U.S. President Donald Trump signed an executive order on the creation of the Space Forces on December 20, 2019. According to sources, the Space Forces are still part of the U.S. Air Force and are formally subordinate to Air Force Secretary Barbara Barrett. However, within the next year and a half, a new type of U.S. military will become a fully independent formation.

The U.S. military organization now includes six types of military forces: Army, Air Force, Navy, Coast Guard, Reserve and Space Forces. The latter are directly subordinate to the U.S. Space Command, established in August this year and led by Gen. John Raymond.

For the first time, the Space Force will perform the tasks of the U.S. Air Force related to space: conducting research, launching new satellites, providing launch vehicles, space reconnaissance and surveillance. Later, similar functions performed by the Navy and the U.S. Army will also be transferred to the Space Forces.

The creation of the U.S. Space Command and Space Forces was a response to the organization of the Air and Space Forces in Russia. This type of Russian Armed Forces appeared in 2015 after the merger of the Air Force and the Air and Space Defense Forces.

One of the main tasks of the Russian Aerospace Forces is to provide air support in the conduct of hostilities, as well as to protect Russian objects from an aerospace attack, including ballistic missiles.