The second event in the Life Beyond Earth series was led by Professor James O’Rourke and featured two special guests, Kara Trohaugh and Lt. Gen. William J. Liquori, USSF. The event focused on space threats and national security, and what the United States Space Force is doing to mitigate these threats.
The conversation opened with Liquori describing how the Space Force came about and what its aims are. According to Liquori, the Space Force was established after the Trump Administration named “space security” as a strategic issue that needed to be focused on to protect U.S. interests. By December 2019, the Space Force was born. The national interest in this type of security is to have freedom to operate in the space domain, to protect and advance our national security, and for knowledge gain. Part of the Space Force’s tasks are to mitigate counter space abilities that might be used to attack U.S. interests.
In the Space Force’s first few years, the service took the time to establish themselves. The Force is one of the smallest among the services, so they had to be lean and agile. In these first few years, they established their iconography, budgets, doctrine, and culture within their branch. In their second year, the Space Force worked on integrating themselves with other branches, institutions, and allied countries. The Space Force’s third year will be focused on delivery of their established goals and strategies.
O’Rourke moved onto questions from the audience in the second half of the discussion. One question asked how the Space Force interacts with other institutions like NASA. Liquori said that there is clearly overlap between the Space Force and NASA or other privately owned space companies. Each has different missions for space exploration, but cooperation happens on a regular basis. SpaceX, for example, interacts with the Space Force regularly, and their excitement and partnership on space is a strength to the Force. Liquori said that the Space Force is not overly reliant on private space companies, but they partner with each other on areas where they benefit.
Toward the end of the discussion, O’Rourke asked Trohaugh to talk about her journey from Notre Dame to the Pentagon. Trohaugh said she started off as an intern for naval intelligence, which eventually landed her a first job. Her career took a winding path into political affairs and then returned to intelligence. Trohaugh graduated from Notre Dame in 2010 with a degree in aerospace engineering,
The event concluded with Liquori reiterating the Space Force’s goals to protect the space domain so that it may continue to be a safe, stable and sustainable domain.
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