Vice President Pence delivers remarks on Space Force

ladies and gentlemen please welcome the members of the National Space Council Elaine Chao secretary of the department of transportation Patrick Shanahan Deputy Secretary of the Department of Defense Russ Volt deputy director of the Office of Management and Budget Susan Gordon principal Deputy Director of National Intelligence Karen done Kelly Acting Deputy Secretary of the Department of Commerce Claire Grady Acting Deputy Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security Jim brightenstein administrator of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration Andrew Thompson Undersecretary of State for arms control and international security general paul silva vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Michael Krause deputy assistant to the president for science and technology Admiral Doug fierce deputy assistant to the president and homeland security and counterterrorism advisor dr. William hopper deputy assistant to the president and director of emerging technologies for the National Security Council [Applause] ladies and gentlemen please welcome to 16th president of the National Defense University Vice Admiral Fritz Draghi [Applause] well mr. vice president members of the National Space Council distinguished guests ladies and gentlemen good morning and welcome here at the Roosevelt Hall and to the National Defense University I'm honored to welcome you to our campus where we educate and develop national security leaders for the military services US government departments and agencies industry partners and for our international friends partners and allies this is the University of the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff we are a graduate school tasked to transform mid-career professionals who come to us as tactical and operational experts and turn them into strategically minded leaders who are ready to take on the thorniest security challenges our success in reaching that goal ultimately is measured by their ability to contribute to peace and security and if we do our job well our graduates will be able to launch the kinds of ideas that might preclude the need to launch ordnance the growing importance of the space domain to America's national security creates a logical rationale for conducting this meeting here at the National Defense University and here in the home of our National War College Roosevelt Hall in 1903 President Teddy Roosevelt laid the cornerstone of this building and within a year of that date America's appreciation for the aerospace domain began when the Wright brothers made the world's first sustained flight of heavier-than-air powered aircraft I also think the President Roosevelt might have appreciated the national space council's work referring in 1902 to America's posture in a different domain he once observed that a good navy is not a provocation to war it is the surest guarantee of peace and the council's work to inform and guide America's endeavors in space seems to me to be a corollary applicable to the space domain and in the 115 years since that first flight our nation's military and economic strength have been heavily influenced by our leadership in air and space over the past 21 months this administration has made it a top priority to confront the Emergencies emerging security challenges we face in space which is what brings us here today leading the effort to fulfill the president's vision for American leadership in space is the vice president to the United States as the son of a Korean War combat veteran and the proud father of a United States Marine the Vice President is a strong defender of our uniform men and women who wear the cloth of our nation so please join me in welcoming to the National Defense University the chairman of the National Space Council and the 48th vice president of the United States Mike Pence [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] thank you all and thank you to Vice Admiral Rogi for your kind introduction and for your leadership here at this storied institution would you join me in thanking him one more time for his hospitality members of the cabinet congressman Babbitt members of our armed forces distinguished guests and to the men and women of this storied institution dedicated to educating developing and inspiring America's national security leaders it is my honor and my privilege to be here at the National Defense University and it's also my great honour to be here today with the fourth meeting of the National Space Council join me in thanking all the members of our cabinet who have engaged so energetically in president Trump's vision for renewed American leadership in space can I ask all of them to stand all the members of the National Space Council you have our thanks [Applause] and to them into all of you I bring greetings this morning from our commander in chief and a great champion of the armed forces of the United States of America and a president who is committed to securing American leadership here on earth and in the vast expanses of space I bring greetings from the 45th President of the United States of America President Donald Trump in his inaugural address the president declared that America stands in his words at the birth of a new millennium ready to unlock the mysteries of space and so we are since that day our administration has worked tirelessly to extend our nation's proud legacy of leadership in the heavens in just 16 months since relaunching the National Space Council President Trump has signed three new space policy directors to rejuvenate our nation's space enterprise and reignite the spark of urgency that propelled America to the vanguard of space exploration a half century ago under these new policies NASA is preparing to send our astronauts back to the moon and to build the capacity to put Americans on the red sands of Mars we're also modernizing out-of-date regulations to unleash America's trailblazing commercial space industry and we're implementing a new space traffic management policy to protect our nation's vital assets in the congested orbital environment but our commander Chiefs highest priority is the safety and security of the American people and while the last administration too often failed to meet the growing security threats in space President Trump has stated forcefully a truth that the leaders of the National Defense University have long understood that space is a war fighting domain just like the land air and sea and America will be as dominant there as we are here on earth [Applause] to meet the emerging threats on this new battlefield to prepare America's best and bravest to deter and defeat a new generation of adversaries on that new horizon we're creating a six branch of the United States Armed Forces in June the president directed the Department of Defense to begin the process necessary to establish a United States space force this is the next and natural evolution of our armed forces and it's absolutely necessary to ensure American supremacy in space since the dawn of the Space Age the United States has recognized the vital importance of space to our national defense over the past 60 years we've assembled the world's largest and most sophisticated constellation of surveillance navigation and communication satellites that increase the agility precision and lethality of America's armed forces today I'm proud to report that there are tens of thousands of military personnel civilians and contractors operating and supporting our space systems the eyes and the ears of America's war fighters around the world these men and women served with distinction across our defense and intelligence agency and no organization has done more to advance American leadership in space than the United States Air Force [Applause] as general Salva knows the airmen who run our nation's space programs are the best in the world since its earliest days as America's newest branch of the service the Air Forces faithfully served as the steward of our nation's most vital assets orbiting the earth as well but today space is fundamentally different than it was a generation ago what was once desolate and uncontested is increasingly crowded and confrontational and today other nations are seeking to disrupt our space-based systems and undermine our economic and military might as never before for many years nations from Russia and China to North Korea and Iran have pursued weapons to Jam blind and disabled our navigation and communication satellites through electronic attacks from the ground but recently our adversaries have been working to bring new weapons of war into space itself from anti-satellite weapons and airborne lasers to highly threatening on-orbit activities and evasive hypersonic missiles both China and Russia have been aggressively developing and deploying technologies that have transformed space into a war fighting domain since taking office our administration has taken decisive action to strengthen American power and secure our vital national interest in space president Trump signed the largest investment in our national defense since the days of Ronald Reagan including renewed resources to enhance the resilience of our space defense systems and we are grateful for the support of the Congress of the United States in providing these resources for America's capacity through the new launch service agreement Awards we're also strengthening our partnerships with private industry to grow our domestic launch systems and accelerate the delivery of new space and counter space capabilities and under the president's new national space strategy our administration is uniting America's military commercial and civil space sectors as never before to ensure that the United States retains our rightful role as the world's pre-eminent spacefaring nation but as president Trump has said quote it's not enough to merely have an American presence in space we must have American dominance in space and that's exactly why at president Trump's direction we are taking steps to establish the United States space force as the sixth branch of our military that is separate from and equal to the five other branches [Applause] as the President and I believe creating a space force is an idea whose time has come as the men and women of the National Defense University know well for decades one independent study after another has called for reforms to the current organizational structure of our national space capabilities in 1994 the General Accounting Office published a report highlighting what they described as the fragmented responsibilities over our national security space programs it was widely read but widely ignored in 2001 the Rumsfeld Commission concluded in their words that the Department of Defense and the intelligence community are not yet arranged or focused to meet the national security space needs of the 21st century seven years later the Allard Commission arrived at the very same conclusion though its authors were more direct about it bluntly stating quote no one's in charge of America's security in space and in July of 2016 the GAO published yet another report examining the dangerous fragmentation of responsibility over our national security space programs which is spread across more than 60 different federal departments and agencies this lack of centralized leadership and accountability we believe poses a clear and present threat to our capacity to advance our national security in space it undermines our combatant commanders ability to do their jobs it puts our warfighters ultimately at risk as they operate on battlefields around the world the American people will never accept this kind of vulnerability and neither will we so as we will focus here today in this meeting of the National Space Council I believe the time has come to stop studying the problem to start fixing it the United States space force we believe is central to the solution that America needs in August the Defense Department released a substantive report identifying concrete steps that our administration can take using existing authorities to implement the guidance of our commander-in-chief to begin to make the space force a reality and for the past two and a half months our national security leaders have been hard at work to begin standing up the United States Department of the space force I'd especially like to commend Deputy Secretary of Defense Patrick Shanahan and vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Paul Selva for their outstanding efforts implementing the president's vision to stand up a space for [Applause] [Applause] today the National Space Council will vote to send six strategic recommendations to the President's desk which will lay out our administration's vision and a roadmap ultimately for establishing a space force first we'll create a new unified combatant command the United States Space Command that will establish a dedicated chain of command for space force operations ensure integration across the military and developed the doctrine tactics and procedures of space war fighting in the 21st century next the Secretary of Defense will create a new joint organization the space development agency that will break free from ineffective bureaucratic structures and provide the men and women of the space force the cutting edge warfighting capabilities that they need faster and more effectively in addition to delivering the space war fighting technologies of the future faster than our adversaries will be able to keep up with we also will ensure that our men and women in uniform can wield these capabilities unencumbered by bureaucracy and under the leadership of our commander chief we've already removed unnecessary restraints on our commanders and given them rules of engagement they need to confront emerging threats on land and sea and in the air and we will do the same in space [Applause] toward that end the National Space Council will work with the National Security Council to conduct a comprehensive review of current and future space operational authorities to ensure that our war fighters have the freedom and flexibility they need to deter and defeat any threat to our security in the rapidly evolving battlefield of space finally and most importantly our administration will work with leaders in Congress to create the United