Live Online Policy Forum 

# Space Force: Ahead of Its Time or Dreadfully Premature? 

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Date and Time 

December 8, 2020 12 - 1:30 PM EST 

Location 

Live Online 

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##### Featuring 

Featuring **Robert Farley** ([@drfarls](https://www.twitter.com/drfarls)), Senior Lecturer, University of Kentucky; **Kaitlyn Johnson** ([@Kaitlyn\_Johns0n](https://www.twitter.com/Kaitlyn_Johns0n)), Deputy Director and Fellow, Aerospace Security Project, Center for Strategic and International Studies; and **Brian Weeden** ([@brianweeden](https://www.twitter.com/brianweeden)), Director of Program Planning, Secure World Foundation; moderated by **Eric Gomez** ([@EricGomezAsia](https://www.twitter.com/EricGomezAsia)), Director of Defense Policy Studies, Cato Institute.

Outer space is a strategically important and increasingly crowded place. A growing number of countries depend on unfettered access to outer space to run their economies and protect their security interests. Modern militaries also rely on space-based sensors and communications to function effectively on the battlefield, provide early warning of nuclear attack, and keep tabs on potential adversaries in peacetime.

The growing strategic importance of outer space encouraged the United States to establish its first new military branch since 1947: the U.S. Space Force. The Space Force, which will celebrate its first birthday in December, will be heavily laden with advanced technology, but will it have the right organizational characteristics and firm foundation of strategic thinking to take advantage of its capabilities? Is the Space Force ahead of its time, or is its creation as an independent service dreadfully premature?

In a [new Cato Institute policy analysis](https://www.cato.org/publications/policy-analysis/space-force-ahead-its-time-or-dreadfully-premature), Robert Farley argues that the Space Force lacks both a clearly defined organizational culture and a clear strategic purpose, which will hamstring the newly created service. Please join us for a virtual policy forum with the report’s author and two leading space policy experts to discuss the report and debate its findings.

[![Space Force Rocket](/sites/cato.org/files/styles/promo_block/public/2020-12/space-force-rocket-square.jpg?itok=mNs_URzB)](https://www.cato.org/publications/policy-analysis/space-force-ahead-its-time-or-dreadfully-premature) 

##### Related Content 

### [Space Force: Ahead of Its Time, or Dreadfully Premature?](https://www.cato.org/publications/policy-analysis/space-force-ahead-its-time-or-dreadfully-premature)

In December 2019, Congress established the U.S. Space Force as an independent uniformed military service within the Department of the Air Force. Although many defense analysts had long argued for a reorganization of the Department of Defense’s space capabilities, few had settled on this particular solution. This policy analysis evaluates the reasoning behind the Space Force’s establishment, concluding that the service’s creation is premature.

[Read the Study](https://www.cato.org/publications/policy-analysis/space-force-ahead-its-time-or-dreadfully-premature) 

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