What Is a Space Force?

USAF-NORAD (Photo – Kent Matsuoka).

Perhaps you’ve heard the recent news about the development of a Space Force or ‘Star Wars’ as it applies to national defense. Maybe you’ve even laughed it off as an alien conspiracy theory or an advertising campaign by Lucasfilm to bring attention to its popular franchise. It’s easy to pass off such talk as far fetched ideas that will never come to fruition in our lifetime and that talk of building X-Wing fighters or defending against an alien invasion is a ridiculous waste of taxpayer money.

By Kent Matsuoka

The reality is that space is a legitimate and vital component of our daily lives, not only in terms of national defense, but in controlling the GPS in our cars and phones, relaying live transmissions of sporting events across the globe through communications satellites, and taking the guesswork out of weather forecasting through satellite imagery. Additionally, they’re present in less obvious places that are reliant on the information they provide to operate, such as accurately verifying time for bank and ATM transactions, and synchronizing power grids and detecting anomalies.

While an independent US Space Force may still be a couple years away from reality, existing agencies such as the Air Force Space Command are engaged in tracking some 23,000+ out of 500,000+ man-made objects in orbit around the globe 24 hour a day, 365 day a year, while US Cyber Command works around the clock to insure secure access by the frontline troops dependent on the information they provide. The American public takes advantage of the many secondary benefits the satellites and global networks produce every day without realizing it.

A sixth military branch?

For those of you that follow my writings, you know that my specialty is more in the creative realm rather than the political or military fields. Although we are reliant on these topics for subject matter, the reason for this article isn’t meant to be a patriotic rallying cry in defense of a Space Force, but to raise awareness of existing federal agencies that already do the job as outlined by the White House without the additional costs to be incurred by standing up a sixth military branch, at a time when agencies such as NASA, USCG, and the VA are already struggling for resources as is.

In reality, Space Command is a lot more concerned about the situations portrayed in Gravity than Independence Day, and the brave men and women currently serving in Colorado do as much to monitor and defend against our next likely adversary as the traditional image of battle hardened soldiers deployed to the latest conflict zone.

For fellow creatives imagining how a future Space Force might look or incorporated into your projects, potential stories could start with something seemingly innocuous as GPS jamming or a Denial of Service attack to test the security measures that the frontline commanders write off as a fluke and progress to a system wide infrastructure attack or even a direct attack on our satellite constellation in order deny our troops the technological advantages of satellite communications, satellite guided drone and missile targeting, and satellite imaging intelligence, forcing them to fight using conventional weapons and traditional battlefield tactics instead of with the asymmetrical guidance and air superiority they’re accustomed to.

USAF-Imarasat (Photo – Kent Matsuoka).

Space Command

Mr. Robot has demonstrated that a demand for geeky technologically accurate storylines exists, and there’s one lesson to be learned from the attention given to a Space Force today, that the future of war depends on far more than just the grunts on the ground, but a highly organized and wide ranging system ranging from the forward deployed Joint Terminal Attack Controllers whom are embedded with frontline Army and Marine units to direct close air support and advise ground commanders on the best use of air power, to the drone pilots out at Tampastan, and the Joint Chiefs providing real time analysis at the White House, all of whom all reliant on the wonks at current Space Command to do their job.

Whether or not a Space Force is created by this administration, it’s important to recognize the necessity such an organization plays in modern society, and the need for it to be able to collaborate with other similar organizations such as the Air Force, NASA and JPL to insure not only national security, but to guarantee simple everyday tasks such as ATM withdrawals and the viewing of popular sporting matches on the other side of the globe.

Kent Matsuoka is a producer and location manager in Hollywood. This article was inspired by a recent visit he made to Space Command.