Washington, Jun 18 (PTI) President Donald Trump today directed the Pentagon to start a process for creating "Space Force" as the sixth branch of US armed forces aimed at ensuring American dominance in space.

"I'm hereby directing the Department of Defence and Pentagon to immediately begin the process necessary to establish a space force as the sixth branch of the armed forces. That's a big statement,” Trump said in his address to the National Space Council, an advisory body led by Vice President Mike Pence.

“When it comes to defending America, it is not enough to merely have an American presence in space. We must have American dominance in space,” he said.

Trump said that the US will have the Air Force and the Space Force, separate but equal.

"It is going to be something so important...But that's the importance that we give it. We're going to have the Space Force,” he said.

Trump has previously supported the idea of creating a sixth branch of the armed forces, adding to the US Army, Air Force, Marines, Navy and Coast Guard.

Addressing the members of the National Space Council at the White House, he said the whole world is "looking up" to the US and the country is being respected again.

Trump attributed this to the "strong economy" that the US has become under his leadership and the foreign policy that he has adopted after coming to power.

“The whole world is looking up to the US, and the US is respected again. It was a period of time, we were not so respected, not so long ago. The US is respected again,” Trump said in his address.

“This is an incredible time for our country. I would say that our economy, and many of you know that very well, is doing better than it ever has done,” he said, adding that the employment numbers are the best recorded history.

“We will establish a long-term presence, expand our economy, and build the foundation for the eventual mission to Mars, which is actually going to happen very quickly,” he said.

“I've always said that rich guys seem to like rockets. So all of those rich guys that are dying for our real estate to launch their rockets, we won't charge you too much. Just go ahead. If you beat us to Mars, we'll be very happy, and you'll be even more famous,” he said.

Trump said he is instructing his administration to embrace the budding commercial space industry. “We are modernising out-of-date space regulations. They're way out of date. They haven't been changed in many, many years,” he said.

“Today we're taking one more step to unleash the power of American ingenuity,” he said as he signed a new directive to federal departments and agencies.

They will work together with American industry to implement a state-of-the-art framework for space traffic management, he said.

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