When Congress created Space Force back in 2019, it looked to some like a wild idea from President Trump had just gone and become the sixth branch of the armed forces. But the US military has been using space for decades, and the importance of space to civilians and the military alike means that Space Force actually has a lot on its plate. As Congress considers the defense budget and the ways military activity in space can evolve, its decisions could have long-lasting consequences.

GUESTS: Maj. Mike Lyons (USA, ret.), Fellow at the Truman National Security Project; Theresa Hitchens, Senior Space Reporter at Breaking Defense; Katherine Kuzminski, Senior Fellow and Director, Military, Veterans, and Society Program at the Center for a New American Security; Dr. Laura Grego, Stanton Nuclear Security Fellow at the MIT Laboratory for Nuclear Security and Policy

Special thanks to Dr. Robert Farley.

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES:

What's With All the U.S. Space-Related Agencies?, US Department of Defense.

Space Threat Assessment: 2021, Center for Strategic and International Studies.

The Politics of Space Security, James Clay Moltz, Stanford University Press.

Biden’s 2023 defense budget adds billions for U.S. Space Force, Sandra Erwin, Space News.