US President Donald Trump has signed a memo to establish a US Space Command as a unified combatant command.
"This action reflects the value of space contributions to national security, the evolution of the threats to U.S. space systems, and the importance of deterring potential adversaries from attacking U.S. space systems," Patrick Shanahan, the Deputy Secretary of Defense tweeted.
He further underscored the urgency of addressing space as a "war fighting domain", hailing the move as a "critical step".
"U.S. Space Command will allow us to accelerate our space capabilities to defend our National interests and deter our adversaries," Shanahan underlined.
Referring to the Space Force and the Space Command, he further said, "Once both organizations are fully operational, the differences between Space Force and U.S. Space Command will largely parallel those of the other five military services and four functional combatant commands."
The Space Force will serve as a force provider for personnel, assets, etc while the Space Command will serve as the operational command that will lead space operations by employing space capabilities.
"We will work with Congress to determine the timeline to full operational capability for US Space Command," the Deputy Secretary lastly said.