On Monday, President Donald Trump directed the Pentagon to create a sixth branch of the Armed Forces: a Space Force. But the process of creating a new military service is more complicated than simply telling the Pentagon to make it so.

Trump’s announcement came during a meeting with the National Space Council, shortly before he signed Space Policy Directive-3. The directive aims to keep satellite, space stations, and debris from careening into each other as they orbit the Earth at tens of thousands of miles per hour. It’s not something the US can do alone. In fact, the directive acknowledges that “spaceflight safety is a global challenge” and pledges to emphasize “the need for international transparency and [space traffic management]…

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