USAF ?Vice Chief of Staff Gen. Stephen Wilson speaks at the Future of War 2018 conference in Washington, D.C., on Monday. New America photo by Erick Gibson.
Air Force Vice Chief of Staff Gen. Stephen Wilson Monday refused to commit on the question of whether there should be a separate Space Corps in the US military, but lauded the current US space force as the world’s best and pointed to the need to continue US dominance in space.
Wilson was among speakers at the Future of War 2018 conference, held in Washington by the New America think tank and Arizona State University.
When asked if there should be a separate space force, Wilson responded, “More to follow.”
“We think we have the world’s greatest space force today. We’re going to make it even better,” he said. To do so, he said the US needs “to have defendable space assets in a resilient architecture that can continue to make sure we dominate in space in 2028.”
He called US military space capabilities “the envy of the world,” noting the Air Force is responsible for 90 percent of that effort.
Asked whether in 10 years the US will be relying on many smaller satellites or a smaller number of larger, more expensive, ones, he said he thought there would be a combination of both.
He pointed to what private companies are doing now, such as Planet Labs—an imaging company that uses miniature satellites—saying, “I think we’ll be part of that.” At the same time, though, he said some of the capabilities the military needs will be bigger and more costly.