[dropcap]I[/dropcap]n a one-page memorandum, President Trump signed an authorization for the Department of Defense to launch the new Space Command on Tuesday. the new “Space Command will transfer approximately 600 staff from existing military space operations and add an additional 1,000 personnel that will take place over the coming years.

The new command comes as increased focus has been put on the protection of satellites, that the U.S. counts on for communications, GPS, and defense, and are seen to be vulnerable to Russian and Chinese anti-satellite technologies that are thought to be in development.

The U.S. had a prior space command, but that command was dismantled after the September 11th attacks when components of that branch were moved to the U.S. Northern Command which focused on homeland security.

The price of the new command will cost taxpayers about $800 million over five years and will be under the Pentagon’s supervision. The funding for the new command, most likely to be located in Colorado, will be written into the 2020 budget that will be unveiled in February.

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