The US Senate will once again consider creating a Space National Guard after US Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL) filed bipartisan legislation that would do so.
Late US Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) and Senator Rubio introduced the original legislation in 2022.
President Donald Trump’s administration created the US Space Force in 2019.
According to Senator Rubio’s office, Air National Guard units have had to be housed under the US Air Force while conducting Space Force missions.
The National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2024, signed into law last December, directed the US government to reconsider establishing the Space National Guard.
Rubio’s legislation, which enjoys widespread bipartisan support, responds to the Defense Authorization Act’s suggestion for creating the Space National Guard.
Rubio emphasized the importance of forming a separate unit of the National Guard to specifically deal with space-related missions.
“Creating a Space National Guard would boost military readiness and efficiency. It would also ensure that the Space Force retains needed talent. I look forward to working with my colleagues to pass this common-sense bill,” stated Rubio.
Senator Rick Scott (R-FL), one of the bill’s original cosponsors, claimed his constituents understood the need and positive consequences of expanding the US’s Space Forces.
“If anyone knows the importance of growing our Space Force, retaining Guardians and making sure we’re safe from future threats,” began Senator Scott via X, “it’s Florida and our Space Coast.”
Proud to join my colleagues in reintroducing this bill to establish a Space National Guard.
If anyone knows the importance of growing our Space Force, retaining Guardians and making sure we’re safe from future threats, it’s Florida and our Space Coast.https://t.co/pvZJxJnaZ0
— Rick Scott (@SenRickScott) January 31, 2024
The US Space Force recently announced that, for the first time in the branch’s history, a US Space Force ‘Guardian’ will launch into space on a mission to the International Space Station (ISS).
U.S. Space Force Col. Nick Hague will reportedly launch no earlier than August to the ISS as the pilot on NASA’s Space X Crew-9 mission.
The crew for the mission will include several other American servicemembers and Russian ‘Roscosmos’ cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov.
Colonel Hague underscored the mission’s importance, claiming Guardians “provide critical support without which our NASA human spaceflight program wouldn’t be possible.”
