ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — The U.S. Air Force has begun construction on a facility at Kirtland Air Force Base that officials say will play a role in the proposed “space defense.”

The Albuquerque Journal reports the Air Force Research Laboratory’s $12.8 million Space Control Laboratory will consolidate efforts on the New Mexico base.

The new facility will include office and lab space for 65 civilian and military contractors. It will contain a 5,000 square-foot high-bay laboratory space and more than 5,000 square feet of secure office, laboratory and meeting space.

Air Force Col. Eric Felt says space is now “a war-fighting domain.”

President Donald Trump has proposed creating a new U.S. Space Force — a plan that has hit widespread resistance on Capitol Hill.