(rocket booming) (pensive string music) - [Narrator] Once born
through the imagination of science fiction writers, space warfare now poses the
greatest technological threat to life as we know it. In the 21st century, almost every aspect of our lives hinges on the use of
satellites orbiting our planet. Everything we do
is tied to space. Satellites underpin the
entire digital economy, allowing billions of
dollars of commerce to be sent throughout the world, enabling weather forecasting, and cl
imate change
tracking of wildfires to the receding ice caps, as well as making agricultural
and industrial processes more efficient and on time. Not only do they make
the world go round, they also make it more safe, providing military personnel with secure and
immediate communications in times of national and
international threat. Since the dawn of
the satellite era, space has been cluttered
with more and more technology for societal and
warfare advancements. With threats from
unidentifi
ed aerial objects and identified states
ever increasing, comes a new age of defense, protecting assets and
asserting dominance in the final frontier. - The Space Force, the first new branch of
the United States Military since the Air Force was
created almost 75 years ago. - [Narrator] Come with us as we dissect humanity's
voyage into outer space and preparation for the
dawn of galactic warfare. (tense music) - What do you think are the
chances of a third world war? - Well, I think that p
rovided the nations of the free
world don't throw away everything we've done
in the last 10 years in building up a tremendous
deterrent to aggression, provided that is
understood and done, then I think the chances
of a third world war, in any future we can
foresee, are very small. - Are these Russian sputniks
a threat to world peace? - No, I think the people
have become rather, the word would be
emotionally disturbed by the satellite, which
had to come scientifically and which I said
so
two years ago. It has military
significance, of course, because it will enable you to photograph your
enemy's country. Eventually the satellite
will be controlled, and we will have eventually television equipment
inside of it. All those sorts of
things will come, but I don't see why it should
be a affect to the peace. I think it's just a
scientific advance. I think the deterrent
to aggression on the part of any ruler
today is very great. - Oh yes. I think
it's easy to explain. I think
there are
two basic factors in the change of Russian
attitude towards the West. One is the nuclear bomb. They know if that ever goes off it will destroy
Russian completely. And the other is a
presence, physical presence, of China on a very undefended
and a very long frontier. Not an immediate menace,
but certainly a menace when they get a nuclear weapon. - The department's
principle priorities are long-term strategic
competitions with
China and Russia. Given the magnitude of
the threats
they pose to US security and
prosperity today, Congress must commit
to both an increased and sustained investment
in our capabilities. - China and Russia
continue to invest across the full range of
nuclear, cyber, space, and conventional capabilities. Both states are focused
on limiting our ability to project power and undermine the credibility
of our alliances. - Space is one of our
vital national interests in the sense of our use of
space, our operations in space. And it is becoming a
contested war-fighting domain, and we have got to
adapt to that reality. - As their actions made clear, our adversaries have
transformed space into a war-fighting
domain already. And the United States will not
shrink from this challenge. (cameras clicking) - [Reporter] Big, isn't it? Big and challenging
and threatening. Within the last few years, this space environment
has become tenanted with scores of
orbiting satellites, penetrated by hundreds
of space probes, crossed by thousands
o
f missiles. The shape of things to come
will bring new challenges: the exploration of space
and the peaceful uses of its environment
and new threats, the dangers of
national annihilation or blackmail by space weaponry. To face the challenge, to
guard against the threat, we must able to
detect, identify, and track many space objects
instantly and concurrently. - [Narrator] To understand
the battle for dominance in the final frontier, we must look back
through history to the precursor
of the ICBM, the Intercontinental
Ballistic Missile. Out of the horrors of war came
a technological advancement that would change the course
of human history forever. This is the inception
of space travel, and it begins in Nazi Germany. - [Reporter] The terror
weapon known as the B2 was to run the gamut of
many dangerous failures before its ultimate
successful launching. But from these failures,
Germany was to fashion the grandfather of the
space vehicles to come. Some of the misfires, as
illustrated in this
captured German film, made sensational viewing. But finally, failure
turned into success and Adolf Hitler had a
new and horrible weapon with which to terrorize
the British Empire. - [Narrator] The race to survive meant consistently
improving technology. This was the genesis
of the rocket missile. Rockets were initially developed for the purpose of
long-range destruction. Regardless of their intent,
