A new military branch is emerging among countries, most notably the United States, which has already taken the project off the drawing board. The Space Force adds to the other three branches common in all countries, Air Force, Navy and Army.

The United States Space Force is born in December 2019. The idea for the branch of that country's armed forces came from US President Donald Trump in 2018.

Since then, the new arm has been more the butt of jokes than respect. A great example of this comedic view is Space Force , a Netflix series released in May 2020.

The comedy brings, as the main theme, the US Space Force, as the name itself delivers. However, this approach demonstrates the mishaps, and mocks idea of the Space Forces.

Not that that's much different from reality, though. For example, the US Space Force logo has been criticized for blatantly plagiarizing the Federation logo from Star Trek.

Unfortunately there's nothing Klingons, Vulcans or warp engines, it's actually much more boring, and won't even involve lightsabers. It will absorb space related functions previously assigned to the Air Force, plus some new points that should come up.

Other countries, such as France, Canada and Japan, and of course Russia and China, are also following suit, and want to create the branch in their countries. Are they all afraid of an alien invasion?

The motives of a Space Force

General John Shaw, a US Space Force commander, likened it at a summit, to asking "why do ocean or maritime nations want a Navy?"

According to him, to "protect that domain for all activities and prevent threats in that domain. Nobody wants a war in space," as reported by Space.com .

The main fear of the United States is enemy powers, mainly Russia and China. For example, recently the United States accused Russia of testing an anti-satellite missile , although Russia denies it.

Also, with the advancement of space technology, no country wants to lose chances to militarize in the area. No one is a saint, and everyone accuses each other of things that everyone wants to do.

"And I could add many other threats that we've seen along the continuum of counter space capabilities," as General Shaw explains at the summit.

And according to the United States, the creation of the Space Force is for defense purposes only. "We share the same concerns," Major General and French Space Command commander Michel Friedling said during the same summit.

They also cite the "proliferation of commercial satellites in low Earth orbit, in some ways, may be the greatest threat to space sustainability" as a risk to the planet.

SpaceX has launched more than 700 satellites in the Starlink constellation, but already has permission for 12,000 satellites. Meanwhile, the 700 are already having an effect on astronomical photos and observations. And other companies want to do it too, like Amazon.

The fact is that space is a strategic location, and all powers that want to maintain power will inevitably try to expand into space. It's all about imperialism and sovereignty.

With information from Space.com .