Relevance of Space Force

Space force has been established by the United States to effectively organise the interests of US in space. It is the new branch of military since the launch of the Air Force since 1947. This move gains importance as it can be considered as the violation of consensus on peaceful use of the outer space and undermines the global stability. Space has become increasingly important as it provides navigation services to the civilians as well as the military and has the presence of huge number of satellites.

Launch of the force

The US has launched its official website giving a glimpse of the military’s new branch. The force has been described to be established as per the National Defence authorisation act 2020. The space force will be a scaled up version of the Air Force space command and will have 16000 personnel from the US AirForce.

In the future China would have a strong stance against the US Space force, as China formed its own space force like agency in 2015. With the combination of cyber, electronic and space it is likely to become more lethal than real firepower. China also looks to create a 24 hour all weather earth remote sensing system by 2020 to expand it regional capacity globally.

How is India doing ?

India tested its anti-satellite test (ASAT) to demonstrate its space capabilities. India has been recognised for its space prowess, given its ability to manufacture technology at economical rates.
The ASAT technology is purely offensive in energy and uses kinetic energy to strike a target and disrupt its functions.
The Outer space treaty to which India and other nations are party, states that outer space be used for peaceful purposes only and prohibits weapons testing. However, the meaning of peaceful purposes has been debated , as some interpret it as the outright ban of military activity while other looks at it while excluding such military acts which are aggressive or contravene the law.