this changing technology captivated new interest in
engineering and milit
ary might. They would attempt
to send the rocket much farther than an attack
on neighboring countries. However, the advanced technology
also provided humanity with potential access to go
even further into the cosmos. (edgy techno music) - [Reporter] General Bernie
Schriever, Air Force retired. Missile builder,
former commander, Air Research and
Development Command. - Oh, there was no
question that the ICBM would be coming along,
once you had the V2. As a matter of fact, the
Germans had
on the drawing board an intercontinental
ballistic missile. I can recall a speech I made
in San Diego, California early in 1957, in which I stated that we had the wherewithal to
go into space in a real way. It was strange that I
received a wire the next day from the Pentagon which said, "Don't use the word space in any of your speeches
in the future." The Air Force has been on the
leading edge of technology and it's played
a very important, innovative role in this country. Space, of cour
se,
was a major spinoff. The ICBM program provided the
platform to get into space, and we're still using
a lot of ICBM systems in our space work. (rocket booming) - [Narrator] From the beginnings
of the V2 missile in 1942 came the understanding
that this rocket had the potential technology to reach heights never
before imaginable. After the Soviets
gained possession of the V2 manufacturing
facilities, production of these
rockets began. On the 4th of October, 1957, Sputnik 1 became the
first artificial satellite to be launched into space. This was the next step in
the evolution of mankind and signaled the start
of the space race. The launch of Sputnik
1 sparked fear amongst American establishment that the Soviet Union
now had the capability to reach their soil with
missile bombardments. - [Interviewer] So what do you
see as the West's next step? - Well, we've gone over a
number of steps, as you know, and in New York this time we were able to arrange, at least I'm confid
ent we
shall be able to arrange an agreement to prevent weapons
getting into outer space. Rather remote, perhaps,
from the ordinary person, but not at all remote
if you will think of putting weapons there, because you can pinpoint targets on the earth from satellites
just as you can photograph, and no doubt that
you could shoot. And so that is really
rather a big move. I'd hope that the next
agreement would be to concentrate on
getting observers over the whole of the NATO
and Warsa
w-packed area. But the Russians have taken
that back to look at it. It's now going to be
considered in Geneva when the disarmament
conference reassembles. I would hope still that
that would be the next step, although there are great
difficulties, apparently, as to what the Russians
are going to do. - [Narrator] As
tensions increased, the Soviet Union began
to exhibit their power with the launch of Sputnik 2. America had to catch up. - Well, to my way of thinking, the existence of these tw
o
satellites and their orbits constitutes for
us in this country possibly the greatest
military threat that we have ever had to face. I say that because it is
possible that the threat is not only of a different
order of magnitude to any of those we have
had to face before, but it has an entirely
different character. In the past, threats
to this country have been threats of invasion, surface invasion as you might
say, by sea and by land, by what they call
conventional means. There have
been threats that
it was possible to envisage in ordinary, everyday terms, and against which one could
prepare to defend oneself. The threat posed now
by these satellites is not of just invasion and
traditional battle fighting. It is a threat of total
and absolute annihilation of this country and
everything in it. Now, as I say, the threat
may be of that magnitude now. Everything depends, at
the moment, in my view, on the fate of
that wretched dog. If it is possible for the
Russians t
o bring their dog either alive or in
recognizable form back to the surface of the earth at some predetermined point, then indeed our danger is acute. Because it means
that instead of a dog it may be possible
to deliver a bomb, a megaton hydrogen bomb
at a predetermined point on the surface of this globe. And if that predetermined point happens to be in this country, as I say, we face the threat
of total annihilation. In general terms, therefore, we have every right to
be extremely appreh
ensive about future developments. And in my view, there
has been a total and absolute revolution in
the balance of military power. - [Narrator] On the
31st of January, 1958, the USA finally broke
into the new frontier and launched satellite
Explorer 1 into orbit. - As part of the
US International
Geophysical program, a scientific earth satellite
was placed in orbit at five seconds after 10:55 PM by means of the
Jupiter-C rocket vehicle launched by the army at
Cape Canaveral, Florida. - [
Narrator] From the success
of the two satellite launches, President John F. Kennedy
expressed keen interest in the space race, and
began to expand the minds of most Americans past
the limitations of earth and entertain the
opportunities of advancement space can offer. - Now it is time to
take longer strides, time for a great new
