of the Department of the Navy. The committee argued that the Air Force had been neglecting space defenses, and that space leaders within the Air Force did not have the authority or funding they needed to effectively prepare for defense in space.

The Space Corps legislation, which passed in the House version of the 2018 National Defense Authorization Act, was ultimately killed by the Senate. Congress opted to instead restructure space commands within the Air Force. As a result of the NDAA, multiple space units within the Air Force were eliminated, consolidating authority within Air Force Space Command. Secretary of the Air Force Heather Wilson was also stripped of her role as primary space advisor to Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis, and Deputy Secretary of Defense Patrick Shanahan was given the responsibility of overseeing budget and acquisition priorities for space defense.

The Space Corps was opposed by both Mattis and Wilson last year, arguing that the additional bureaucracy would hinder space defense readiness. The creation of a new military branch might be inevitable, however. China and Russia already have dedicated space forces, and the Department of Defense has long been concerned that any possible attack on the United States would begin with an assault on military communications, imaging, and GPS satellites. Generals within the Air Force have discussed the possibility that a Space Force could be required in the future.

Now that President Trump has given his support to the idea, it's possible that lawmakers could try to create a new military branch again.

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