The Australian Department of Defence has announced the country’s first space force… I mean Space Division. So them aliens better watch out.
The department made the announcement on Wednesday, saying that Space Division Headquarters would be established within the Royal Australian Air Force.
The Space Division could be implemented as early as 2022 “with personnel from all areas within Defence reflecting the importance of the Space domain.”
The Department of Defence has cited the need for multi-domain operations as a reason for establishing an Australian Space Division.
“We use Space daily for understanding the weather, navigating, access to geospatial information and sharing information across Australia or across the world,” Chief of Air Force, Air Marshal Mel Hupfeld AO DSC, said in a press release.
“Defence is delivering capabilities including Space domain awareness, sovereign controlled satellite communications and Space-based Earth observation, and navigation.”
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The Space Division is totally absolutely not for war
The federal government is said to be investing roughly $7 billion this decade to ensure Australia has access to space, space services and geospatial information.
However, Hupfeld said that this doesn’t mean that Australia is looking to send the military to space or to start any space wars.
“Defence will need capabilities that directly contribute to outcomes in Space as a contested domain, however this does not mean that Defence encourages the militarisation of Space.
“All Space operations are conducted consistent with international and domestic legal obligations.”
The department has said that Hupfeld is conducting a Space Domain Review “to improve how Space capabilities are managed, acquired and operated.”
Air Vice-Marshal Cath Roberts has also been made the inaugural Head of Defence Space Division.
“To reach for the stars and actually get there is a phenomenal feeling,” said Air Vice-Marshal Roberts in a press release.
“As an aero-space engineer I have always been fascinated by space – the ultimate high-ground.”