American enterprise, time for this nation to
take a clearly leading role in space achievement, which in many ways may hold
the key to our future on earth. (crow
d applauding) (pensive music) - [Narrator] Though his
speech inspired the nation about the prospect
of a new world beyond the earth's atmosphere, it didn't speed up
scientific development as once again, the American
space team were overshadowed when the Soviet Union sent
the first man into space. - [Reporter] Everything
was in readiness at the launching site. The epoch baking
hour had arrived. - [Narrator] Yuri Gagarin,
on 12th April, 1961. - [Reporter] Gagarin and Titov
were on the
ir way together to the cosmodrome. Should the need arise, the backup man would
replace his friend. Gagarin was full of
energy and good humor and in good spirits. The first strides into the
unknown were about to be made. And then what? Then man would
conquer solar space and acquire might and
boundless power over nature. - [Narrator] Gagarin completed
an orbit of the earth in 89 minutes, which
transformed him into an instant worldwide
celebrity and a national hero. He was awarded
the Ord
er of Lenin and given the official title of the hero of the Soviet Union. - [Reporter] The red square. The man who has
been in outer space has now returned to the
heart of the Soviet Union. (crowd cheering) - [Narrator] The
successful orbit was another blow to
the United States as it had already scheduled
its first flight into space in May of the same year. Immediate research
and development began regarding space survival and preparations for astronauts to be able to withstand
the environm
ent that is outside the
earth's atmosphere. The excitement of potential
space travel for humans increased advancements
in astronaut training, focusing on how
the body would cope with the changing
pressures and zero gravity. (radio chattering indistinctly) On the fifth of May, 1961, the US finally
entered the space race with their launch of Freedom 7 with Alan B. Shepard onboard, making him the first
American to go into space. (indistinct radio chatter) - Liftoff.
- All right now! Liftoff
and the
clock is started. (indistinct radio chatter) Yes, sir, reading
you loud and clear. This is Freedom 7.
The fuel is go, 1.2G. Cabin at 14 PSI. - [Narrator] The entire
flight's information was recorded from
launch to recovery to be made available to
anyone who was interested about learning of the
achievements from that day. - Ladies and gentlemen, I want to express
on behalf of us all, the great pleasure
we have in welcoming Commander Shepard and
Mrs. Shepard here today. And I t
hink it does a credit
to him that he is associated with such a distinguished
group of Americans whom we're all glad
to honor today, his companions in the
flight to outer space. (dramatic string music) - [Narrator] 20th
February, 1962, John Glenn became the first
American to orbit the earth. He spent four hours and
56 minutes in flight and managed seven rotations
of the earth's orbit. He was commended by
the president for
this historic flight, which led him to
become a national hero, t
he embodiment of
the American dream. (victorious band music) - There are milestones
in human progress that mark recorded history. In my judgment, this nation's
orbital pioneering in space is of such historic stature, representing as it
does a vast advancement that will profoundly influence
the progress of all mankind. It signals also a
call for alertness to our national opportunities
and responsibilities. It requires physical
and moral stamina to equal the stresses
of these times and a
willingness
to meet the dangers and the challenges
of the future. - [Narrator] The battle of
technological achievements between the Soviet Union and
the US only increased tension. - I believe that this
nation should commit itself to achieving the goal
before this decade is out of landing a man on the moon and returning him
safely to the earth. - [Narrator] After a
couple of quiet years, NASA had developed a mission
to circle the moon: Apollo 8. This was the first mission
of the Apo
llo program determined to bring
humans to the moon. It was a six-day
mission that lifted off on 21st December, 1968
with a crew of three men. Throughout their
20-hour period in orbit, the crew conducted a full
sleepless schedule of tasks which included land marking
and landing site tracking, and different methods
of photography. The mission was triumphant with
bringing humans to the moon, but left scientists
with the major task of trying to figure out
how to safely begin to land on the l
unar surface and allow
humans to walk on the moon. (dark pensive music) - [Radio Operator] Apollo
satellite launch control, T-minus three hours,
four minutes, 32
seconds and counting. Right on time as far as
the astronaut countdown is concerned. The prime crew now departing
from their crew quarters. (rocket blasting) - On the 20th July, 1969,
history was made in space. America took the upper hand. Mission Apollo 11 was launched and had intentions of allowing
men to walk on the moon. The
whole experience
was broadcast to America as they shared the experience
with the astronauts. - [Mission Control] 60 seconds. - [Buzz] Lights on. 40 feet,
down 2.5. Picking up some dust. 30 feet, 2.5 down, faint shadow. Four forward. Drifting
to the right a little. - 30 seconds.
