US Vice President, Mike Pence, announced on Thursday that the Pentagon has begun planning to create a Space Force, in what would be the first new armed service since 1947.
The Pentagon's plan identifies China and Russia as strategic competitors that are explicitly pursuing space war fighting capabilities to neutralise US space capabilities in a time of conflict.
Loren Thompson, a defence industry consultant and military analyst at the Lexington Institute, called the plan a half-baked idea, saying It will disrupt existing military relationships and add nothing of value.
Thompson thinks a better idea would be elevating an organisation within the Air Force to deal with space.