https://www.americanthinker.com/articles/2020/01/why_the_usa_needs_a_space_force.html
I strongly support our newly created Space Force. Admittedly, the military and surveillance capabilities it will eventually represent are concerning in some ways, but in the larger pattern of human affairs, new frontiers are often militarized first, then commercialized. That being our habit, I say, Go for it!
Tidewater News and Opinion Forum 
But how will we pay for it?
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RE: “But how will we pay for it?”
In the usual ways, I suppose.
On the military side, there may be some potential for de-funding various conventional forces as new capabilities emerge. But as with all military spending, it may also be necessary to cut non-military spending.
On the commercial side, the economics are such that the development of space-based production should either pay for itself or at least provide value to justify the creation of new money to finance projects.
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“On the military side, there may be some potential for de-funding various conventional forces as new capabilities emerge. ” Accurate, but the fight amongst congressional district to protect their respective rice bowls, will, as always, be fierce. (You can steal form Alaska, but not from Ohio)
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We’ll pay for it either way, We will likely enjoy some savings by avoiding duplication of efforts by the other armed forces. A space division of the Navy, Air Force and Army collectively would cost even more.
Don’t forget that the F-111 Aardvark was originally supposed to be a joint air superiority fighter for the Air Force and Navy.
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…” by avoiding duplication of efforts by the other armed forces”… I agree but the DOD has made no serious attempt to do that in 50 years and there is plenty of duplication already. Heck, even the Army has ships. What the hell for?
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Joint — a marijuana cigarette.
In the military, a humorous concept in which the members of two or more services work in unison, usually to accomplish the smoking of a joint.
JMPS — Joint Mission Planning System, pronounced “jumps” was a concept to allow the warfighter of any service, to plan missions using multi-service platforms and weapons right down to blowing the data into the weapon. It started as a $50M proof of concept with Northrop that overran by $50M and “slipped in real-time” (an expression that means at the end of the Planning Meeting, the schedule is already OBE) in the first two years. It also started with existing software.
After 5 years, the Navy announce the prototype JMPS-N, which stood for, you guessed it, Joint Mission Planning System Navy”, which of course was the existing Navy MPS with new map software.
Since then, the Joint effort has devolved to JMPS-Maritime and JMPS-AF
https://www.dote.osd.mil/Portals/97/pub/reports/FY2010/navy/2010jmps-m.pdf?ver=2019-08-22-112820-130
and
https://www.dote.osd.mil/Portals/97/pub/reports/FY2012/af/2012mps-jmps-af.pdf?ver=2019-08-22-111756-020
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Picture worth 1000 words
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“Admittedly, the military and surveillance capabilities it will eventually represent…”
Eventually?
The only thing this accomplishes is another kink in the word “Joint”, and who knows, maybe someday there will be another academy and another Thanksgiving football game. I can hear the Space Cadets now, “Go Vacua! Beat Army!”
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