- 30 seconds. Contact light. Okay. Engine stop. - [Mission Control] Base
here. The eagle has landed. - [Neil] I'm gonna
step off the LEM now. That's one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind. Buzz is erecti
ng the
solar wind experiment now. - [Narrator] They placed a
flag of the United States in view of the camera so
the nation could witness. They then spoke with the
then president Richard Nixon through a telephone
radio transmission, which Nixon called the
most historic phone call ever made from the White House. All of which would be
impossible without the nexus of artificial satellites
that encircle our globe. - [Richard Nixon]
For every American, this has to be the
proudest day of ou
r lives. And for people all
over the world, I am sure they too join with us in recognizing what an
immense feat this is. Because of what you have done, the heavens have become
a part of man's world. And as you talked to us
from the sea of tranquility, it inspires us to
redouble our efforts to bring peace and
tranquility to earth. For one priceless moment,
in the whole history of man, all the people on this
earth are truly one, one in their pride in
what you have done. - [Narrator] Tensi
on
between the adversaries grew with every human
accomplishment achieved. (pensive piano music) The space race will always be
a monumental time in history. From the initial achievement
of breaking earth's gravity to a crew of humans living
in space for two months, nobody could predict the rapid
developments of space travel, the landmarks it
would accomplish and innovations it would birth. Those rapid
developments included the launching of satellites
for a multitude of purposes. Every yea
r since 1957, a country has attempted to
put a satellite into orbit. (dramatic music) - [Reporter] At Cape
Canaveral, Florida, the army's Jupiter-C
rocket is ready for America's second attempt
to launch a space satellite. No relation to the IRBM Jupiter, this is a rebuilt Redstone, a 200-mile missile carrying
instead of a warhead three stages of solid
fuel booster rockets and the Explorer, a six-foot
bullet only inches across crammed with electronic gear. 30 pounds of payload. Jupiter-C s
tands poised
on its launching pad. The hours-long countdown
approaches zero, a moment of enormous tension, for every missile launching
is still an experiment. Any one of tens of thousands
of things can go wrong with catastrophic results, but all that can be done to
ensure perfection has been done. The moment is at hand, the
countdown reaches zero. (rocket blasting)
(pensive string music) These are the dry facts that will help carry
a man ever farther. - [Narrator] As human
presence increa
sed in space over decades, so
have the threats to the progress
we have achieved. The technological
assets put into space that amounts to an
incalculable sum of money and underpins the way
we live our lives today is in need of defending. Preparation for warfare
in space dates back to the inception of space travel as the United States looked to nullify the
Russian probe Sputnik. 1959 saw the first
anti-satellite weapon test as America showed off
its early capabilities by firing a missile
at
its own defunct satellite, triggering the beginning
of space warfare. October 1963, the United Nations unanimously backs the need to prohibit weapons of mass
destruction in outer space. Three years of proposals later, the Outer Space Treaty is born, effectively ending the threat of space being used as an
offensive military position. Throughout history,
many treaties are signed with the aim of peace. Some fail, leaving many
to pose the question: if treaties on earth fail to
work in a lot
of instances, why would it work in space? Though the treaty ended
the use of nuclear weapons sent from space, limited the
use of astronomical bodies for peaceful purposes,
and forbids bases and weapons testing on celestial
bodies, such as the moon, it does not ban superpowers from having a military
presence in space, allowing the establishment
of military space forces and the arming of conventional
weapons in the ether. - We'll have to take out the
geosynchronous satellites which are co
mmand
control communications. It would certainly
be a very valuable or very high priority target. - Do you think the Soviet
Union is more advanced in space weaponry? - Yes, I think so. I can't get into our
intelligence estimates for classification on that, but I feel they're ahead
of us in laser technology for a space-based system. Those satellites that
are providing information to the commanders on the ground that are destroying
our resources, certainly if we could
take out that capab
ility from the Soviet commanders,
we would do that. - [Narrator] Fast
forward to 2018. - Space is a
war-fighting domain, just like the
land, air, and sea. We may even have a space force, develop another
one, space force. We have the Air Force.
