The U.S. Space Force is real; or, at least it will be.

Vice President Mike Pence announced Thursday that the Department of Defense will establish the U.S. Department of the Space Force by 2020. The new branch marks the sixth branch of the armed forces and the first new branch in 71 years.

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Space Force Development

Thursday’s announcements comes on the heels of a seven-week review period by the DoD.

The one thing Pence assured in his press conference was that the new branch would not be built from scratch.

“To be clear: the Space Force will not be built from scratch, because the men and women who run and protect our nation’s space programs today are already the best in the world,” he said.

Next Steps for Space Force

Pence also outlined for immediate-action steps the DoD will take moving forward.

First, the report calls for the creation of the U.S. Space Command, a new unified combatant command for space. “This new command … will establish unified command and control for our Space Force operations, ensure integration across the military, and develop the space warfighting doctrine, tactics, techniques, and procedures of the future,” he said.

Second, the report calls for the establishment of a Space Operations Force — an elite group of joint warfighters, specializing in the domain of space, who will form the backbone of the nation’s newest armed service. This force will draw from across the military to provide space expertise in times of crisis and conflict, Pence said.

“Third, the report calls for a new joint organization — the Space Development Agency — that will ensure the men and women of the Space Force have the cutting-edge warfighting capabilities that they need and deserve,” he said.

Finally, the report calls for clear lines of responsibility and accountability to manage the process of establishing and growing the Space Force, including the appointment of an assistant secretary of defense for space, the vice president said.

Congress will review the financial aspects of the Space Force when President Donald Trump submits his budget in February 2019.

Space Force Support From Mattis

Earlier this week, U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis embraced the concept of a military command for space warfare.

“We need to address space as a developing war-fighting domain and a combatant command is certainly one thing that we can establish,” Mattis told Reuters. “This is a process we’re in.”

Mattis, however, did not acknowledge the creation of a new branch.

Space Force Gear and Guns

We’ve already gotten questions about the guns and gear in the photos above.

For those of you wondering, those are not Space Force concept uniforms. They are, however, real builds. They’re actually a build from Galac-Tac and a number of other manufacturers from one of our old publications: “Special Weapons For Military & Police.”

Read about the “Boba Fett” build on our sister site Tactical-Life.com.