States space Force as the sixth branch of our armed forces in the next National Defense Authorization Act under our constitutional system only Congress can formally establish a new Department of the military our administration I'm pleased to report is already working closely with leaders in the Congress in both parties on both sides of the Capitol building to chart a legislative and budgetary pathway to create a new Department they've organized trained and equipped space forces including both combat and service support functions for offensive and defensive operations very soon with the support of the Congress the Department of the United States space force will be a reality [Applause] I'm grateful to the leaders in the Congress for their engagement with us on this important initiative and I especially want to thank Texas congressman Bryan babban it's been a great champion of American leadership in space who's with us here today and thank you congressman babban for your leadership on the United States [Applause] early next year and the President's budget will call on the Congress to marshal the resources to stand up the United States space force and in the months that follow will work with congressional leaders to enact the statutory requirements in the NDAA to establish this new department by 2020 the time has come to write the next great chapter in the history of the armed forces of the United States to turn the page to an evolution of our armed forces to meet the challenges and opportunities on that limitless frontier our nation's armed forces have always been the vanguard of advancing American leadership beyond the balance of Earth space force will ensure a new era of American supremacy in space but there's much work to do as the men and women of the National Defense University know well when it comes to defending our nation and protecting our way of life it is the cost of inaction that we can't afford with every passing year what we choose to do in space plays an ever greater role in our security our prosperity and to no less extent the very character and vitality of our nation our activities beyond our atmosphere accelerates scientific and medical discoveries they spur groundbreaking innovations revolutionize how we communicate travel farm and trade launch new businesses and industries and quite literally create the jobs of the future and while other nations increasingly possess the capabilities to operate in space not all of them share our commitment to freedom to the rule of law and to peace through strength so as we continue to advance the prosperity of our people expand the horizons of human knowledge and carry our most cherished ideals into this new frontier we will do this just as we have done through the long and storied history of this country we will do it with a commitment to American strength and to freedom in our earliest days as a nation when American merchant ships came under attack by the Barbary Pilots and were forced to pay in the words of Thomas Jefferson an enormous tribute to the petty tyrant of Algiers we sent a squadron of our best maybe ships with names like constellation enterprise Constitution and intrepid to protect our commerce and defend our citizens lives and liberty when America's destiny beckoned us westward and generations of pioneers homesteaders traders and entrepreneurs went to carve out a home in the wilderness we dispatched regiments of the United States Army frontier regulars to explore new territories protect vulnerable settlers keep the peace and help tame the Wild West in the wake of the Second World War with communism on the march around the globe we forward deployed America's naval forces to deter our adversaries reassure our allies and keep the sea lanes open for the free flow of Commerce and we made the skies safe for travel and trade by creating the fifth branch of our armed forces the United States Air Force in our own day in this still new century to ensure that we continue to have unfettered access to operate freely in space to lead in space for the benefit of the American people and all mankind we will lead once again we will evolve our armed forces and we will create the United States space force to meet that future [Applause] as we take the first bold steps to strengthen our security promote our prosperity and advance American ideals in this infinite frontier we'll do so with American strength with that same pioneering spirit and we'll do so as Americans have throughout our generations with the faith of the American people the same faith that generations of Americans have claimed on behalf of all of those who've taken to the skies in defense of freedom in agents past will have faith in the capacity the capacity of our pioneers and risk-takers to lead without regard to their own personal safety they'll lead America into the infinite expanse of space and our confidence will be in them and in all those that support them and also will will also I'm sure breathe a word of prayer as those great pioneers go forward in this new endeavor of renewed American security in space of renewed American exploration and leadership in space I know many Americans will claim that ancient promise that when we rise on the wings of the dawn and with settle on the far side of the sea even if we go up to the heavens may there even his hand guide to those who will lead us there and even his hand hold them fast with the efforts of the National Space Council with the unwavering courage of America's men and women in uniform the continued support and innovation of American people and American industry and with the vision and the leadership of President Donald Trump and with God's help I know we will give America the security she deserves we will forge a new era of peace through strength in outer space and America will lead for freedom in that infinite frontier once again thank you god bless you god bless our armed forces and god bless the United States of America thank you [Applause] [Applause] you you I thank you all for your kind attention today and your presence here and again I want to thank I want to thank the National War College here at the National Defense University for their warm Hospital and and their willingness to accommodate in these halls generations of America's finest military leaders have studied and prepared to face and overcome the greatest challenges of their days join me in thanking the National Defense University once again in June in our last meeting the National Space Council President Trump called for the establishment of the United States space force and as the saying goes back in Indiana we didn't let the grass grow on this one and I'm so grateful for the efforts of members of the council and the user advisory group who put together the practical recommendations that will be forwarding to the president today I'm gonna ask a few members of the council and the user advisory group to update us on the progress we've made to advance the president's priorities broadly and let me begin by recognizing the Secretary of Transportation Elaine Chao Elaine Thank You mr. vice president you and the President's commitment to expanding America's leadership in space is inspiring and so timely the Space Council is meeting at the dawn of a new era in America's aerospace history one that historians of the future made of the rocket Renaissance you know not so long ago the aerospace community looked back wistfully on the previous era in space as the good old days the Saturn 5 rocket lunar landing and a space shuttle seem like achievements that would never again be equalled and for 14 long years the country that put the first man on the moon was no longer number one in rocket launches in fact in 2011 when the last space shuttle was launched not a single commercial satellite was put into space by an American rocket not one in 2012 six short years ago the US the United States was in third place in commercial space launches but that's changed thanks to America's commercial space innovators and entrepreneurs they have developed a variety of systems that revolutionized space launches and driven down the cost of space access these technologies include air launch systems small networks satellite deployment and most of all fully reusable rockets this wave of astonishing innovations has upended the commercial space sector in 2017 our country finally regained its position as number one with a record number of launches and the good news is that we have broken last year's record of with 35 licensed and permitted commercial space operations in fiscal year 2018 the global space economy is now valued at over 400 or nearly 400 billion dollars a year an American launch innovators operators and workers have captured a significant share of this market the Department of Transportation is doing all we can to maintain this forward momentum so let me share some pretty important updates president Trump's second space policy directive tasked the department as many of you know to streamline and transform its commercial space transportation regulations and the department is hard at work to implement this directive including considering the option of requiring a single license for all types of commercial space flight launch and re-entry operations and to replacing prescriptive requirements with performance-based criteria I'm pleased to report that the department is on track to publish a transformational rulemaking as we have discussed previously the proposed rulemaking will provide a much needed update to launch and re-entry licensing and ask for the president's and your direction mr. vice president it will consolidate and revised many launch and re-entry licensing requirements into a single regulation and the rulemaking will streamline the licensing process while protecting Public Safety and national security it will also enable flexible time frames redefined when launch begins and allow the space industry to seek a single license to launch from multiple sites the goal is as mr. vice-president you have asked us to do is to simplify the licensing process for launch and re-entry activity enable novel operations and reduce costs the department was also asked to examine in cooperation with other space Council members launch and re-entry requirements from federally owned launch ranges this effort has benefited from the extraordinary support of stakeholders from the public and the private sectors and this was especially true with the FAA aviation rulemaking committee this committee is comprised of more than 40 individuals from across a commercial space and aviation sectors and the committee's final report was instrumental in helping the department craft a proposal that will promote economic growth maximize innovation and minimize uncertainty for the private commercial space sector issues that you mr. vice president have told us that you care deeply about so let me also thank our partners at the Department of deaf and also at NASA they've given their time expertise to this very important effort this collaboration is and will continue to be critical in streamlining the requirements that apply to commercial space operations from federal launch sites so mr. president I look forward to continued collaboration with my colleagues on the national space Council and thank you for your guidance and direction to us and that is my report thank you great Thank You secretary Chao thanks for your work on on policy directive 2 it is it is part and parcel of vision for revitalizing American leadership in space and your efforts will shape Americans travel to and from space in the future and continue to drive industrial innovation and strengthen our shared industrial base for space leadership so we thank you for that along the same lines with regard to spouse's policy directives 2 and 3 and let's get a quick report from the Deputy Secretary of Commerce Karen done Kelly Karen thank thank you very much mr. vice president National Space Council guests thank you for allowing me to join you today I send regrets from secretary Ross who is on an important overseas mission since this council last met in June secretary Ross has been very busy advocating for the u.s. commercial space industry around the world he continues to emphasize our mantra America must be the flag of choice for state space Commerce in June following last face council meeting the secretary testified to the house sciences and Armed Services committee's along with general heightened NASA Administrator bridenstine about the importance of President Trump's new space traffic management policy the first of its kind that testimony Illustrated the great whole-of-government effort that that to address the risk created by space debris to valuable satellites commercial industry and potentially human lives this past summer secretary Ross also debuted a space commerce segment to our select USA summit which included 3,000 businesses and government leaders thanks in part to Gen Galactic and Lockheed as well as others secretary Ross and his team have also been meeting with dozens of stakeholders to desist the challenges they face not the least of which is the burdensome regulation Commerce is conducting a regulatory reform that will unshackle commerce space sector and unleash economic growth we estimate that our efforts will help to grow the global space economy from its current present value of just under four bill to four hundred billion to over a trillion dollars for example last year an interagency MOU established concrete deadlines and escalation procedures when timely resolution was not achieved as a result the department's commercial remote sensing office continues to shorten the licensing timeline today the average time period for all remote sensing licences is about 62 days less than half of what it was in 2016 of a hundred and forty days even as the number of licenses have increased in 2010 there were only 26 licenses today there are 227 and almost half of those licenses have been processed since 2017 the more streamlining the rest LED tape leads to more business I am also excited to announce that yesterday in response to president's space policy directive to the department submitted to the Office of Management and Budget budget a new draft rule that if finalized will revolutionize the way we regulate the use of cameras in space this will replace outdated