U.S. Vice¹ President Mike Pence said Thursday that the United States plans to establish a Space Force by 2020, an idea floated by President Donald Trump² and questioned by many top officers at the Pentagon.

 

美国副总统迈克·彭斯周四表示，美国计划在2020年前打造一支航天部队，这个主意由特朗普提出，五角大楼很多高级官员对此提出质疑。

 

"The time has come to establish the United States space force," Pence told a gathering³ at the Pentagon, citing Trump's directive earlier this year to form the sixth branch of the U.S. armed forces.

 

"It is not enough to merely have an American presence in space. We must have American dominance in space and so we will," Pence said in his speech.

 

In concurrence⁴ with Pence's speech, the Pentagon laid out its plans to form the new branch of the U.S. military in a 15-page report, identifying immediate⁵ steps of action. This includes establishing a Space Development Agency, which is "a joint⁶ organization charged with rapidly developing and fielding next-generation capabilities⁷."

 

The report also called for the creation of a Space Operations Force, which it said will be comprised of career space experts who are "trained, promoted and retained as space war fighting professionals."

 

Also part of the plan is a United Combatant Command-level Space Command, which will have the task to "improve and evolve space war fighting."

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