We'll have a Space Force. We have the Army, the Navy. You know, I was
saying the other day, 'cause we're doing a tremendous
amount of work in space. I said, "Maybe we
need a new force. We'll call it the Space Force." And I was not really seriou
s. And then they said,
"What a great idea. Maybe we'll have to do it." - [Narrator] Though widely
seen as a vanity project for President Trump,
the debate surrounding the creation of a space
force is nothing new. Protecting and monitoring
of activity in our orbit has always been a defense issue, and at the forefront
of military minds for the last few decades. From 1947, space defense has
been under the jurisdiction of the Air Force, until 1982 when a subdivision
of the Air Force was cre
ated called the Air
Force Space Command. The appreciation of
its power was felt in its first major employment
during the Gulf War, often referred to as
the first space war. Capabilities to pinpoint
military and ballistic targets, as well as protecting vital
communications from satellites, gave the American-led coalition the upper hand on all fronts. (artillery booming) The increased presence
and potentiality of war from American adversaries reignited the debate
for the creation of a sixth b
ranch of the
greatest military body in the world: a space force. As our lives rapidly
became intrinsically linked with the technology in
our upper atmosphere, Congress questioned
whether the Air Force could handle the
latest challenges. January, 2001, a space
commission headed by Donald Rumsfeld
put forward the need for an overhaul of
national space policy, wanting to give the president
power to deploy weapons in need of a deterrence or
to protect US interests. In response, China star
ted
its own space defense program and pursued anti-satellite
defense systems. Events later that year
put efforts to evolve the Air Force's space
command on the back burner. (people shouting) (woman screams) The following year, the US
Space Command is inactivated, spurring China and Russia to pursue further dominance
in the final frontier, developing an array of
counter space weaponry. United States adversaries
saw their opportunity. - How can we believe that
the Russian Federation is
serious about preventing
an arms race in outer space when they are the ones
that are developing ground launched
anti-satellite weapons that would not be prohibited
by their own draft treaty. Russia is not a
responsible actor who intends to uphold
its obligations under arms control and
disarmament agreements. And when China has deployed an operational ground-based
anti-satellite missile intended to target
low-earth orbit satellites with likely research on
anti-satellite capabilities de
signed to threaten all orbits. - [Narrator] January 11th, 2007. In an act of flexing
their own superiority, China conducts an
anti-satellite missile test on their own weather satellite, the first seen since 1985. The impact from the
kinetic kill vehicle traveling at 18,000
miles per hour created over 2,000 pieces
of trackable space debris. The debris, along with more
than 27,000 other pieces that orbits us today, poses a serious threat to the
international space station, future space fli
ght, and
robotic missions into space and has to be routinely
tracked by military radars. The successful
destruction sent a warning to the US establishment. China's dominance in
the final frontier expanded with the
creation and modification of their answer to America's
global positioning system, the BeiDou Satellite
positioning system. By 2020, the constellation
of satellites had overtaken its
US rival in size, a shift with potentially
huge implications for both high-tech industry
a
nd national security. The US had long been
the world leader in satellite-based positioning. Change was necessary. (soft edgy music) - [Pilot] Nickel 6, one
tango. (indistinct). - Whoa! Hey!
(pilot laughing) - [Pilot] There's a whole
fleet of 'em! Look on the SA. - [Pilot] My gosh! They're all going
against the wind. The wind's 120
knots to the west. - [Pilot] Look at
that thing, dude. - [Narrator]
Throughout that time, threats from an unknown source began to highlight
a lack of contro
l the US had over its airspace. - Is it our own technology?