regulation that are slowing down industry achievements the proposed new rule would establish categories for license applications that exempt certain pre-approved activities from the lengthy review process it will allow federal government to focus its efforts and proposals on truly warranted national security attentions in other words the McClane high school CubeSat science project would probably not go through the same review process as a highly advanced sensing satellite in space X's GoPro camera that uses marketing and showing customers that the payloads have sets successfully been separated should not be treated the same way as the highly technical camera that can see your shoelaces from space we look forward to working with OMB and our interagency colleagues to get the proposed rule finalized so that the public can comment next I am pleased to report that last week the Department sent Capitol Hill a new legislative proposal the Space Act as directed by SPD - the proposal calls for creating a consolidated Bureau of space commerce to be led by a senate-confirmed assistant secretary the agency will report directly to the secretary coordinating all the departments space efforts and supporting the department's larger mission of creating conditions for economic growth and opportunity included in the legislative proposal is a provision for mission authorization that will enable America to support a wide range of new space activities to be clear the proposal should not be mistaken as expanding government it is just the opposite working with the regulatory reform office the bureau will better coordinate consolidate and connect space functions across the department the bureau will serve as a much-needed storefront for industry within the government as a priority of the department strategic plan advancing commercial space is a whole of department initiative we have already begun to lay the framework and the foundation of the one-stop shop our new space team representing all commerce offices and bureaus meets at least weekly to collaborate on ways to advance the growing economy our ITA Advocacy Center has recorded 24 project wins for space companies across the globe valued at 4.3 billion dollars and has a pipeline right now of current lead 21 activities which would be valued at a little over 2.8 billion even our grant-making at agencies such as the minority business development administration awarded $400,000 to the Space Foundation to assist minority businesses and EDA 'zed office of innovation and entrepreneurial entrepreneurship solicits space commerce grant applications currently our Bureau of Industry and security is actively engaged in the White House led interagency discussions on Export Control reform and NTIA is working on a holistic spectrum management policies that will advance the far-reaching missions envisioned by President Trump and vice president Pence our reinvigorated office of space is open for business following the last council meeting Kevin O'Connell joined the department in July as the new director the position had been left vacant for over a decade not anymore welcome Kevin in fact Kevin will meet be leaving this meeting a bit early as he needs to speak in Huntsville tonight on the very topic since the council in June approved SPD three and it's inflamation implementation plan Commerce and the Department of Defense have been working very closely together our senior space officials have been spending time at the Vandenberg Air Force Base and in Colorado Springs to more deeply understand the Department of Defense's existing operations and capabilities as the partnership we will soon assemble a cadre of commercial of Commerce employees to work at Vandenberg as the Seville civil agency interfacing on with industry for space traffic management we formed strong alliances with the Department of Defense US Air Force US Strategic Command as well as other federal agency partners such as NASA the State Department the Department of Defense we recently submitted our 90-day report for the Space Council and we look forward to submitting a more detailed plan in December we meet regularly with private industry preparing to track analyze and safe coordination of space objects we are already investigating ways to incorporate cloud computing and other advanced technologies into the open architecture de pata repository to showcase the innovations beneficial to the entire SSA STM Enterprise finally I am proud to highlight the department's new space technologies including the goes satellite that are improving NOAA's weather forecasting in an unprecedented way last month hurricane Florence's NOAA's five-day hurricane track forecast accurately predicted the storms landfall within two miles that's not been done before what this does is it enables state governors to more quickly declare emergencies order evacuations and truly save lives the importance of space technology and space commerce in our lives has never been more evident than it is today Thank You mr. vice president for the opportunity to speak about the department's progress [Applause] thank you Karen thank you so much for your efforts Secretary's efforts I think I think everyone looking on can see the energy with which the Department of Commerce has engaged this effort to streamline and to promote our commercial space industry and the administrative actions that you've outlined the legislation that you're promoting all are reflective of the president's desire to unleash the full potential of our commercial private sector so thank you very much well done with that let me let me recognize our NASA Administrator and to say to administrator bride ensign we appreciate your leadership at NASA we were all thankful to see NASA astronaut Nick Hague returned to the earth safely along with the Russian cosmonaut Alexei who came who Chinon we noted the failed rocket launch two weeks ago I know you were in Kazakhstan for that launch we spoke contemporaneous with that and I appreciate the attention that you paid to our to our astronaut and to the entire incident it does strike me Jim as a wake-up call and the need for us to once again be able to launch American astronauts on American Rockets from American soil and I know that day is rapidly approaching so with that we look forward to your update on NASA's work with the department's of Commerce and state transportation and also the status of the International Space Station that the join me in welcoming the administrator of NASA Jim bridenstine [Applause] thank you so much mr. vice president it was a tough week last week when when we had a failed rocket launch and as you correctly noted Nick Hague and alexey ovchinin are home safe and we are very grateful for that sir I am also very grateful for your attention to the issue your immediate care for the issue clearly this is something that is important to you personally and NASA recognizes that and for that we are all very grateful I will tell you this while our astronaut and their cosmonaut are home safe they are not happy they want to be on the International Space Station and they cannot wait to go again so we're grateful for their enthusiasm and NASA is regrouping we're replanting and we're getting ready to go again we have a number of Russian Soyuz rocket launches in the next month and a half and in December we're fully anticipating putting our crew on a Russian Soyuz rocket to launch to the international space station again we have a really really good idea of what the issue is we are getting very close to understanding it even better so that we can confidently watch again it is important to note that while this was a a failed launch it was probably the single most successful failed launch that we could have imagined so for all of that we are grateful as far as NASA goes sir we are moving out rapidly on space policy directive one we are going to the moon we are going in a sustainable way we are not going to leave flags and footprints and come home not to go back for another 50 years but under your guidance and the president space policy directive 1 we are building a reusable and a sustainable architecture secretary Chao very clearly articulated what happens with reusable launch the cost goes down and access goes up well we envision an architecture between here and the moon that is entirely reused not just launched to low-earth orbit but tugs from Earth orbit to lunar orbit and of course the reusable command module in orbit around the moon we call it gateway and reusable Landers that go back and forth from the Gateway to the surface of the Moon and Landers not just with robots and Rovers but eventually humans in a sustainable architecture that takes advantage of our commercial partnerships and our international partnerships sir lasts two weeks ago I was in Bremen Germany for the International Astronautical Congress I met with the heads of 24 different space agencies and I had the opportunity to speak in front of international forums and in each one when I talked about the United States leading an international effort to get back to the moon the response is overwhelming and it's spontaneous people around the world have been waiting for the United States to get back to the moon and to lead a collaboration much like we have done on the International Space Station but to develop a much bigger and broader architecture to the moon to retire risk to prove technologies to prove human physiology and then take all of that architecture on to Mars and I will tell you in the international community it was very very well received people love space policy directive 1 and sir it makes my job really easy on the international scene so thank you for that as it comes to the International Space Station and low Earth orbit we are moving rapidly to commercialize low-earth orbit it is in our interest as a nation to for NASA in low-earth orbit and other orbital regimes for NASA to be one customer of many customers driving down our cost increasing our access and not just be one customer of many customers but have numerous providers that are competing on cost and innovation in a regulatory regulatory framework that was articulated by secretary child that enables us to do more than we've ever done before in low-earth orbit in a commercial way and then we can use our resources to go where commercial industry is not yet ready and of course that's um that's to the moon with the sustainable architecture so sir we're moving out rapidly on these initiatives space policy directive one is kind of our bright shiny object that we're going after space policy directive two on the regulatory frameworks space policy directive three on space situation awareness and space traffic management are all critical to our operations to accomplish these objectives and it is also true that what we're talking about today the space force is critical to preserving all of these commercial and government capabilities for science discovery exploration and of course the betterment of humankind through commercial space activities as you mentioned sir commerce requires security when we came west we needed to have security when we do international trade we have a Navy because we need security and of course this three hundred and eighty three billion dollar industry that is in space is going to need security the enemies of our country have identified space as the American Achilles heel and we've got to make sure that they understand that they will receive no advantage from attempting to deny access to space for anybody in the world and that would include civil space activities from NASA and NOAA but also commercial space activities that the Commerce Department and the Transportation Department are so focused on so that's an update sir and I'm honored to be here [Applause] thank you Jim and thank you for that good report your energetic leadership is making a real difference at NASA and I hope you will pass along our compliments to astronaut Nick Hague for being willing to get back on the horse yes sir go right back up before Christmas courageous man five years in training I'm sure he's anxious to get to be clear the mission before Christmas is not going to be Nick cake but he is anxious to get back there yeah I'll bet he'll be crowded to the front of the line hey you bet after talking with great well done thank you very much thanks for your leadership and and thank you for the way that NASA is working in such close consultation with our efforts in defense our efforts in commercial space it is it's making a real difference with that we're honored to be joined today by the chair of the users advisory group which the president appointed in connection with the National Space Council that it represents some of the leading experts on space of men and women of extraordinary background who are bringing their very best counsel to the work of of this of this national space effort Admiral Jim Ellis serves as the chair of that group we're proud to have him here and Admiral Ellis you're recognized for a report on the work of the user advisory group and join me in thanking Admiral Ellis for this latest chapter in his service to the United States Thank You mr. vice president distinguished members thanks for inviting me to provide an update on the activities of the users advisory group to your national space Council the UAG convened its first session on june 19th of this year just three days after the formal appointment of its members by the nasa administrator the establishment of the ua g was enabled by legislation enacted decades ago but you chose to revitalize it after 25 years of dormancy mr. vice president and we were last together you challenged the UAG to function as a think-tank for the National Space Council in addition to the advisory role spelled out in its title it is a conduit for new ideas and we'll also offer constructive commentary on conventional wisdom which as I often note is sometimes too conventional and not nearly wise enough in the months since our inaugural session we've gathered often through the wonders of modern telecommunications technology and have focused on three principal areas organization issues and outreach organizationally the UAG is divided into six committees that reflect precisely the priorities you and I discussed in your office last spring the exploration and discovery committee is led by retired