USA planen die Space Force: Amerikanische Stärke im Weltraum (Neufassung)

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Die USA beginnen mit der Aufstellung einer Space Force, einer Weltraumtruppe, die als sechste Teilstreitkraft neben die bestehenden Branches Heer, Marine, Luftwaffe, Marine Corps und Cyber (Korrektur) Küstenwache treten soll. Nachdem US-Präsident Donald Trump das bereits im Juni grundsätzlich angeordnet hatte, erläuterte Vizepräsident Mike Pence am (gestrigen) Donnerstag im Pentagon die Pläne für die Space Force. Eine formale Aufstellung einer neuen Teilstreitkraft muss allerdings vom US-Kongress gebilligt werden.

In seiner Rede im US-Verteidigungsministerium begründete Pence die Notwendigkeit einer solchen Truppe – und warf zugleich den potenziellen Gegnern auf diesem Feld, China und Russland, vor, sie hätten bereits mit der Militarisierung des Weltraums begonnen und ihn zu einem Ort der militärischen Auseinandersetzung gemacht.

Aus dem vom Weißen Haus veröffentlichten Redetext:

The space environment has fundamentally changed in the last generation. What was once peaceful and uncontested is now crowded and adversarial. Today, other nations are seeking to disrupt our space-based systems and challenge American supremacy in space as never before.
For many years, nations from Russia and China to North Korea and Iran have pursued weapons to jam, blind, and disable our navigation and communications satellites via electronic attacks from the ground.
But recently, our adversaries have been working to bring new weapons of war into space itself. In 2007, China launched a missile that tracked and destroyed one of its own satellites — a highly provocative demonstration of China’s growing capability to militarize space.
Russia has been designing an airborne laser to disrupt our space-based system. And it claims to be developing missiles that can be launched from an aircraft mid-flight to destroy American satellites.
Both China and Russia have been conducting highly sophisticated on-orbit activities that could enable them to maneuver their satellites into close proximity of ours, posing unprecedented new dangers to our space systems.
Both nations are also investing heavily in what are known as hypersonic missiles designed to fly up to five miles per second at such low altitudes that they could potentially evade detection by our missile-defense radars. In fact, China claimed to have made its first successful test of a hypersonic vehicle just last week.
China and Russia are also aggressively working to incorporate anti-satellite attacks into their warfighting doctrines. In 2015, China created a separate military enterprise to oversee and prioritize its warfighting capabilities in space.
As their actions make clear, our adversaries have transformed space into a warfighting domain already. And the United States will not shrink from this challenge. (Applause.) Under President Trump’s leadership, we will meet it head on to defend our nation and build a peaceful future here on Earth and in space.
America will always seek peace in space as on the Earth. But history proves that peace only comes through strength. And in the realm of outer space, the United States Space Force will be that strength in the years ahead. (Applause.)

Pences komplette Rede als Video:

Die Space Force soll aus einer Reihe von neuen Institutionen bestehen, die vor allem die Zuständigkeit für Weltraumaktivitäten von der Air Force auf die neue Teilstreitkraft verlagern und bündeln. Aus einem Bericht, den das Department of Defense (DoD) ebenfalls am Donnerstag veröffentlichte:

First, DoD will establish a Space Development Agency to develop and field space capabilities at speed and scale. The Air Force has already begun to transform its Space and Missile Center (SMC). The Department will accelerate and extend this transformation to all services by creating a joint Space Development Agency.
Second, the Department will develop the Space Operations Force to support the Combatant Commands. These joint space warfighters will provide space expertise to combatant commanders and the Space Development Agency, and surge expertise in time of crisis to ensure that space capabilities are leveraged effectively in conflict.
Third, the Department will create the governance, services, and support functions of the Space Force. Many of these will require changes to U.S. law. The Department will build a legislative proposal for Congressional consideration as a part of the Fiscal Year 2020 budget cycle.
Fourth, the Department will create a U.S. Space Command, led by a four star general or flag officer, to lead the use of space assets in warfighting and accelerate integration of space capabilities into other warfighting forces. U.S. Space Command will be responsible for directing the employment of the Space Force.

Die Details werden interessant, und schon nach Trumps Ankündigung war die Frage debattiert worden, ob damit ein neuer bürokratischer Moloch geschaffen wird und ob es nicht gereicht hätte, innerhalb der bestehenden Strukturen ein neues Joint Space Command zu schaffen (unter anderem hier).

Aus US-Sicht folgt die Neuregelung der Trump-Devise Make America great again, wie Pence auch klar sagte:

As the President will discuss in further detail in the days ahead, the United States Space Force will strengthen our security, it will ensure our prosperity, and it will also carry American ideals into the boundless expanse of space.
While other nations increasingly possess the capability to operate in space, not all of them share our commitment to freedom, to private property, and the rule of law. So as we continue to carry American leadership in space, so also will we carry America’s commitment to freedom into this new frontier.

Von außen sieht das allerdings wie der Beginn eines neuen Rüstungswettlaufs und einer zunehmenden Militarisierung des Weltraums aus.

(Foto: DoD photo by Air Force Tech. Sgt. Vernon Young Jr.)