(RepublicanInformer.com)- Florida will be home to the first two bases for Space Force.
Vice President Mike Pence made the announcement on Wednesday while giving a speech at the National Space Council’s eighth meeting. The first two bases for Space Force will be renamed the Patrick Space Force Base and the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station.
During his speech, Pence said:
“Today, we make history with the first two installations in the history of the United States Space Force to bear the name of this new branch of the service. It is a great day for our military. It is a great day for Florida. It is a great day for America.”
The announcement by Pence is ceremonial right now. It’s just a re-naming of the bases and not an official installation for Space Force. The bases are currently two of several Air Force bases that have a space focus. General John Raymond, the chief of Space Operations, said when Space Force was officially created in late 2019, there were plans to re-name the “principal Air Force bases that house space units to be space bases.”
He explained at the ceremony this week:
“Today, we start a new era at both Cape Canaveral Space Force Station and Patrick Space Force Base, aligning the installation names with their critical missions.”
The Pentagon doesn’t have full authority to transfer any military installations to Space Force just yet. Language in the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2021, which passed the House on Tuesday, includes language limiting that.
As the NDAA reads:
“A military installation (whether or not under the jurisdiction of the Department of the Air Force) may not be transferred to the jurisdiction or command of the Space Force until the Secretary of the Air Force briefs the congressional defense committees on the results of a business case analysis.”
This could just be a temporary delay in fully transferring the installations to Space Force. Pence said one of Space Force’s missions is to build a future base on the moon. That would serve as a base for “training for future deep-space missions.”
He continued:
“We’re going to the moon, and then we’re going to Mars and beyond.”
On the same day as the announcement, President Donald Trump released a new document that outlines a new space policy for the country. It outlines priorities for commercial and civilian space growth, as well as how the administration wants the intelligence community and the military to approach space.
As Trump said in a statement:
“The new National Space Policy is my plan for how the executive branch will advance United States interests in space for the benefit of the American people. By charting a clear course for United States space activities, this policy reaffirms our leadership in the space domain and our status as the world’s foremost spacefaring nation.”
Officials in the Trump administration are behind this plan, specifically because it works to quell fears of development and advancement from both Russia and China in space.