general Lester Lyles and it's considering how to maintain a balance in space between exploration and discovery or science the alignment of Science and Technology efforts across federal agencies and the impact of regulations and policies on the accomplishments of space policy directives one through three administrator bridenstine has recently chartered a committee of the NASA Advisory Council to review regulatory and policy issues the fact that general Lyles also chairs very capably the NASA Advisory Council will ensure that the UAG boast shares in the work of the NASA committee and offers independent advice to you when appropriate as you know I am the chairman of the National Security Committee the users Advisory Group and lead a very capable group with the required security clearances though many of us gathered in this room have been assessing national security space protection and defense for many years the speed at which the technologies and the threats are continually evolving highlights the reality that they may outpace both our capabilities and our policies a scheduled threat update is our committee's first priority follow-up by a review of emerging classified Space capability enhancement and threat mitigation policies and strategies an experienced and experts based professional Maryland Dittmar and her talented colleague Eric Staal mer chaired the economic development and industrial base committee they are considering recommendations for accelerating the economic development of low-earth orbit and the Moon developing a framework for understanding and applying the myriad contracting mechanisms assessing how best to manage space related spectrum issues and expanding mechanisms encouraging use lease of available or mothballed government space infrastructure veteran astronaut and space shuttle pilot and mission commander Pam Melroy leads the technology and innovation committee in addition to specific space transportation and exploration technologies the committee is assessing commercial versus government space data generation satellite reusability and refueling and importantly the possible creation of a technology roadmap specifying space technologies to be explored alternatives to be compared and importantly timelines that must be met Eileen Collins renowned for time space shuttle pilot and mission commander chairs the user advisory group committee on outreach and education I will say more about outreach efforts in a minute but on the education side our committee is committed to delivering actionable recommendations to enhance space related and engineering education at all levels ideas include education incentive clauses in all space related government contracts incentivizing students to choose math science and engineering degrees by increasing individual grant money from existing programs an innovative ways to address the high dropout rate of first-year engineering students the final group the space policy and international engagement committee is led by dr. David Wolfe astronaut space Walker medical doctor electrical engineer and your fellow Hoosier the committee's bra dream it will include review of both the current and evolving national space policy as well as the guidelines behavioral norms and technical standards affecting international space cooperation and deconfliction finally as I noted earlier mindful that we were impaneled to represent all users of space the users Advisory Group has conducted outreach panels at major domestic and international space events over several months we will continue to seek input and ideas issues and innovations specifically targeting industry leadership experienced aerospace veterans at all levels and importantly the up-and-coming new generation of space professionals by way of example Maryland Dittmar and I met with a large group from the space generation Advisory Council earlier this month at the International Astronautical Congress in Bremen Germany where administrator Bryden Stein was also speaking powerfully the SGA see the space generation Advisory Council with over 13,000 members represents the largest network of students young professionals and alumni in the global space industry in a note of appreciation I received after our session the organization's executive director said the UAG is a perfect platform for us to provide an opportunity to our members to actively contribute to space related activities and discussions with that in mind I'm also pleased to note that as of this past Friday the users advisory group has gone live with a hosted page under our NASA website where we can receive such input around-the-clock and from around the globe mr. chairman on behalf of the users advisory group thank you for this update opportunity wherever we go at home or abroad and with whomever we speak we see a new energy a new vitality in the space community we appreciate the focus that you and the National Space Council have brought to our nation's role in space and we look forward to continuing to support your efforts and to our shared contribution to the future of the nation's space enterprise thank you Thank You Admiral as' and we look forward to your recommendations from the user Advisory Group thank you to all of the members that you're leading in that energetic effort we are we have benefited greatly from the council the council's efforts so far we look forward to your ongoing advice I am told there's a fair number of members of the user advisory group who are with us would members of the National Space councils user advisory group stand so we could recognize you and express our appreciation for all you're doing for the country Thank You Admiral ethanol I'll invite our panelists to go ahead and take their seats and to all of the members of the National Space Council in your packets for today meeting you have an agenda which includes a formal testimony of our panelists a list of recommendations to the president regarding the creation of the space force which we will return to those items and at the end of the meeting our panel today is made up of distinguished experts in national security space policy and defense policy and as we look forward to offering recommendations today with the objective of standing up a sixth branch of our armed forces it is our our desire to draw on the experience of experts from across space and defense enterprises and we have three with us today our first panelist is Doug lavarro a leader in national security space policy and distinguished policy experts served as Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense under President Obama our second panelist is mr. Marc Saran Jalloh who is currently the entrepreneur in residence at the University of Colorado Boulder previously serves as executive vice president at Sierra Nevada Corporation where he led the company's space business and our final panelist is Lieutenant General James McLaughlin a 35-year veteran the United States Air Force served as deputy commander the United States Cyber Command and as as we move forward to standing up United States Space Command what we need to draw on the valuable lessons we've learned from establishing the United States Cyber Command already so to all three of our panelists we are grateful for your presence here today and to the audience join me in thanking this extraordinary group of Americans [Applause] so so mr. Doug LaBelle you're recognized to summarize your a testimony and I remind that members of the council that their full testimony is in your packets Thank You mr. vice president members of the National Space Council ladies and gentlemen before I begin I must apologize for my voice here today I've lost it due to sickness this past week my lack of volume is due to the remnants of fever not the absence of fervor I am pleased to join Lieutenant General McLaughlin and mr. Sir Angelo to provide my perspectives on the need for your space force a discussion long overdue I especially want to thank President Trump for moving the debate under the national stage this is not a new subject it's been talked about for decades inside the National Space community during my time at the Pentagon under the last administration the need to rethink how do D we organize this space or organizes for space was a topic of considerable debate but was left unresolved so I'm particularly grateful that with the president's help we can now bring the discussion into the public square to educate all Americans on why now is the time to act to begin I think it's important for me to describe the roots of my perspective my discussion here today was not shaped in just the last few months as the topic was thrust into the news no over my prior four years in the Pentagon leading space policy rather it is the sum of nearly 30 years of working continuously in national security space from within DoD in the intelligence community in uniform and as a civilian from having been involved in every DoD space organizational debate since 1994 from working around the world with space and client allies and domestically with every segment of space industry from the fence contractor from large defense contractors to small entrepreneurial firms and with members of both parties I would stop on this last item to make an important point in my mind how the DoD organizes for space is not a partisan issue and it is my hope that it does not become one because if it does and that causes us to fail to address it now the next time we enter the discussion you as leadership may have already been lost with that is Prelude let me make it clear where I stand the US needs a space force a department within the DoD whose sole focus is US leadership in in defense of the domain of space time does not permit me in this short statement to describe all the reasons why but that opinion is bolstered by every authoritative study external to DoD over multiple decades which has looked at this issues every one every single one points to the erosion of US national security space leadership and the necessity to dramatically reorganize space within DoD while they may differ on the exact form and timing of that reorganization the unwavering consensus is that dramatic change is needed in fact even the Air Force Association which opposes creation of a space force admits and I quote standing up a new armed force for space is not if but when to that point I think it's only appropriate to quote the words of general HAP Arnold who founded the AFA in his viewed as the father of the modern Air Force in his appearance before Congress in 1946 on the topic he said each new crisis has found our armed services far from effectively efficiently or economically organized with each crisis modernization and coordination have been hammered out under war pressure at great waste of resources last century's two world wars found the u.s. inadequately organized for the air domain luckily the constraints of distance and speed in 1917 in 1941 allowed the u.s. to hammer out who has airpower organization and time to respond but general Arnold knew then as we know now that future Wars will broker no such quarter historical limits on distance and speed do not apply in a world of hypersonic weapons an instantaneous worldwide communication an unimaginable level of US military power derives from space we cannot afford to enter into the next conflict to use general Arnold's words in effectively or inefficiently organized the time to address the issue is now while we were at peace not later when the adversary has already gained the upper hand with that I conclude my opening remarks and look forward to your questions thank you god I look forward to coming back with you with a couple of questions on your very very insightful and provocative remarks and thank you for braving the fever to share your fervor we appreciate appreciate you making the effort to be here under the circumstances Marc serjella is recognized and we're very grateful for your presence today thank you mr. vice president members of the space Council I'm honored to be asked to speak today at on the creation of the space force what files on my own personal views not of any organization and I have been part of over the past few two decades I've had the privilege to be part of and lead organizations that have done over 300 space missions which combined with the time that I've spent in a government military and industry associations and now academia has provided me with some unique insights into the creation of a space force so I'm gonna focus my remarks today on the why but not the how the United States is fortunate to have a storage space history we have the most advanced space technologies the largest space budgets a commercial space sector that is innovating and investing strong government leadership universities and laboratories producing valuable primary results in research and above all talented people in and out of uniform have created a space infrastructure that has no global equal it was once famously said that it is in our DNA to do things not because they are easy but because they are hard being at the forefront of space leadership is hard testing new ideas and surviving through failures hard and as I've learned recently teaching 100 students is really hard perhaps the hardest thing to do though sometimes is to be self-critical we must be completely honest with ourselves and reviewing our decisions both past and future we must put aside the pride of ownership and self-interest and change when change is necessary so here are a few frank views of my own on this situation yes we are currently as in the United States at the forefront of space development but there's no guarantee that we're going to and in front our adversaries have been for a considerable time increasing their space resources on all levels and it been to to miss to diminish this or dismiss their efforts as minor is really short-sighted we cannot simply ignore this changing global environment and we must use significant determination to accelerate our response undertaking the extraordinary effort of consolidating our national space defense activities under a common banner is one way to send a very blunt message to the world that we are serious we as a nation achieve our best results when we are unified when we are focused on the primary problem when we are passionate in our responses when we establish a