The House Armed Services Committee voted to create a “Space Corps†to serve as a new military branch under the Department of the Air Force, Defense News reported Thursday.
Space Corps will have a civilian secretary, its own acquisition procedures and a commandant to serve as a member of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. In addition, the provision mandates the defense secretary to submit a report on the service branch’s organizational requirements by 2021.
“It is not a $13 billion expenditure, a gold-plated plan like had been proposed to us by the secretary of the Air Force. It is instead a reorganization so that space professionals can be properly recognized for their skill and ability and promoted,†said Rep. Mike Rogers, R-Ala.
The House and Senate haven’t reconciled language differences between their respective versions of the fiscal 2020 defense policy bill before it passes Congress.
