Australia has announced that it is creating, like the US Space Force, a military space command that will guard a specific area in space, AFP reported.
Space “is becoming more populous and already contested, especially as the lines between competition and conflict become more blurred,” Australian Defense Minister Peter Dutton said.
In his speech to the Australian Air Force, he said that space “will become more important militarily in this century.”
Australia’s new “armed fist”, dubbed Space Command, will initially be a low-profile agency, Dutton said. He did not specify what funds will be allocated to her and what her staff will be.
The Australian Space Command will seek to thwart the military ambitions of China and Russia in space, as well as all “countries for which space is a territory of conquest, not a territory of partition,” Dutton said.
The agency will be led by Cat Roberts, a senior Air Force officer and “sci-fi fan”, and the team will include representatives from the Australian Army, Air Force and Navy, as well as private sector partners.
In Australia, parliamentary elections are approaching, and the Conservative government is making defense a priority; earlier this month, the cabinet promised to increase its military to 80,000 by 2040.