competitive environment for solutions and when we apply innovation not just to technology but also to our thinking we've seen this innovative thinking apply time and again in American aerospace at the dawn of flight the u.s. encouraged the development of an aviation industry and chose not to have government ownership of aviation as did most of the countries of the world this led to having us having aviation as one of the top economic pillars for the last 100 years the lessons learned from World War two provided that airpower should be one of the most important drivers of our Nationals defense this led to the creation of the US Air Force in 1947 we responded to Sputnik into losing ground in the space race by unifying ourselves around a complete transformation of our space efforts leading not only to our celebrated journey to the moon but also as importantly to the creation of our space industrial base a strong NASA and global recognition of our technical prowess recently we've acted to reacted to the shifting ways and means of space by encouraging a new commercial space sector focusing on public-private partnerships this has allowed hundreds of American technologies to flourish and create beneficial competition throughout the country we are reliance on space asset is growing explanations exponentially in all ways it's increasing importance to our country cannot be denied this importance will not diminish and will only continue to expand and the challenge we face is not going to become easier it's not going to become cheaper it's not going to become less complex or less important in the future and it's at this crossroad there is little to gain in my view from taking any middle position we must do or not do the question is not what's right for the next decade but what's right for the next century those of us who work in a space sector really understand that what we do is really the long-term is for the long-term and we are only really just in interim console Ian's for what happens here what we do now and how we do it will will vibrate well into the future we have had significant success from our space structure we owe a debt of gratitude to all those who sacrificed to get here we owe it to them to use what they have used in wisely and our job as leaders is to hear all points of view and have the wisdom in the judgment to come to informed in balanced decisions as we go down this road of looking at a space force this change must be more than just the paper reorg it must be real it must be fundamental and it must be something that we can plan for for the future people often look at technology field such as space in the industry that I've been in for in the last two decades and they look at the hardware and not really what's behind it the reality is that we're only as good as the people we have on our front lines we need to keep them engaged buying by creating strong and strong career paths here a dedicated space force will likely increase retention by creating more and more interesting long-term opportunities for high performers we'd be able to attract Achor attract the best and brightest - in the future - the DoD if they see all the robust long-term commitment being made by our government and last to not be leased the space is not is a large ecosystem as we consider this change to be successful you must look at elements beyond the DoD we need to ensure that NASA remains strong well-funded and independent as our civil agency we need to consider to continue to support the u.s. commercial space industries investment in technology we need to incorporate our universities through the cementation and future primary research this will provide motivation to the next generations while pursuing Space Studies and concurrently increasing the future talent pipeline for the DoD we need to fully utilize and that's a substantial and critical work it's being done on our National Laboratories and finally we need to remember that space is more international than ever before when practical and feasible we should cooperate with our allies multinational space activities has been successful for the u.s. in the past and they will be in the future I'd like to close sometimes as I look at important decisions one of the things that I like to do is to remember my trip to the National Archives when you go up to the National Archives as you walk through the door there's a Shakespearean quote on a statue that says what is past is prologue and with that quote I'd like to end with just a little bit of walk into the past if I may in 1937 the Bible for aviation was called the aircraft yearbook and there's a quote out of this that I think is very important and perhaps insightful for today most significant of all in a situation that defies any sort of restraint and describing it is the break net race of all other large nations for military supremacy in the air the American people have taken real pride in the success which they have developed the airplane as a vehicle of peaceful transportation they have always preferred that kind of development as compared to making a flying machine an instrument of war and there's no indication that that national thought has changed on the other hand the present activity abroad is predominantly military and is growing so rapidly then it can no longer be ignored our adversaries are growing are going into mass production of military aircraft as rapidly as facilities permit these factories are operating day and night in the laboratories and drafting rooms their scientists and technicians feverishly work on new things designed for aerial warfare many of these developments abroad seem fantastic and more of a stunt but in an aviation stunt flight of today seems bound to be commonplace tomorrow the powers abroad are spending untold amount of money on research and development but they are not just waiting for new things to be created they're building quantities of these machines based on American aircraft operated in the United States the laboratory work in progress surely will also result in much originality of design and construction therein lies the possible men to American leadership they are now making up for lost time the United States is not spending fund money enough money fundamental research while the superiority American equipment is currently unquestioned at present is being challenged by the scientific efforts of other powers Americans returning from abroad are convinced that the National thought is to safety from invasion must change whether or not the people in the United States liked it or not they must must take care that foreign nations do not surpass them in the development of airpower if we substitute space for air in those words from 1937 they're just as valid today as they were then we know what happened to the world a few years after that all happened we must use all possible efforts to avoid it does not happen again thank you for letting me adjust the council thank you mark thank you for those eloquent words we look forward to coming back to you with some questions with that the former deputy commander of the United States Cyber Command Lieutenant General James McLaughlin is recognizes Thank You general Thank You mr. vice president vice president pence members of the National Space Council ladies and gentlemen it is an honor to join these two distinguished panelists to discuss the president's proposal to create a space force I have unique perspective on the topic of how the government should organize and in manage national security space you can see from my biography that I spent the majority of my 34-year career in a variety of space assignments that are relative to today's discussion I resonated with your opening comments I'm very proud of my service in the Air Force and what our service has done and legacy we have in space but my perspective today really is on the challenges that are now in some of the challenges that have been on our plate going back to the time of the Rumsfeld space Commission where I served as a staff member and was later responsible within the office of the secretary defense for space Commission implementation to the deputy secretary of defense I have first-hand knowledge of what the Commission recommended and why as well as what was and what was not implemented I'm here representing myself and have personal or business interest in the outcome of this debate other than wanting what's best for the United States the Space Commission was tasks among other things to assess the potential costs and benefits of establishing a separate military department for space a space core within the United States Air Force and an Assistant Secretary of Defense for space within the office of the secretary events however after six months of deliberations the Commission did not recommend an immediate move toward a department or a corps but instead recommended an internal Air Force realignment aimed at creating a separate structure within the Air Force with control over space organized train and equip functions such as personnel management and policy financial management research and development and the planning program and an acquisition of Space Systems the Commission stated that once the realignment in the Air Force was complete a logical step towards a space department could be the transition to a space core within the Air Force the commission also recommended the creation of the new undersecretary defense for space that would actually oversee and advocate for this missionary within the department so what happened and where are we today I'm disappointed to say that we missed a generational opportunity we did not implement the realignment of the Air Force as envisioned by the Space Commission and we did not create a strong OSD oversight mechanism we never started the journey towards a Cordillera Department we missed the opportunity identified by the Commission to quote create a space oriented culture comprised of military professionals who would directly influence the development of the systems and doctrines for use in space operations in quote while it would be untrue and unfair to say we've not made progress in a security space because that's not true we have made progress that's actually well short of what's needed I do have some recommendations moving forward for the council's consideration to the degree it's possible I would strive to maintain the extraordinary level of presidential focus and leadership which has been extraordinary and to continue to build consensus on the hill do everything possible to make this a bipartisan issue that resonates as explain too important all Americans don't be distracted by issues that may seem important to this issue but are actually not central to the problem or you may end up being disruptive in the wrong areas don't believe that creating an independent organization would distract us from urgent problems of the day because of creating the space personnel culture doctrine and capabilities the nation needs in space is the urgent problem of the day focus on rapid results in momentum pick an independent organizational structure align it under a single committed senior space leader provide that leader the needed authority autonomy and resources over those core space organized trained equipped functions a separate space core within the Department of the Air Force may be viewed as the most efficient and cheapest path to a separate branch of the military but a space force under a separate Department of space would be in my opinion the most rapid and most effective path toward an organization able to meet the serious threats that exist right now not tomorrow or in the midterm and last I would create an assign a single senior OSD official with the responsibility to provide oversight advocacy top cover for this new organization and to ensure all actions are being implemented as directed I do think it's worth mentioning that in my last four years of the in the Air Force I actually was over working in a similar set of problems in the cyber area both as the Air Force component commander for cyber then three years as the deputy at US Cyber Command it is interesting that we took a very different path in this in this pace but against many of the same problems and I think as always has not been as controversial although there are still hard problems to come and I'd be glad to answer any questions you have regarding that experience and in summary the purpose of my remarks today is not to be critical of any individual organization at all but to simply share the benefits of my experience provide a candid view of the history associated with this important area and provide some recommendations to spark a discussion I look forward to your questions Thank You general we'll move into questions from a few of the members of the Council for the panelists I'm gonna go ahead and excuse the Secretary of Transportation she has to introduce the president shortly and join me in thanking secretary Chao would you please let me begin doug lavoro and and in general mclaughlin you just you spoke about the importance of the president placing this issue at the center of the national debate you you made some very generous comments about that and in setting up your statement that the US needs a space force in in what ways and not maybe I'll start with Doug and go to the general and Mark you can speak to this and keep your answers maybe to a minute if you can because I want to get to everybody how would you best recommend that the president and the administration keep this issue before the American people most most effectively thank you sir so first of all this kind of a forum is obviously part of that of that effort we we have a an issue within the US in my mind that everybody uses space every day but almost nobody really knows how it gets there and why it's important i I think that that NASA does a fantastic job of educating the country on civil space we do a far far less job of educating on the military uses of space if people understood that military space saves lives it saves us lives it saves our allies lives it saves our adversaries lives it saves our treasure I think that these points need to be brought out to the public so they can understand that this is not just a lark or a late-night joke this is an important critical issue for the u.s. in the Mormon the more we educate