You're reading: RFE/RL: Russia calls Trump’s Space Force plan ‘alarming’

RFE/RL: Russia calls Trump’s Space Force plan ‘alarming’

Published June 20, 2018. Updated June 20 at 5:31 pm

The SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket is seen with the NASA/German Research Centre for Geosciences GRACE Follow-On spacecraft and onboard, Monday, May 21, 2018, at Space Launch Complex 4E at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. The mission will measure changes in how mass is redistributed within and among Earth's atmosphere, oceans, land and ice sheets, as well as within Earth itself. GRACE-FO is sharing its ride to orbit with five Iridium NEXT communications satellites as part of a commercial rideshare agreement.

Photo by AFP

Russia has expressed alarm over President Donald Trump’s pledge to maintain U.S. dominance in space and create a separate branch of the military called the “space force.”

Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova voiced Russia’s concerns on June 20, a day after Trump said that “America will always be the first in space.” He also said, “We don’t want China and Russia and other countries leading us.”