"I'm hereby directing the Department of Defense and Pentagon to immediately begin the process necessary to establish a space force as the sixth branch of the armed forces," Trump said.

"We are going to have the Air Force, and we are going to have the space force, separate but equal," he added.

"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."

Details about the role and timing of the space force were not immediately clear.

Trump's comments came at the start of the third meeting of the National Space Council, an advisory body led by Vice President Mike Pence.

Trump also announced he would sign a directive on space traffic management, aimed at monitoring objects in orbit so as to avoid collisions and debris strikes.