folks on this the more they will go ahead and I believe support the move because they'll understand as all Americans did after World War two they understood the importance of the Air Force they saw it they lived it we don't have that same understanding about space today so I would love to see that happen yes sir about two things very quick I do think if you even go back to the space Commission which I mentioned earlier the first three recommendations of the 13 had to do with presidential leadership and some structure and coordinating structure within right within the executive office of the president and at a time we were trying to talk about significant changes in the executive branch and I was saved today the lack of that didn't really happen for a lot of a lot of good reasons it but it didn't happen so I do think the leadership itself on something this big with without it the likelihood of installing or not being implemented Rises without the president leadership I the only thing I would suggest is I think the fact that it's mentioned so much and we have the National Space Council that's active in public is just continuing to explain sort of in the English my mom and dad would understand as to why this is so important to the American people in a way that I think would resonate with their representatives in Congress and so that they would understand why this we need to make these changes that resonate with them is just I think we're doing that but I would encourage to be done even more so could very helpful mark yes sir I would two things I think one of the exercises that I have been involved with in the past was an internal one called a day without space I think if we took that concept of a day without space and brought it out to make it a publicly accessible understanding of a what is a day without space what would that look like how would we live it's not just what we do in the military and what we've done within the government but it's what we do every day in our lives I think that simple concept if we took we go to a person say what would space if we took it away from you today what would that look like I think that is a way to get to and as I agree with my colleagues I would also add one thing that while I would want my mom and dad to understand it I would also want the next generation to understand and I think we need to bring this to a language that not only looks at the people who are there right now making decisions but who is who were gonna hand this off to in the next 10 20 and 30 years and make them understand from their fundamental way as they understand their own ways of video games and their own way of language and their own way of social media bring it into that context thank you that that's great advantage if we ought to come back to that day without space concept for school kids pretty powerful how quickly how quickly we would lose a lot of the things that we all rely on every day let alone the things that our national security relies upon so good comments with that deputy secretary defense Shanahan yeah thank you sir a question for John McLaughlin and first of all thank you for your service you know having been part of the Rumsfeld Commission and then certainly you know deep involvement with the Cyber Command when you think about you know we're undertake a very similar type of mission what would be your lessons learned or thinking around how to focus people on quick wins and you know get the reps so that you get the energy and momentum that's needed to establish something new yes so it's a great question I think where there is a tie between the two communities you know the space community that I grew up in was well they're very good at their job they really are about providing sort of a service providing you know operating satellites that are utilities or space support for launch doing I you know the the intelligence mission from space would not have an actively engage in fight in that space same thing in the cyber side is the the building blocks of the cyber warfare community are sort of our communications and our intelligence professionals who also had a different a different mission before so our job and what I think we did pretty well on the cyber side is we created US Cyber Command from the very beginning this is a military operations force this is a domain of warfare we have active offensive teams that we stated publicly to the world and we are building to eat those for those operators to be cyber warriors and I think going back 20 years that's what journey and I wish we would have started on in earnest in the space side 20 years ago because it creates that ethos and dr. it creates just an entire group that feels like that's the mission and the purpose for why they exist and I I think that would be something we would want to focus on in a serious way thank you very much that let me recognize the Undersecretary of State Andrea Thompson for question Thank You mr. vice president for the panel would be interested obviously over at the State Department were in continuous dialogue with partners on allies on on policies that were moving forward together and one of that is of norms of behavior for responsible nation-states I'd be interested on recommendations that you direct me that we pursue with partners on allies to prevent the activities of space becoming an area of conflict and rather engagement of diplomacy and sharing those best practices - thank you ma'am I'll begin thank you I spent a lot of time in my last job talking about just those things with your with your folks in the State Department and when they were allies over the world norms of behavior are critical they we have norms of behavior in every domain that are well known whether they're written in law or not we have norms of behavior on the use of certain kinds of weapons in every domain whether they're written in law or not we've lacked that in space for many reasons most of which because for decades space was classified we didn't want to go ahead and talk about limits in our space capability and a lot of that traces but the fact that we don't know what our space doctrine is and if we don't know what our space doctrine is we're not sure what we should tell and what we shouldn't tell I believe a huge part of this for a space force is to develop doctrine that can shape the norms that advantage the United States and our allies in space I've written several things on on this I think debris causing weapons in space is a terrible thing the the international outcry when the Chinese shut down a weather satellite was enough to make them stop doing it ever again but we haven't promulgated a norm like that in the same way we've promulgated norms about minds and mass bombardment easy enough to do we would get we would be seen as a leader instead of playing the defense I norms in space which is what we are today we could go ahead and leave again as we did back in 67 with the Outer Space Treaty thank you for the question ma'am I would look at this a little bit differently in saying that while we look at space sometimes as we have looked at airplanes and defense it is many ways more like the IT industry right now and what I mean by that is that it is globalizing at a rate that we cannot control and whether or not we like it and countries around the world or being not only active but in many ways leading in certain areas so I think as we look at this we we might take a lesson out of that book and say why is the world largely on an IT standard it has come out of the United States it's because that we approached it we let it we created a forum for these discussions to take place and we were able to bring countries to us in a voluntary way to say that we are the leader in what we're doing and I think in part my experience of reaching out and establishing relationships with over 20 different space agencies not for the purpose of using their money but for the purpose of being able to provide a dialogue that would allow for the globalization of space not to take place somewhere else which is I think our goal so coming back to the ite example the reason that the world uses that is because that IT structure those infrastructures those recommendations the way we do things the reason we have USBs all came from the minds that largely we're here in the United States and then we're brought out to the world and I think we should see space in that kind of context as opposed to his Doug said a closed classified context thank you maybe just add to your question I think in these areas like space or cyber where perhaps there's not those mature sets of norms and the frameworks associated with them what I typically would fall back on is every operation we conduct in the military that you know authorized by secretary defense and by the president before that follows international law of armed conflict you know we we follow the law and everything that we do and we follow the policy of our country you know all those things and so the question is what are their set of norms or red lines or things that might help shape and give confidence in the broader community about what the United States will or won't do and I think we will defend ourselves violating laws of armed conflict we will defend ourselves in ways that others might think is provocative we will not are goal is to not have vacuums created by lack of action that actually incentivized those to attack us in space because we have not been attention to it which actually creates a negative something that we don't want so I think there are ways to approach how you think through that but I do think I agree with everything that's been said by the two panelists next to me thinking about those norms and actually think about what is bad behavior that we want all to agree not to do is worth doing but we just need to be careful to make sure we always spray able to defend ourselves great thank you all and General Paul Selva the vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs recognized Thank You mr. vice president Taal three panelists just sort of a two-part question the first is to get your reflections on how you think the combatant command US Space Command would operate in relation to a separate service the US base force and then second inside the department if we were to establish a separate undersecretary for space within the Department of Defense at the same time that we established a department of the space force could you give me a sense of how you see those two entities interacting with one another yes sir that's a great question I think the first thing if I were to think about a department of space and US Space Command I have heard some areas where it sounded a little confusing to me as to whether US Space Command would be a functional combatant command that also has some service like responsibilities sort of like so calm and like Cyber Command is is slightly morphing too which would make you think well why do I need a service that does that so I first would delineate is this a functional combatant command that fights on behalf of the country and the service that we create is in charge of presenting organized training equipment presenting forces to that which is more traditional which and that's the way I would go with it because I I think you undermined the need for a department if you try to create a combatant command with service like authorities because it creates confusion the ASD space even as a cyber guy I would have loved have had a single focused OSD oversight office sort of like ASD Special Operations and low intensity conflict where I got focus oversight with expertise on everything that we did I do think an ASD space could do that effectively for a military department as well as as you know STIs responsibility to oversee combat you know combatant command operations so I see them sort of as these two these three entities really as complementary organizations that all need to exist but we need to we I would recommend that we be careful not to give them overlapping or lack of clarity what the edges are between them thank you sir um so number one I agree with with much of what Kevin has said let me let me take each question individually on the on the difference between the combatant command and the organized train-and-equip for a space force as you know those are two separate functions throughout the DoD one of the one of the things that as I was in the Pentagon that I looked at is that we didn't have a dedicated organization that looked at war planning and strategy formation in space that's the job of a unified command um strategic command which island that responsibility was unfortunately distracted by more important things nuclear war and so I understood that we needed that capability but the unified command is not going to go ahead and in organized train and equip space forces and to mr. senior angelos Point space personnel and space professionals that's a career long objective I'm one that is critically important to having the right forces and I could easily see in ten years we might decide that rather than a unified we would have a specified command dependent upon how we organized a space force today though given where space exists within the department in the Army in the Navy in the National Reconnaissance Office in the missile defense agency and within the Air Force um a unified command is necessary um and we'll have to decide whether it continues to be necessary as a space force reaches its potential in terms of an assistant secretary I believe the appointment of an assistant secretary for space over the next two to three years is absolutely fundamental to getting this job done after that I could easily see that we space responsibility falls under a single undersecretary that may or may not need an assistant secretary for space in the 60s and the 70s in the 80s there was always one undersecretary the department who led space in the 60s and 70s and early 80's the the DD RNA and in the 80s and in the Lynn in the interim years between 1996 and 2001 the ASD c3i um you had to go to one person in OST to get permission to do something in space and incredible things were done if you really want to go ahead and get speed you need a decision-maker who can say yes or no to a service when a service brings forward something again in the long term you may not need a specific