U.S. Vice President Mike Pence has unveiled plans for creating a sixth branch of the U.S. military by the year 2020 known as the Space Force.
At a Pentagon address on Thursday, Pence said the new branch was needed to maintain America's dominance in space.

"Just as in the past, when we created the Air Force, establishing the Space Force is an idea whose time has come. The space environment has fundamentally changed in the last generation. What was once peaceful and uncontested is now crowded and adversarial. Today, other nations are seeking to disrupt our space-based systems and challenge American supremacy in space as never before."

The idea of the Space Force was first floated by President Trump who emphatically tweeted after Pence's announcement "Space Force all the way ".
However, its creation is expected to face challenges in Congress.
Critics have described the idea as an unnecessary and expensive bureaucratic endeavor by the Trump administration.