Why The Space Force is Not a Joke

Last updated on September 26, 2025

When Congress authorized the creation of the United States Space Force in 2019, critics mocked it. But behind the jokes we have to realize that America’s rivals are racing to weaponize the final frontier, and the stakes are nothing less than nuclear deterrence, technological progress, and human survival.

Consider Russia. Long dismissed for its declining economy and crumbling infrastructure, Moscow has redirected resources into asymmetric tools designed to undermine American advantages. Analysts report that Russia is expanding its anti-access strategy in space, building offensive systems aimed at satellites and communications networks. One weapon, the PL-19 Nudol, has been tested successfully multiple times and is designed to target U.S. satellites in low Earth orbit. These are not symbolic threats. They are deliberate attempts to impede America’s intelligence, block its communications, and erode its nuclear deterrent.

This is why the Space Force exists. As its first doctrine states, its mission is to “secure U.S. interests through deterrence and, when necessary, the application of force.” It was created to counter exactly these challenges from countries like Russia and China.

The benefits are not confined to security. The Space Force also revitalizes exploration and innovation at a time when public commitment has waned. Polls show that most Americans support space exploration in principle, but few favor spending more on it. NASA’s budget struggles reflect this ambivalence, and political leaders often choose immediate priorities over long-term vision. Left to itself, American space policy risks timidity, retreating into simulations and computer models rather than bold missions.

The Space Force changes that calculus. In 2020, it signed a formal partnership with NASA to coordinate on human spaceflight, transportation, planetary defense, and scientific research. This kind of collaboration strengthens both agencies: NASA gains resources, while the Space Force gains access to decades of scientific expertise. The partnership ties exploration directly to national defense, making it harder for policymakers to dismiss space as an extravagance.

And history shows that when the U.S. commits to space, everyday citizens reap the benefits. NASA research has given us everything from artificial limbs to safer flights. Prosthetic technology advanced when robotics designed for spacewalks were adapted for use in medicine, creating more functional artificial limbs. Baby formula was transformed when scientists investigating nutrition for long missions developed additives now critical for infant health. Anti-icing technology, pioneered to protect spacecraft, now keeps commercial aviation safe for millions of passengers each day. 

The Space Force is often ridiculed. But a century ago, the same could be said of air power, and today no one doubts the need for an Air Force. It is not a joke. It is an investment in survival.