The House Armed Services Committee has asked the Defense Department to provide more data on how it would establish and fund the new “space force,†SpaceNews reported Friday.HASC Chairman Mac Thornberry (R-Texas) has called on DoD to submit the data by Nov. 16 before the House panel endorses an approach to form the new space-focused service, according to a copy of the Oct. 4 letter obtained by the publication.
The committee looks at four options to establish the new military branch: a space corps model; an enhanced version of the model; independent military department; and a model based on Space Operations Command.
Thornberry asked DoD to categorize the information into four categories, including existing and future resources to back each option and possible changes to current DoD authorities.
The letter was addressed to Deputy Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan and Gen. Paul Selva, vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
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