US Senate approves bill to establish Space Force

US Senate on Tuesday (local time) passed the annual defense authorization bill that includes a provision for creating a new space force branch of the Armed Services.

Al Jazeera reported that the Senate voted overwhelmingly to pass a $738bn defence policy bill.

The National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) passed by a vote of 86-8 now goes to White House, where President Donald Trump has promised to quickly sign it into law.

CNN reported that the bill which was passed by the House last week with a bipartisan vote of 377-48, also establishes a Space Force as a branch of the US military, housed within the Air Force.

"We've done a good job on our space activity. One of the problems we're faced with our allies is that both Russia and China had a space force, but we didn't have one, because we had the Navy and the Air Force. They were working very well together, but there could be better coordination. That's primarily what it is," CNN quoted Senate Armed Services Chairman Jim Inhofe as saying.