Looking back, the past four years seem like a blur, chocked full of so many crazy news items that one can be forgiven for momentarily wondering aloud “Wait, did that really happen?” One such item was in late 2019, when President Donald Trump created the newest branch of the US military: The United States Space Force. Yes, that really happened.

At the time, the announcement was received with a chuckle and an eye-roll, dismissed as a joke and half-expected never to come to fruition. In fairness, though, it’s easy to laugh at the Space Force. It was founded without clearly defined goals. Nobody could explain exactly what its purpose was without recourse to vague platitudes about the future of space. The few specific functions enumerated were redundant with parts of the Air Force, such as work with satellites. 

You can almost picture a bathrobed Trump, lounging in the presidential residence amid cheeseburger wrappers and empty Diet Coke cans, watching the end credits of Independence Day beginning to roll and blurting his epiphany to the screen. The Space Force settled on calling its members “Guardians”, but not before turning down suggestions like “freedom-naughts”, “Skywalkers”, “Wookies”, “Homo Spaciens,” and “FloatyBois.” The Space Force logo resembles an illustration from a Star Trek fan fiction. General John Raymond, the Space Force’s first chief of space operations (the top job) felt moved to assure reporters “This is not a farce.” Pure comedy gold. And indeed, comedians had a field day.

The Space Force might seem like a silly enterprise, but it doesn’t have to be. And with the right direction and management, it might just save the world one day.

Refocusing the Mission

The Space Force needs a better mission statement. Officially, this is how the mission reads:

“The USSF is a military service that organizes, trains, and equips space forces in order to protect U.S. and allied interests in space and to provide space capabilities to the joint force. USSF responsibilities include developing Guardians, acquiring military space systems, maturing the military doctrine for space power, and organizing space forces to present to our Combatant Commands.”

In the absence of an alien invasion or of any other country having anything resembling a space force of their own, this mission statement is mostly fluff. Developing and maintaining some level of general preparedness is all well and good. Doing some work with satellites is nice. But this isn’t a justification for a separate branch of the military, and doesn’t warrant any meaningful level of funding. It’s a lost opportunity. The Space Force needs a clearer mission that includes planetary defense—from human or natural threats. Specifically, defense against asteroids or other celestial impacts such as comets.

Asteroids Are No Joke

It’s difficult to watch the above simulation without discovering a newfound appreciation for the project of planetary defense. Asteroids with a 1km diameter (the destructive capacity of 600 Hiroshima bombs) hit Earth about every half million years on average. Larger, extinction-level asteroids (5km diameter or bigger) tend to strike about every 20 million years. It’s been 66 million years since the last one that wiped out the dinosaurs. Some might say we’re overdue. 

Smaller, more frequent asteroid impacts can still do tremendous damage, especially if they hit populated areas. The chances are slim, but the existential threat posed by asteroids and comets is very real. Think of it as Earth insurance. You hope to never use it, but it’s worth spending a few bucks on, comparatively. This is a perfect job for the Space Force.

NASA currently monitors objects like these in our solar system, and estimates that it has a bead on about 90% of them. The Space Force could collaborate with NASA in these detection and tracking efforts, and develop strategies, tactics, contingencies, protocols, and technologies to deflect, destroy, break up, or otherwise prevent or mitigate damage from any potential object on collision course. Using technologies that already exist, NASA says that nuclear weapons may be our best choice against asteroids. Landing on the asteroid, digging a hole, and detonating a sub-surface explosion (“Armageddon” style) to alter its trajectory would be 10 to 100 times more effective than simply bombing it on the surface.

Some of these technologies would doubtless have military application, most likely in missile defense, but in other areas as well. And as with the Space Race of the Cold War era, new and unpredictable innovations will arise downstream as a result of this type of research, development, and testing. Ambitious space projects also inspire public interest in science like few other things can. As the US continues to lag behind in math and science on the global stage, to the point that some have described it as a national security crisis, this could be just the shot in the arm we need.

Other Missions

• Testing new space tech. The Space Force could play a major role in testing new technologies that come out of the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), the research and development wing of the Defense Department, such as prototype spacesuits, propulsion systems, and guided missiles. Given the bodily stress involved in manned space launches and high-G maneuvers, Space Force Guardians would be ideal candidates to trial new drugs or biotech to improve performance.

• International and private collaboration. The Space Force could also work on collaborative projects with other governmental organizations, such as the European Space Agency, as well as private space companies like SpaceX and Blue Origin. Joint effort exploratory or scientific missions or test runs for new technologies could allow the USSF to operate as an avenue for strengthening ties and relations with allies and other nations through mutually beneficial endeavors.

• Geo-engineering. As humanity slowly transforms the planet into a flaming toilet, the insufficiency of efforts to conserve, recycle, and reduce consumption will become manifest, and new innovations in geo-engineering will be required to actively reverse the damage we are doing. Whether it’s cloud brightening or space mirrors to reflect solar energy away from the Earth, or as yet-undiscovered methods to reverse environmental damage, the Space Force will be a valuable resource to help test and carry out these operations.

• Space warfare, eventually. In time, as the cost of various technologies gradually comes down in price, countries will begin to develop Space Forces of their own. The groundwork and development the USSF lays down now will give the United States a competitive edge in space whenever that distant day arrives. It sounds like science fiction, but a base on the moon or eventually on Mars is entirely plausible, and could at some point be strategically useful. The United States having its own space station is a project that will one day be viable at an acceptable cost, and one in which the Space Force will be especially suited to undertake.

Could’s, If’s, and When’s

The Space Force, goofy as it currently is, can be, with proper direction and investment, an invaluable asset not only to the United States, but the world. Whether it will pay off, however, hinges in part on eventualities that may never happen, at least not in the foreseeable future. The Earth might not sustain a large asteroid impact for thousands of years yet. Terrestrial problems may end up grounding world powers for decades longer than anticipated. In 2005, former Australian prime minister Tony Abbott said of pandemic preparedness: “In the absence of a pandemic, almost any preparation will smack of alarmism, but if a pandemic does break out, nothing that has been done will be enough.” 

This paradox of preparation is the fundamental dilemma facing any large scale effort to address unlikely but potentially catastrophic threats. It seems like wasteful, panicky overkill right up until the moment it’s revealed to be woefully inadequate. “We have bigger problems here on Earth” can turn into “Oh God why didn’t we do more?!” pretty damn fast. Perhaps our experience with COVID-19 has shown us the value of planning ahead. I always have been a dreamer.

This defense of the Space Force is not so much a defense of its current larval state, but of what it could become—about the opportunity it represents. The Space Force can be something great, but in order to achieve its potential, we have to think big. If we focus the Space Force only on short-term parochial squabbles and petty one-upmanship with rivals, or on vague and ineffectual platitudes with no substance behind them, the Space Force will indeed be a farce. That sort of Space Force will be of little use other than supplying fodder for comedians and jobs for Air Force washouts, before ultimately being disbanded, and with it an opportunity lost.

Follow Jamie Paul on Twitter and read more of his writing on Substack.