MILITARIZING SPACE?

Democratic Senator Bill Nelson has said such a move would "rip the Air Force apart." Senator Bernie Sanders said via Twitter "maybe, just maybe" the government should guarantee healthcare "before we start spending billions to militarize outer space."

However, although Pentagon leaders, including US Defense Secretary Jim Mattis, once opposed the idea of a Space Force, they lined up on Thursday to offer their support.

A Pentagon report released on Thursday included interim steps toward the creation of such an organization. A unified combatant command known as the US Space Command would be formed by the end of 2018, according to a copy reviewed by Reuters.

In a nod to the Air Force's current role, the Pentagon report recommended that the Space Command be led initially by the commander of Air Force Space Command, who would be dual-hatted.

One of the arguments in favor of devoting more resources to a Space Force or Space Command is that American rivals appear increasingly ready to strike US space-based capabilities in the event of a conflict.

"It is becoming a contested war fighting domain and we have to adapt to that reality," Mattis said.

The United States is a member of the 1967 Outer Space Treaty, which bars the stationing of weapons of mass destruction in space and only allows for the use of the moon and other celestial bodies for peaceful purposes.

Former astronaut and retired US Navy Captain Mark Kelly on Thursday said that while Pence was right about the threats in outer space, the military was already handling them.

"There is a threat out there but it's being handled by the US Air Force today. (It) doesn't make sense to build a whole other level of bureaucracy in an incredibly bureaucratic Department of Defense," Kelly told MSNBC.

Reuters