Deputy Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan on Thurs

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Deputy Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan on Thursday said Pentagon officials do not yet know how much it will cost to establish President Trump’s desired "Space Force" but assume it would cost "billions."

Really, ya think? I'm much more worried about a 'mine shaft gap' vis-à-vis the Russkies

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ybSzoLCCX-Y&a...adio=1#t=0

“We have not done cost estimation yet,” Shanahan told reporters at the Pentagon, adding that he expects he won’t have a more concrete number until November.

Trump in March first announced his desire to create a Space Force, and in June directed the Pentagon to begin creating the new military branch.

Vice President Pence followed up by announcing Thursday at the Pentagon that the administration will seek to create the Space Force as the sixth branch of the military, to be established by 2020.




Several lawmakers have already hit back at the move as being costly and unnecessary.

“The VP just announced a new military branch - a 'Space Force,' because no [Republican] is willing to tell POTUS it’s a dumb idea,” Sen. Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii), wrote on Twitter. “Although 'Space Force' won’t happen, it’s dangerous to have a leader who cannot be talked out of crazy ideas. Elect D’s to check POTUS power.”

Rep. Tulsi Gabbard


(D-Hawaii) wrote on Twitter that the Space Force will mean “more money for defense contractors” while “Flint still does not have clean water. Puerto Rico is still struggling to recover from Hurricane Maria. Infrastructure across the country is failing. People are going homeless because they can't afford rent & more. Priorities?”

And former NASA astronaut Mark Kelly said Trump's plan for a new military space branch is “redundant” and “wasteful.”

Other lawmakers, however, expressed their support for a Space Force, calling it a “much-needed” advancement of U.S. defense policy.

“We have been warning for years of the need to protect our space assets and to develop more capable space systems," House Armed Services Committee members Mike Rogers (R-Ala.) and Jim Cooper (D-Tenn.) said in a statement.

Rogers and Cooper last year tried and failed to lead the effort to establish a separate space corps.

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