"We must be able to invest more in space than we do today, so that we can monitor it and prevent it from becoming a theater for major confrontations," French Defense Minister Florence Parley said June 21.
A piece of draft legislation laying out France's military plan from 2019 to 2025 calls space an area of "prime strategic interest" and says that "in the face of increasing risks and threats, the continued strengthening of new space assets and the systems using them is needed," according to Reuters.
The French space program is the largest such program in Europe and one of the oldest space programs in the world.
On Monday, Trump announced that "We are going to have the Air Force, and we are going to have the Space Force," adding that the branches would be "separate but equal."
"It's going to be something. So important."
However, only the US Congress can directly create a new military service. In a letter addressing the president's idea, US Air Force leaders including Secretary Heather Wilson, Chief of Staff David Goldfein and Chief Master Sergeant Kaleth O Wright said that "we should not expect any immediate moves or changes."