On Thursday, Vice President Mike Pence joined Defense Secretary Jim Mattis in a speech offering a first look at the plan to develop a U.S. Space Force. As the Trump administration envisions it, Space Force would be a sixth branch of the military. That would add a lot of bureaucracy and require congressional action.

While there are real threats to U.S. assets in space, the bureaucracy-heavy route might not be the best way to make us safer.