White House Hopes Revived Space Command Is One Giant Leap Toward Proposed Space Force

Vice President Pence speaks during a meeting of the National Space Council last week in Chantilly, Va. Pence and President Trump have pushed hard for the establishment of a separate Space Force — and they hope the revival of U.S. Space Command will help get them there.

Mark Wilson / Getty Images

President Trump and Vice President Pence are taking one small step that they hope will mark a giant leap toward the military branch they want for outer space. At a ceremony Thursday at the White House, the pair plan to take part in a ceremony commemorating the return of the U.S. Space Command after a 17-year hiatus.

Space Command is a division within the Defense Department tasked with unifying and directing national security operations in space. It’s not to be confused with the Trump-proposed sixth military branch that’s come to be known as Space Force — a plan that faces a much more complicated path because creating a branch of the armed forces requires congressional approval.

Nevertheless, the Trump administration is hailing the revival of Space Command as a milestone in its quest to dedicate troops to the final frontier.