Vice President Mike Pence lauded U.S. leadership in the global space industry and renewed the Trump administration’s call to stand up a new Space Force at the Pentagon in a May 6 keynote speech at SATELLITE 2019.
Pence highlighted the Trump administration’s efforts to roll back federal regulations and pass tax cuts that benefited American businesses. The space industries contributed to more than 260,000 new jobs created in the prior month, he noted.
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Two years ago, the satellite industry alone generated $350 billion in revenue, with studies predicting growth to more than $1 trillion annually over the next two decades. “Space companies have driven incredible economic growth here in the united states and frankly around the world,” he said.
The administration has developed the country’s first-ever space traffic management policy through the Department of Commerce. This summer, the Commerce Department plans to release the first components of its new open architecture data repository for Space Situational Awareness.
On the Space Force, Pence pledged that “the United States Space Force will soon be a reality,” noting that the legislative proposal puts it under the Air Force, similar to how the Marine Corps sits under the Navy.
Pence warned of adversaries including Russia, China, North Korea, and Iran pursuing weapons to jam, blind, and disable U.S. assets. “Our competitors and our adversaries have been aggressively developing and deploying technologies that put our technology and put our prosperity and security at risk,” he said.
“History shows that peace comes through strength. In the realm of outer space, the United States Space Force will give us that strength,” he said. VS
