Donald Trump is preparing for battles in outer space

• US President Donald Trump established the 'US Space Command' on Thursday.
  
• Trump said that it's a 'big deal' and that US adversaries will now have to deal with 'a whole different ball game'.
  
• He also defined outer space as the 'next warfighting domain'.
  

US President Donald Trump just established the US Space Command to protect the country's interests in the 'next warfighting domain' — outer space.

The creation — technically the 'recreation' — of a military branch to deal with combat in space is "a big deal", according to Trump.

"Those who wish to harm the United States, to seek and challenge us in the ultimate high ground of space — it's gonna be a whole different ball game," he said addressing the press from the White House Rose Garden.

Former US President Ronald Reagan created a similar branch during his tenure in the early 80s. It was disbanded after the 11 September 2001 attacks on the World Trade Center, as when the Pentagon shifted its focus to terrorism.

The next warfighting domain

"Our adversaries are weaponizing Earth's orbits with new technology targeting American satellites which are critical to both battlefield operations and our way of life at home," said Trump.

He added, "Just as we have recognized land, sea, air and cyber as vital warfighting domains — we will now treat space as an independent region overseen by a new unified geographic combatant command."

US Vice President Mike Pence, when announcing Trump's plans for the Space Force, pointed to China's anti-satellite (ASAT) weapons test in 2007 as well as Russian capabilities in outer space.

Support for the Space Force

During his speech, Trump promised that he'll establish the US Space Force as the sixth brand of the armed forces. Space Command, dubbed SpaceCom, will follow Space Force's lead when it comes to organising, training and equipping its missions.

While the bills to establish a Space Force still have to pass in the US Congress — some people have already expressed their support for the initiative.

Billionaire Elon Musk thinks that the Space Force is a 'cool' and 'sensible' idea. "It may be controversial, but I actually like the idea," he told Recode.

Others, like Astonaut Mark Kelly, think it's a 'dumb idea'.

See also:
Trump's Space Force is about beating China, as Beijing's talking like it already owns space

Trump wants to create the first US military branch to fight in space - here's what the 'Space Force' could look like

Steve Carell and the creator of 'The Office' are producing a new Netflix comedy mocking Trump's Space Force