assistant secretary it may fall under a undersecretary as one of his duties but I definitely believed to get the president's vision done over the next two to three years you're gonna need somebody focused on this problem sir I agree with my panelists but I would also add two things one is that after the spending 300 or so space missions one of the things you come to realize is how rapidly space technology is advancing I think the purpose of having a unified command is not just for the administrative side or the operational side it's also because we live in an environment where where those decisions are going to be happening and add to speed at an increasing speed that we have not seen before and I think having that unified command would allow that to happen I think it also would provide a unified front to the industrial base that has to work with this organization we are spending considerable our resources and some of that resources is spent on redundancy and I think as we do this we have to look forward also to the budgeting process and say that make sure that we use that money as wisely as possible and in a unified command I think that will happen as in any command having a under system secretary as Doug said I think is required for the short term decisions have to be made they have to be made rapidly it has to be made by someone who has the power to make them and I think that is the only way to stand this up and also to reflect externally the United States that we're serious about what we're doing thank you Thank You general maybe our last question for the panel from our NASA Administrator Jim yes sir I just wanted to to say Doug you have been a champion on this issue for a very long time and as a former member of the House of Representatives mr. vice president you should know that we've had the opportunity to vote on what was called the space Corps which wasn't a fully it wasn't a full new service but like the Marine Corps is part of the Department of the Navy the space Corps would be part of the Department of the Air Force and in that vote we had 344 yes votes as part of the National Defense Authorization Act in the House of Representatives strong bipartisan support I voted on it as a member of the strategic forces subcommittee I voted on it as a member of the full Armed Services Committee both cases strong bipartisan support and then of course in the House of Representatives it got 344 votes in no small part Doug because of your leadership because you were committed and I heard you in your testimony I read your testimony as well the the point here is that this cannot and must not become a partisan issue and you've been committed to that from the beginning and I wanted to make sure everybody was aware of that finally in your testimony Doug I read that one of the things that you suggest and I've heard this before that because there's no space doctrine we shouldn't have a space force because we're not ready for it and of course your testimony and you've said it verbally is that wait a second we need a space force so we can have a space doctrine so I think that's a very important point to make and finally when we think about the history here you've mentioned HAP Arnold of course a critically important person in the history of the creation of the Air Force before him was Billy Mitchell and Billy Mitchell was a brigadier general it became very strong advocate for a separate independent Air Force after World War one he was such a strong advocate a time when a lot of the political leadership wasn't ready he eventually got fired it is also true that when we started flying missions in World War two from aircraft carriers we had Air Force bombers on aircraft carriers those b-25 bombers were called the Mitchell the b-25 Mitchell so when you look through the history there have been visionaries that got dismissed and eventually they were proven correct and Doug I think you're one of those people and I just want to make sure that's on the record [Applause] sir thank you very much it's it's been a pleasure to work with you over these years on this important topic and III need to say two things first I needed to talk about captain Paul Beck nobody here has ever heard of captain Paul Beck but captain Paul Beck was actually the first advocate for a separate air force in 1913 he was the only uniform member of the air service going ahead and justifying for it at a time when Billy Mitchell HAP Arnold and Benjamin filet justified against it you've never heard of Captain Paul Beck because he was caught in liaison with the wife of the Supreme Court Justice of the Oklahoma and were shot so I hope I do not meet that fate but to your point doctrine is just about everything doctrine dictates what we buy how we train how we plan how we go ahead and develop our space forces today we don't have a space doctrine because doctrine is developed by domain services now it's untrue to say there's not a document called space doctrine the land doctrine is developed by the Army naval doctrine is developed by the Navy air doctrine by the airforce but our space doctrine is developed by the Joint Staff and it's more a command and control relationship document than a dock doctrine of how we fight people have asked for decades who's the Mahon for space who's the closets for space we have no answer we are not going to get there without a service that goes ahead and promulgates and promotes those people who can think in that way thank you well I want to invite everyone to thank this extraordinary panel for their contributions to this meeting and their contribution to the life of a nation with that we're going to open the floor for a discussion about the United States space force and the recommendations that will be proposed for the president at the close of this meeting I'm going to ask the members of the National Space Council to approve those proposals shortly but the public should know that members of this council have been deeply involved in interagency discussions regarding the space force and several have asked for the opportunity to provide public remarks at this time so in the interest of transparency and keeping the public fully informed about this process I wanted to make sure several of our members had an opportunity I would say to all the members if you want to submit written remarks for the record for public inspection as well you're entitled to do that let me let me begin with Deputy Secretary of Defense Patrick Shanahan and again thank you Patrick for your great leadership at Pentagon in in moving president Trump's vision for space force forward good thank you sir it's great to be here with all of you and I'd have to say we've come a long way since our inaugural space council meeting a year ago and before making some remarks I thought I'd give out a few thank-yous so mr. vice president thank you for your leadership for your drive and for your patience we have to go fast sue thank you for your working together spirit and forward-thinking secretary Wilson I greatly appreciate your teamwork and your commitment to getting things right general Silva I can't think of a better partner your expertise and focus on the warfighter and technical prowess is on matched dr. Scott pace I appreciate you making sure there is no daylight between our operations and there's Russ Russ thank you for your fiscal stewardship it's awesome it's always helpful to be safe that's a great it's always helpful to restate the reason we are here the US military is the best in the world in space but our adversaries have taken note and are actively developing and fielding capabilities to potentially deny our usage of space in crisis or war at the same time commercial space industry has moved forward in ways never imagined presidents Trump has directed that a response to the threats from adversaries and the opportunities of commercial space be combined to generate a solution the space force the creation of the space force is no easy task as I've come to learn firsthand mr. vice president we're moving out we owe we owe a legislative proposal in the coming weeks that's a significant lift the legislative proposal will embody our guiding principles speed and effectiveness speed and leveraging commercial space technology and resources speed in escaping red tape speed and fielding capability sooner it will reflect our drive to be more effective effective in maximizing how we are more integrated technically to unlock our ability to be united in our space operations effective in creating a solution and then together and not singularly leveraging the solutions across the enterprise effective in how we structure the space force cost is not an independent variable we must demonstrate prudence and create value our most pressing focus is the construction of a space development agency we are defining the statement of work the resources the mix of talent and many other critical attributes the space development agency will leverage technology standards and architecture to enable unparalleled integration the technical foundation must be provisioned for growth and new missions the effort now is on reconciling capabilities prioritized by the national defense strategy with the readiness of technology anchored by our assumptions on how quickly we can scale very very smart technical leaders are focused on this effort this will lead to a budget proposal outlining both how we will stand up the space force and what new warfighting capabilities we need to ensure our dominance in space in conclusion mr. vice president I appreciate your steady hand in driving the president's vision into reality the Department of Defense is moving out [Applause] with that the chair recognizes the principal Deputy Director of National Intelligence a woman that the president I have come to respect so greatly for her her role in the life of the nation for her steady council join me in thanking sue Gordon for her great leadership and presence here today mr. vice president thank you for your steady leadership of the council and for your work to elevate American preeminence in space as a national priority I am absolutely delighted to be here what representing the women and men of the intelligence community and I'm honored to be in the presence of such distinguished colleagues who share in this vital quest and to Doug mark and Kevin to have your voices lent to this endeavor gives me great confidence so thank you very much the intelligence community applauds the redoubled emphasis on ensuring and protecting our district our strategic advantage in this domain that is so necessary to our national interests but it's a strategic advantage that our adversaries and competitors would seek to diminish we assess that Russia and China continue to focus on establishing operational forces designed to attack United States space systems space is a priority war fighting domain for them as demonstrated by the creation of dedicated military space organizations over the past several years Russian and Chinese destructive anti-satellite weapons will probably reach initial operating capability in the next few years and both these countries are advancing directed-energy weapons technologies for the purpose of fielding anti-satellite weapons that could blind our damage our sensitive space-based optical sensors such as those used for remote sensing or missile defense and in addition Russia and China continue to launch experimental satellites that conduct sophisticated on-orbit activities at least some of which are intended to advance counter space capabilities if a future conflict were to occur involving Russia or China either country would probably justify attacks against US and allied satellites as necessary to offset any perceived u.s. military advantage derived from military civil or commercial space systems now President Trump's national strategy for space recognizes that our competitors and adversaries have turned space into a war fighting domain the development of a space force is necessary to counter these adversarial actions that would deny the president's objective which is simply that the United States must maintain its leadership its preeminence and freedom of action in space I want to assure the case space Council members in the public that in the face of emerging threats the intelligence community and the Department of Defense have not been idle we are not well designed for waiting together we have created common mechanisms for collaboration that have greatly improved unity of effort and have vastly improved our effectiveness in space more I'm working closely with the deputy secretary Shanna hand and vice chairman Selva to ensure that the intelligence community the Department are even better positioned and aligned as we move forward for delivering outcome simply what the intelligence community is leading in and the development of the space Force and building aggressively on our story passed and that president's national strategy for space requires the intelligence community to work hand in glove with the DoD on four key areas that are vital to the mission of the space force first we are jointly working to accelerate the transformation of our space architecture to enhance resiliency defenses and responsiveness the mission needs second we are working to strengthen our deference and warfighting options the intelligence community is pursuing with the Department of Defense ways to strengthen us and allied efforts to deter potential adversaries from extending conflict into space and if deterrence fails to counter threats used by those adversaries for hostile actions third we are working to improve our foundational capabilities structures and processes I've directed elements of the intelligence community to work with the Air Force and the Undersecretary of defense for research and engineering and other key space 4-straight holders to accelerate collaboration on the development of cutting-edge capabilities that will ensure effective space operations through insurance through improved situational awareness intelligence and acquisition processes and finally we are directly supporting the space warfighter by providing unique actionable intelligence and by having our analysts and operators co-located with the joint Space Command component component commander to where they share the floor to make sure that we act as one this allows