--- title: "Former General: Canada Should Start Its Own Space Force" description: "A former brigadier-general of the Canadian Armed Forces says that the country should start its own Space Force, similar to the one proposed in the U.S." date: "2019-01-06" modified: "2019-01-06" authors: - name: "Jon Christian" job_title: "Executive Editor" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/jonc" url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/former-general-canada-should-start-space-force" categories: - "Space" - "Space Force" tags: - "canada" - "military" - "space force" - "the digest" --- # Former General: Canada Should Start Its Own Space Force ![A former brigadier-general of the Canadian Armed Forces says that the country should start its own Space Force, similar to the one proposed in the U.S.]() *\Image: Pixabay/Jon Christian\* ## Space Force A former brigadier-general of the Canadian Armed Forces says that the country should start its own Space Force, similar to the one proposed by U.S. President Donald Trump [earlier this year](). "At some point we might like to think about a space force," said Matthew Overton, who is the executive director of a think tank called the Conference of Defence Associations Institute, in [an interview]() with the *Canadian Broadcasting Corporation*. "Thinking about space as a separate entity in itself that deserves attention and expertise, I think is a good idea." ## Timeline Overton said that Canada should take its time in deploying the new branch of its military. Canada has a space program and has sent astronauts to the International Space Station, but it doesn't currently have the capacity to launch its own rockets into space. According to Overton, space has long been used for military purposes, from GPS to communications satellites. ## Space Critics Not everybody is on board with the idea of a Canadian Space Force. "New Democrats are fundamentally opposed to the militarization of space and believe that space should only be used by all of humanity for peaceful purposes," member of Parliament Randall Garrison told *CBC*. "New Democrats urge the government of Canada to uphold the principles of peaceful space exploration and to engage with our allies on a renewed call for the drafting of an international treaty aimed at the prevention of an arms race in space." **READ MORE:** [Military expert suggests Canada may want to consider its own space force]() \[*Canadian Broadcasting Corporation*\] **More on Canada:** [Canada Legalized Weed, and It Could Be a Huge Opportunity for Scientists]() ## Author I'm responsible for editing, assigning, and scouting at Futurism, as well as occasionally writing for the site. That work involves keeping an eye on a wide range of narratives and issues, but over the past few years I've become increasingly interested in how AI is shaping the future of media, the web, and information itself. My day-to-day often involves collaborating on reporting and commentary projects bylined by my colleagues, but I try to find time to do my own reporting as well; stories I've broken for Futurism have been cited by publications including the New York Times, the Washington Post, the New Yorker, Wired, Ars Technica, New York Magazine, the Columbia Journalism Review, Bloomberg, and more. I grew up in Southern Vermont and attended Vanderbilt University. Prior to Futurism, I contributed to outlets including the Boston Globe, Vice, Wired, Slate, the Atlantic, the Outline, Ars Technica and more, and did stints in farming and food service. I currently live in Brooklyn, New York, and in my free time I enjoy pinball, word games, cycling, running, and music production. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()