In The Media

How about a U.S. Space Guard? DoD sets up AI push amid Google firestorm

by Sandra Ewin (feat. Charity Weeden)

SpaceNews
June 6 ,2018

SPACE CORPS? SPACE FORCE? SPACE GUARD? A new twist has been added to the mix. Congress last year proposed a Space Corps, modeled after the Marine Corps. President Trump has floated a Space Force as a separate and equal branch of the military like the the Air Force. Now comes another thought: A Space Guard fashioned after the U.S. Coast Guard.

Experts debated the concept of a U.S. Space Guard last week at the International Space Development Conference in Los Angeles. Greg Autry, a professor at the University of Southern California Marshall School of Business who served on the NASA transition team for the Trump administration, endorsed the notion of a cadre of space law enforcement officers to monitor compliance and orbital activities.

George Nield, the former associate administrator for commercial space transportation at the Federal Aviation Administration, agreed. He noted there is today no single department or agency that is “charged with holistically managing U.S. interests in space.” The Commerce Department trying to become a “one-stop shop” for space regulations and economic issues is not enough, Nield argued. A broader effort is needed to oversee orbital debris, and search-and-rescue operations. A Space Guard would function as a civilian agency but could be activated to a military active-duty status if needed. An added bonus of a Space Guard? Its dual civilian-military status would preclude the need for a Space Force or a Space Corps.