Last Tuesday, President Trump signed a new policy directive that laid out his long-promised plans for a U.S. Space Force.
A day later, Acting Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan submitted a legislative proposal to Congress, requesting the authority and funds to establish the new military service.
It's now up to the legislative branch to authorize it, which it should...
I know a lot of people mocked the idea at the outset.
The concepts of routine space missions and moon bases have always been fantastical. They're what you see in science fiction movies that take place in the distant future.
But the truth is, those things are much, much closer than you think. There's also a more immediate threat posed to our satellites.
Russia and China, in particular, have developed new weapons specifically intended to target our space assets - namely our satellites.
In a report issued last month, the Defense Intelligence Agency said both countries threaten the United States' preeminent position, including lasers that could target and destroy our satellites.
"China and Russia, in particular, are developing a variety of means to exploit perceived US reliance on space-based systems and challenge the US position in space," the report noted.
Russia is developing an airborne anti-satellite laser weapon system to use against space-based missile defense sensors, the report said. It's also building inspector, or "kamikaze," satellites that can be programmed to slam into and disable our satellites.
In November, Russia said it launched three classified communications satellites into orbit, along with the upper stage of the rocket that put them there. But according to the U.S. military's Combined Space Operations Center, a fifth object, possibly another, unannounced satellite, piggy-backed on the launch.
Meanwhile, the Chinese military has operational ground-based anti-satellite missiles intended to target low-Earth orbit satellites. And it's formed military units that are already training with the weapons.
This is a big deal.
Our military is hugely reliant on satellites. They provide reconnaissance and communication, and can detect missile launches.
They're also vital to the functioning of our society. Without satellites, there's no Internet and no cell phone service. Financial transactions - credit cards, stock, bond, and commodities trades, and ATMs - would fail. Electricity, water, and gas supplies would be disrupted.
This is what led Rep. Mike Rogers, who was chairman of the House Armed Services Strategic Forces subcommittee before the Democrats took over, to proclaim:
"The situation we are in as a nation, the vulnerabilities we have to China and Russia, I'd like for the American public to know more, [but] I can't because I don't want to go to jail for leaking classified info. But we're in a really bad situation."
"The future of war will be fought in space," he concluded, and "we need to dedicate a separate force solely with a space mission."
This isn't just a defensive measure, either.
You have to understand that our adversaries are also challenging American dominance on the moon and Mars.
As it stands now, we're the only country to have put men on the face of the moon. But it won't stay that way forever.