Is it the Chinese? Is it the Russians? Because at the end of
the day, come what may, they've got to look at this
in an objective manner. - Someone in the military
is sick and tired of the lies and
the disinformation that they keep bringing forward and, you know, fobbing
off to the general public. Someone wanted this out
and I'm glad that they did because they were the only
ones that could do this. If it was the likes
of me
or, you know, someone else coming
forward with, "Oh, look at this film
footage of this UFO," they wouldn't buy it,
they wouldn't have it. It had to come from
a official source. - And there was no visual
wings or aero foils, you know, that you would expect
to see on an aircraft. - They said, "Well, it could
be the Russians or China. We don't think it
is, but it might be." So is that sort
of a backdoor way of saying we need more money
for the defense budget, just in case these things
a
re our foreign adversaries? - Have they devised
some fantastic craft that can exceed the
capabilities of modern aircraft? And if so, we have to be
very concerned with that. So obviously we have
to look over the fence to the possibilities that
it's another country. That said, ask me, I still believe we're
dealing with something extraterrestrial or
interdimensional. - [Narrator] Whether it is from
paranormal or normal origin, the official military videos of unidentified
aerial phenomenon
captured and released by
the United States Navy shows that someone, terrestrial
or extraterrestrial, is testing the United States'
capabilities of defense. One earthly possibility for
the source of these phenomenon lies within the advancement
of laser technology. Though some of the videos were
shot before its disclosure, in 2017, Russia
announced it had achieved next generation
laser technology. It is not beyond the
realms of imagination that Russia had been
testing its capacity, proj
ecting images
to test its foe. High powered lasers remain
one of the biggest threats with capabilities to recharge
unchallenged in space. Laser weaponry has the
potential to pick off satellites one by one in lower
earth's orbit, creating havoc on
its societies below. - Our nation of pioneers still yearns to
conquer the unknown because we are Americans and the future
belongs totally to us. Once more we will
launch intrepid souls blazing through the sky and
soaring into the heavens. Onc
e more we will summon
the American spirit to tame the next great
American frontier. And once more we will
proudly lead humanity. And that's what it is. It's humanity beyond the earth and into those forbidden skies, but they will not be
forbidden for long. Very importantly,
I'm hereby directing the Department of
Defense and Pentagon to immediately begin
the process necessary to establish a space
force as the sixth branch of the armed forces. That's a big statement. We are going to
have
the Air Force and we are going to
have the Space Force, separate but equal. - Our adversaries
have transformed space into a war-fighting
domain already. And the United States will not
shrink from this challenge. (crowd applauding) 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 th
e realm of outer space, the United States Space
Force will be that strength in the years ahead.
(crowd applauds) And over the past 18 months, President Trump and our
entire administration have taken decisive action to strengthen American
power in space as well. President Trump recently
signed the largest investment in our national defense since
the days of Ronald Reagan. Now the time has come to
write the next great chapter in the history of
our armed forces, to prepare for the
next bat
tlefield where America's best and
bravest will be called to deter and defeat a
new generation of threats to our people, to our nation. The time has come to establish the United States Space Force. Now to be clear, the Space Force will not
be built from scratch because the men
and women who run and protect our nation's
space programs today are already the
best in the world. Since the dawn of the space age, America has remained
the best in space. As President Trump has said,
in his words, "
It is not enough to merely have an American
presence in space. We must have American
dominance in space." And so we will.
(crowd applauds) - Senator Barbara
Mikulski fought valiantly to make sure that NASA and the
International Space Station did not have
Chinese involvement. But more recently, the Chinese are pushing
harder and harder. They've even got a movie
called "The Martian" where they show how the
Chinese space program rescues the Americans. They're pushing
very hard to acquire so
me of our most
sensitive space technology and to get Americans to come and invest in these
companies in China and to bring the high
technology with them. So the concrete examples you're
asking for, Mr. Chairman, I would say they're
more than a hundred. (woman speaking in Chinese) - We know we must deal
with these challenges across all domains, not just
the usual air, land, and sea, but also especially in cyber
electronic warfare in space where our reliance on
technology has given us grea
t strengths and
great opportunities, but also lead to
vulnerabilities that adversaries are eager to exploit. Key to our approach
is being able to deter our most
advanced competitors. We must have and be seen to have the ability to
ensure that anyone who starts a conflict with us will regret having done so. In our budget, our
capabilities, our readiness, and our actions we must
and will be prepared for a high-end enemy, what
we call full spectrum. In this context,
Russia and China are our
most
stressing competitors as they've both
developed and continue to advance military