us to jointly test new approaches to space operations and when those operations demonstrate merit we will work to jointly field new capabilities mr. vice president members of the council since 1961 the intelligence community has been invested in space supporting exploration reconnaissance and defense in from and to through this domain I appreciate the opportunity to describe how the intelligence community is working to advance the establishment and the space force and the opportunity it provides I look forward to updating the council as our work progresses now let us be up and doing Thank You mr. vice president [Applause] thank you thank you thank you sue thank you for your energetic collaboration on this effort between defense and the intelligence community you have most certainly as evidenced by both of you remarks today you've certainly not been idle that are both moving out and president I know it's very grateful with that the vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs who's also brought an extraordinary amount of visionary energy to this effort General Paul Selva thank you so much and the chair recognizes you for your remarks Thank You mr. vice president thank you for your leadership in the leadership of the council to all of my colleagues this has been a team effort to the deputy secretary and the principal deputy director thank you for for your collegial work in this space as well as the secretary of the Air Force for her leadership in trying to get the organization right general Dunford regrets that he can't be here today but I will make just a very brief comment in his stead the Joint Chiefs are unanimous in their support for the stand up of a combatant command for space to focus our activities and our development of doctrine tactics techniques procedures and more importantly to discuss the authority's responsibilities and rules of engagement for conduct in space for the conduct of defensive and offensive operations to protect our constellation to fight our constellation and to support our war fighters in all domains and across all domains as we protect our ability to deploy civil commercial and military space to the benefit of the nation and with that mr. vice president I will yield any time that's available to the balance of my colleagues on the council well with your thank you thank you for your characteristic brevity but also thank you for your tremendous collaboration on this in your position at with the air force and as vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs I'm always pleased to see the Chairman present for these occasions but especially so for you to be here today thank you for your energetic efforts on behalf of this effort on behalf of the American people with that the chair recognizes Colonel Andrea Thompson who is the Under Secretary of State for the Department of State and an alumni of the vice president's office so we're so pleased to see you taking a leading role in the State Department on behalf of the secretary you recognize Thank You mr. vice president and thank you for the opportunity to serve with you and to continue to serve it's a great honor to be able to represent secretary Pompeo and the women Amanda the State Department much like my partner in crime across the way with gentle self I'll keep my remarks brief of well submit via the statement for the for the record but very briefly as we meet today I think it's important to note that two American diplomats are up in New York at the United Nations engaging in discussions on space security issues and on cooperation on the peaceful use of space they're working hard to implement the president's guidance and help as you have said mr. vice president to ensure that our most cherished values and ideals are at the foundation of the future of boundless expanse of space in these in another international engagements US diplomacy continues to play its role in upholding our vital interests in space to ensure unfettered access to and freedom to operate in space in order to advance America's security economic prosperity and scientific knowledge and of course as both you and the president have said America first does not mean America alone therefore the Department of State actively seeks constructive partnerships with their Speas spacefaring nations that share our goals of strengthening the safety the stability and sustainability of their and our space activities at the same time as my DNI karna part assumed it and at the same time we also recognize that our competitors and adversaries have turned space into a war fighting domain and the Department of State fully supports the president's proposal to establish a space for us as well as other reforms necessary to meet our u.s. national security objectives in light of existing and advancing threats while maintaining the existing international laws and norms that we spoke of today that have supported American preeminence in space for decades it's a great honor and I look forward to continued success with this team thank you mr. vice president thank thank you very much good report our regards to the secretary thank you for your energetic support of this effort and it's great to call you Under Secretary of State it really is I'm gonna recognize the deputy director of the Office of Management and Budget who as the Deputy Secretary of Defense said has been working hand-in-glove to address the budget issues associated with us moving toward the president's vision of a space force Russ vote thank you for being here Thank You mr. vice president this is a national imperative that will provide much needed organizational modernization in better position this nation to continue to use space to support our national security economy and citizens I also want to thank the panel members for their insights and perspectives and I want to applaud my executive branch colleagues on the progress that they're making in pursuit of the various ongoing initiatives OMB is continuously working with departments and agencies to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of federal functions OMB also understands that strategic changes are often necessary to adapt to a changing environment these types of changes are often difficult and DoD space organization and management is no different there is a clear and consistent course of independent studies including our own from just last year regarding the need for strategic change in organizing training and equipping DoD's forces in preparation for this this morning I read our report from last year one of the statements that I found arresting was it said this is the least capable our adversaries will ever be in space we need to do it now the aler Commission best summarized up the stakes without significant improvements to the leadership and management of national security space programs us space preeminence will erode to the extent that space ceases to provide a competitive space security advantage the president's vision is strongly supported by these studies and OMB is working diligently to implement them OMB has been working closely with DoD and the Deputy Secretary of Defense has been a great partner in this endeavor OMB is committed to properly resourcing the space force in the 2020 federal budget OMB is also prepared to support the preparatory elements primarily the US Space Command and the senior civilian within the office of the Secretary of Defense that are essential to the timely realization of the president's vision while the proposal remains a work in progress we have a very feasible path to a lean organizational structure that responsibly employs taxpayer resources DoD is already performing a broad suite of space missions and in the near term the primary efforts will be to realign and consolidate the many disparate organized train-and-equip functions eliminating redundancies as we go along once the core organization is established in 2020 it will rapidly scale to assume responsibilities for the other services this will be an iterative process that will be responsibly and deliberately the transfer functions without disrupting ongoing activities we will be finalizing the implementation path in the coming months we look forward to rolling out the budget and the formal legislative proposal early next year mr. vice president we are honored to be a part of making the president's vision a reality thank you thank you rest oh thank you for your effort I'm well done the chair will need to be departing sharply at the top of the hour so I'm going to ask all the remaining members of the National Space Council if you have prepared remarks we'd like to have you submit them to the record for public consideration and very grateful for your ongoing counsel with that thank you all for your comments and contributions today and presidents given us a very clear direction on the creation of space force and now it's incumbent on the National Space Council to provide him with sound advice about how we move out this discussion has certainly informed that but to that end I'm going to now recognize the Deputy Secretary of Defense to describe our recommendations to the President on the creation of the United States space force Patrick mr. president before the Space Council our six recommendations to the President as we move forward on establishing the space force these have all been well coordinated among the members of the council recommendation one guides the creation of a new unified Space Command recommendation two provides direction on the legislative proposal for the space force recommendation three addresses the fiscal year 2020 budget for the space Force recommendation 4 outlines and interagency authorities review recommendation 5 establishes the joint space Development Agency in recommendation six is on strengthening the relationship between the intelligence community and the space force I asked the National Space account space Council to approve these recommendations Thank You deputy secretary Shanahan councilmembers you've heard the recommendations your agencies and departments have informed their development through the interagency process are there any outstanding comments or objections to the recommendations as described seeing no objection I direct the executive secretary to enter the recommendations into the records of the National Space Council create a publicly available fact sheet further the executive secretary should prepare a memo to the president from the chair notifying him of these recommendations and to members of the National Space Council our Advisory Group and all that are looking on I would anticipate the president taking action in the very near future on these recommendations as warranted he only asked me about the space force every week so I know he will be very grateful for the energetic efforts and the substantive and thoughtful recommendations brought forward by the experts that we've heard from and the agencies that are at the table and involved in this effort to close let me thank everyone for joining us here for the fourth meeting of the National Space Council that will be our last of calendar year 2018 we do anticipate meeting a meeting early in 2019 to continue the work of the National Space Council and it is our expectation in 2019 that we may well see new American platforms moving from American soil into space and in fact platforms and rockets that shortly thereafter will begin to carry American astronauts into space we are making progress as Americans and we should all be proud of NASA we should all be proud of the efforts all described here today to the members of the National Space Council to Admiral Ellis to members of the user advisory group I want to thank you for your ongoing contributions to this effort we are just getting started we are moving out the work has really just begun I look forward to working with each of you to make the next 16 months of the National Space Council as productive for the president for the American people as the first 16 months have been let me take a few moments just to thank a few folks before we dismiss the staff of the National Space Council dr. Scott paste your ad Stout everyone on our great team I want to congratulate [Applause] to our distinguished panelists whose testimony here today but more importantly whose voice in the development of American policy has greatly contributed to the progress that we have made in the last year and a half join me in thanking this remarkable group of experts I also want to thank our great host Vice Admiral Rogi who spoke at the outset of our meeting and all the men and women of the National Defense University and here at the National War College thank you for your hospitality more importantly thank you for your ongoing service to the nation it is my great honor that now part of the history of this storied institution will be a meeting of the National Space Council where we forwarded recommendations to the President of the United States of America to form the United States space Force so join me in thanking the National War College [Applause] with that thanks to all of you and all those that are looking on from afar I can assure you that the National Space Council and all of our members are going to continue to move forward with cheerful impatience to advance the president's vision for American leadership in space I've been so struck by a by a number of the comments that have been made today that it is the unanimous recommendation of experts now for decades that America would take the step that we have begun in this administration to take we will we will do it on a bipartisan basis we will do it in listening the energy enthusiasm of the American people and we will do it with the support of all of you that are here and all that are looking on and with your help with president Trump's continued energetic leadership with the strong support of the Congress strong support of the Pentagon our intelligence community and all the agencies represented here I believe we will make history and we will launch the United States space Force and America will lead to a more peaceful and prosperous future in space for America and for all of mankind thank you all very much god bless you [Applause] [Music] [Music]

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Id: JrtkjcGqGho

Length: 151min 57sec (9117 seconds)

Published: Tue Oct 23 2018