Space Force is heading into space

The US Space Force is expected to swear in its first officer in space just as the scope and mission of the new branch of the military are being defined.

Why is this important: The Space Force – one of President Trump’s major space policy initiatives – will continue to be shaped by a new administration with potentially different ideas on how to protect U.S. national security in space.

Inventory: NASA astronaut and Air Force Col. Mike Hopkins is expected to launch onto the International Space Station on Saturday aboard a SpaceX capsule with three other crew members.

• It is not yet clear when Hopkins will be sworn into the Space Force or what the ceremony will look like from orbit.
• He will be the first astronaut to join the service.

The big picture: the commissioning occurs as the White House is in transition and the military branch is forging its own identity.

• The Space Force is often portrayed as a publicity stunt by the Trump administration, while others in the space industry see it as a useful and necessary way to prioritize national security in space.
• But even supporters worry about politicization, and Trump’s branding of the new military wing prevents people from understanding his vital mission.

What they say: The Space Force sees the commissioning “as a way to highlight the decades-long partnership between the DoD [the Department of Defense] and NASA, ”Col. Catie Hague, a spokesperson for the Space Force, told Space News.

• But some space observers see Commander Hopkins’ plans as yet another distraction from the Space Force’s main mission.
• The new branch of the military is supposed to protect assets in orbit and monitor threats to critical infrastructure such as GPS satellites. NASA, on the other hand, is a civilian agency focused on exploration and science.
• “The skills you need to be an astronaut are totally different from those you need to be a space operator in the Space Force,” Todd Harrison, analyst at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, told me, adding this a high-level commissioning risks confusing two very different missions.

Commissioning could also send conflicting messages to NASA partners aboard the station.

• According to Kaitlyn Johnson, also of CSIS, NASA’s international partners may be taken aback by the commissioning – a military show of force – taking place at the station, which relies on diplomatic rather than military power.

What to watch: The Space Force’s strategy in dealing with the public could also change under President Joe Biden.

• It is possible that the Space Force will be treated like other branches of the military and left to its job.
• And while most believe the new service will not be dismantled under Biden, experts warn the Space Force has yet to justify its existence and be taken seriously by members of the public.
• “The Space Force needs to prove its worth and prove that this was not just a whim of President Trump’s idea,” Harrison said.