Congress plots to create new 'Space Corps' branch to the military

The House Armed Services Committee recently approved a version of the 2018 military budget that includes the creation of a sixth military branch -- the Space Corps.

Today, the military consists of the Army, Navy, Marine Corps, Coast Guard, and Air Force. A new branch has not been added since the Air Force in 1947.

According to the 2018 National Defense Authorization Act, the Space Corps would take over duties currently handled by the Air Force and its Space Command. Then, it would relate to the Air Force in the same way the Marine Corps relates to the Navy.

CNN reports that the Air Force isn't thrilled about the idea. Both Air Force Chief of Staff General David Goldfein and Secretary of the Air Force Heather Wilson told the news outlet that a separate Space Corps would create bureaucratic bloat and interdepartmental turf wars -- and it wouldn't improve anything at all.

"If I had more money," Wilson told CNN, "I would put it into lethality, not bureaucracy."

Though private spaceflight is trending around the world right now, Congress likely won't add the Space Corps to its arsenal for a while. The Senate version of the U.S. budget does not include anything about the Space Corps at all.

Who knows what could happen in years to come, though?