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US Space Command Launching Next Week

Carla Babb

   Smita Nordwall contributed to this report.

   PENTAGON -- The United States military is launching next week its first
   new combatant command in more than a decade.
   Vice President Mike Pence and Pentagon officials told the National
   Space Council Tuesday the U.S. Space Command will officially be up and
   running Aug. 29.

   The U.S. military has created a command since the U.S. Cyber Command
   was established in 2009. The Defense Department currently has 10
   combatant commands, and each have either a geographic or functional
   mission for military operations.

   Air Force Gen. John Raymond has been confirmed by the Senate as the
   command's first leader.

   Creation of the command is seen by some officials as a likely step
   toward the creation of a space force as a separate military entity.
   "The United States Space Force will ensure that our nation is prepared
   to defend our people, defend our interests, and to defend our values in
   the vast expanse of space and here on Earth with the technologies that
   will support our common defense for the vast reaches of outer space,"
   Pence said.

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