Preparing Space Force to defend our interests in Space

Gen. Caine: US Troops Must Prepare to Fight Around the Moon

American troops need to prepare for combat not only in Earth's orbit but around the moon, President Donald Trump's top military adviser said Wednesday, looking ahead to a new frontier in warfare after the U.S. revealed for the first time that it has deployed weapons in space.

Gen. Dan Caine, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told service members and industry figures at the Air, Space, and Cyber Conference outside Washington that the U.S. military should adapt now so it "is prepared to fight, endure and win ... from the seabed to cislunar space."

Space Force, the newest military service, which was created by Trump in 2019, is preparing to fight in space and around the moon because "humanity is advancing deeper into space — the Space Force's job is to help be prepared to defend U.S. interests," Lt. Gen. Gregory Gagnon, head of the force's Combat Forces Command, told reporters separately.

The Outer Space Treaty of 1967, which the U.S. and China have signed, says celestial objects such as the moon are to be used "exclusively for peaceful purposes," nuclear weapons cannot be placed in space, and countries are "liable for damage caused by their space objects."

When asked about the 1967 treaty and other similar obligations, Gagnon said the U.S. Space Force "will continue to execute safe and responsible space operations in all the reaches of space."

Gagnon also says the U.S. aims to double the size of the Space Force over the next five years — to roughly 25,000 service members — and that about two-thirds of that growth would be focused on Combat Forces Command.

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