Space Force Moon Base Could Become Reality

Although still far from happening, United States Space Command leader Maj. Gen. John Shaw said Space Force troops will eventually be sent to space.

Shaw’s comments on the Space Force came during the AFWERX Engage Space Conference, which ran from Sept. 29 through Sept. 30, according to the conference’s website. 

As machine learning and artificial intelligence technologies continue to advance, it will become easier for Space Force troops to conduct “national security space activity,” Shaw said at the conference.

“At some point, yes, we will be putting humans into space,” Shaw said. “They may be operating a command center somewhere in the lunar environment or someplace else that we are continuing to operate architecture that is largely autonomous.”

Shaw continued, “It’s a long ways off. For two reasons: First, space is not all that habitable for humans. We’ve learned that since our early space days. Second is we’re getting darn good at this robotics thing in space.” 

The Space Force managed to recruit over 2,400 troops in September, Federal News Network reported. Currently, the service is appealing to Congressional leaders to shutter a continuing resolution that may prevent it from obtaining its request for $15.4 billion in funds by 2021.

Gen. Jay Raymond, the force’s Chief of Space Operations, said maintaining the service’s efficiency is a matter of reducing bureaucracy and duplication. The force plans to house its contracting authority in field offices, rather than within the Pentagon.

“I want the expert operating or developing our capabilities to be very, very close to a decision-maker,” Raymond told FNN. “I don’t want them to have to go through five or six different layers of command to get to a decision. We want to be able to do that fast.”