systems that seek to threaten our advantages
in specific areas. We see them in Crimea, Syria,
and the South China Sea. In some cases, they're
developing weapons and ways of war that seek
to achieve their objectives rapidly before they
think we can respond. (crowd applauding) - We will now treat space
as an independent region overseen by a new unified
geographic combatant command. The establishment
of the
11th Combatant Command is a landmark moment. This is a landmark day, one that recognizes
the centrality of space to America's national
security and defense. SpaceCom will soon be
followed very importantly by the establishment of the
United States Space Force as the sixth branch of the
United States Armed Forces. We know the best way
to prevent conflict is to prepare for a victory. - On behalf of the
space war fighters, thank you for your leadership. (crowd applauding) (crowd applau
ding) - [Narrator]
December 20th, 2019, Joint Base Andrews, Maryland. (patriotic band music) - Now it is my honor to
introduce to you my husband, President Donald Trump. (crowd applauding) - Thank you. Well, thank you very much,
and thank you, Melania. And hello, Joint Base
Andrews. A special place. At ease. We have
good news for you. This is a truly historic day for the American Armed Forces. In just a few minutes, I
will proudly sign into law the largest ever investment
in the Unite
d States Military. In fact, I can say the
largest ever by far. The law I'm signing today
provides 738 billion. That's with a B. $738 billion in defense
funding for the 2020. That's an all-time record in
the history of our country. That's the highest amount we've
ever spent on our military. And that's after 700
billion in my first year and 716 billion last year. And it's all made right here
in the USA. Very important. (crowd cheering) - [Narrator] Having passed
the House vote of 377 to 48 a
nd the Senate vote, the National Defense
Authorization Act for 2020 takes effect when Trump's
pen hits the paper. The act authorizes a
top-line defense budget of $738 billion that
includes the inception of a sixth branch of the US
Military: the Space Force. General J. Raymond
becomes the first chief of space operations, tasked with protecting
the nation on the
latest battlefront. - Okay, we'll sign this. This is the thickness.
Can you believe that? - [Narrator] The bill
sanctions the
use of a $15.4 million budget for
the first year of Space Force increasing by $2.6
billion by 2025. - It's now signed. (crowd cheering)
(hopeful electronic music) - [Narrator] Most of the
16,000 Air Force personnel under Space Command, the
subdivision of the Air Force, will become the first
recruits into the new force. - We launched the first new
branch of the US Armed Forces in nearly 75 years
since the Air Force. We launched the Space
Force. Very, very important. (crowd cheering)
- 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. - [Narrator] January, 2020,
two Russian cosmos satellites converge on a US spy
satellite, the KH-11. Through diplomatic
channels, American officials successfully persuade Russia to alter their
satellite's trajectory. July, 2020, in a first,
US personnel detect and accuse Ru
ssia
of a space-based anti-satellite weapons test when one of the two
Russian satellites, Cosmos 25-43, fires a
projectile into outer space. The alleged act of
aggression from its enemy demonstrates the need for its
newly devolved military arm. The threat brought into view the ease at which its
adversaries could wreak havoc. - We rebuilt our military. (crowd applauds) This president signed
the largest increase in our national defense since
the days of Ronald Reagan and created the firs
t new
branch of our armed forces in 70 years, the United
States Space Force. (crowd cheering) - We also launched
the Space Force, the first new branch of
the United States Military since the Air Force was
created almost 75 years ago. - After years of budget cuts, this president
rebuilt our military. We restored the
arsenal to democracy and we're once again
giving our soldiers, sailors, airmen,
Marines, and Space Force the resources that they
need to defend this nation. - You never hea
rd me say... A lot of you were
at various rallies. You never heard me
talking about Space Force. That's something we
never talked about. I only figured that one out
after I became president because I saw what
Russia was doing and what China was doing. I said, "We have to
do the same thing." And if you think that was
easy, that was not easy. That was not easy.
It was very hard. - [Narrator] The Space
Force motto, sempra supra, meaning "always above," represents the service's
role in
establishing, maintaining, and preserving
US freedom of operations in the ultimate high ground. Pushing back against criticism that the badge is a
knockoff "Star Trek" design, officials declared the
Delta wing signifies the US Space Force's upward
trajectory into space, represents the launch vehicles that send satellites into orbit, and evokes change
and innovation. (rocket booming) Naturally, the newly
dedicated military service, tasked with the protection
of American interests among
the stars, will
cooperate with NASA on planetary defense. Not only will they
track space junk, they will also map
asteroid threats. Few threats imaginable
are as devastating as an asteroid or
comet collision. Similarly to the fate
of the dinosaurs, large impacts have the ability to bring about mass extinction. To some, an asteroid
threat could lead to a global cooperation
to save civilization, providing the greatest
potential key to peace on earth. (explosion booms)
(eerie music)
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