Trump establishes Space Command with eye towards new military branch

Trump said he sees the Space Command as a precursor to establishing the Space Force and a White House statement called Space Command a "critical step" to advancing the proposed military force.  
"As the newest combat and command SPACECOM will defend America's vital interest in space, the next war-fighting domain," Trump said during a ceremony at the White House. "SPACECOM will boldly deter aggression and outpace America's rivals by far." 
In a statement, the White House said the Space Command will "actively employ assigned forces from each of the military services to accomplish directed missions in the space domain."
Space Command will be led by General John Raymond, who was head of similarly named Air Force Space Command, a division of the US Air Force that deals with space.
The Space Command is the 11th unified combatant command (UCC). The UCC, housed in the Defense Department oversees US national security operations across all branches of the military in different parts of the world or across functional operations like cyber operations.
"So just as we have recognized land, air, sea and cyber as vital war-fighting domains we will now treat space as an independent region overseen by a new unified geographic combat and command," Trump said.
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