I think there is so much signaling going on in space and no one's really figured out their doctrine yet. Some US thinkers talk about as a space Pearl Harbor where China might destroy US capabilities in space to say that's it we really mean business leave us alone. The US would see that as the first shot of all-out war if they were able to do such a thing. That kind of messaging has to be modulated very carefully but no one quite knows the rules of the discussion.
The US Space Force, established in 2019, is the first new branch of the military to be created since 1947, and its mission is vast: defend US interests in space. But what exactly is the Space Force? And what does defending US interests in space mean or look like practically?
As the nearly $900 billion defense spending bill winds its way through Congress, Wes went to the Pentagon to sit down with General David Thompson, the Vice Chief of Space Operations to learn what US interests in space are, and how the branch is developing. Bloomberg cybersecurity reporter Katrina Manson joins later to describe her visit to Space Command in Colorado and the importance of the US keeping a watch on its adversaries in zero gravity.
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