Sputnik International:
MOSCOW (Sputnik) – US Deputy Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan has said that it may take the United States less than $10 billion, or probably half that sum, to create a space force, The Hill newspaper reported.
“A single digit, not a double digit… Might be lower than five, it could be lower,” Shanahan told reporters when asked about the possible cost of the Space Force in billions of dollars, as quoted by The Hill outlet on Thursday.
The statement comes as US President Donald Trump said last month that the United States was creating a space force to catch up with China and Russia.
The US defence budget for the fiscal year 2019, which began on October 1, includes the re-establishment of the US Space Command. It also prescribes the US Missile Defense Agency to begin work on deploying systems to track and intercept ballistic missiles in space.
