---
title: "NASA and the US Space Force Are Officially Teaming Up"
description: "NASA and the U.S. Space Force just signed a formal agreement to collaborate on objectives ranging from space travel to planetary defense."
date: "2020-09-22"
modified: "2020-09-22"
authors:
  - name: "Dan Robitzski"
    link: "https://futurism.com/authors/danrobitzski"
url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/nasa-space-force-planetary-defense"
categories:
  - "NASA"
  - "Space"
  - "Space Force"
tags:
  - "NASA"
  - "space"
  - "space force"
  - "the digest"
---

# NASA and the US Space Force Are Officially Teaming Up

![NASA and the U.S. Space Force just signed a formal agreement to collaborate on objectives ranging from space travel to planetary defense.](<https://futurism.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/nasa-space-force-officially-teamed-up-1.jpg>)
*\<em\>Image: Victor Tangermann\</em\>*

## Teaming Up

NASA and the U.S. Space Force just formally teamed up on a number of objectives ranging from human spaceflight to planetary defense.

A [five-page Memorandum of Understanding](<https://www.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/atoms/files/nasa_ussf_mou_21_sep_20.pdf>) signed by the two agencies draws on the longstanding collaboration between NASA and the Pentagon, *[C4ISRNET ](<https://www.c4isrnet.com/battlefield-tech/space/2020/09/22/space-force-and-nasa-focused-on-cislunar-space-in-new-agreement/>)*[reports](<https://www.c4isrnet.com/battlefield-tech/space/2020/09/22/space-force-and-nasa-focused-on-cislunar-space-in-new-agreement/>), and reaffirms that the space agency and [newly-launched military branch](<https://futurism.com/the-byte/us-space-force-leave-planet>) will continue to work together in the years to come. For the [infamously cash-strapped NASA](<https://futurism.com/the-byte/nasa-unveils-flabbergasting-moon-budget>), this team-up presents a new opportunity to keep its research afloat.

## Star Gazing

The collaboration will heavily focus on the region of space around the orbit of the Moon, *C4ISRNET* reports. That's both in terms of human space travel and the ongoing commercialization of space, which the current administration has [embraced and encouraged](<https://futurism.com/the-byte/trump-executive-order-moon-asteroid-mining>).

Ironically, the document leaves the task of planetary defense up to NASA rather than the Space Force — which pertains more to spotting and responding to potentially dangerous asteroids more than any military operations.

## Historic Agreement

All in all, it's not too surprising that the Space Force and NASA reached a formal arrangement to collaborate on future projects. NASA has long been intertwined with multiple branches of the military, and this new agreement is more useful as a framework for what those collaborations would actually look like.

"NASA and the military share a long history dating back to the late 1950s," Space Force Chief of Space Operations General John Raymond told the press, "there is power in our partnership."

**READ MORE:** [Space Force and NASA focused on cislunar space in new agreement](<https://www.c4isrnet.com/battlefield-tech/space/2020/09/22/space-force-and-nasa-focused-on-cislunar-space-in-new-agreement/>) \[*C4ISRNET*\]

**More on NASA:** *[NASA Unveils Flabbergasting Budget for Moon Missions](<https://futurism.com/the-byte/nasa-unveils-flabbergasting-moon-budget>)*

## Author
Dan Robitzki is a senior reporter for Futurism, where he likes to cover AI, tech ethics, and medicine. He spends his extra time fencing and streaming games from Los Angeles, California.

### Author social links  
[Twitter](<https://x.com/danrobitzski>)