By James Fitzgerald Social and political affairs on Earth may currently be heated and divisive, but spare a thought for the US Space Force cadets who will soon be venturing into a place where “no one can hear you scream”. President Trump signed an Executive Order early last year that created a sixth branch of the US Armed Forces, to “marshal its space resources to deter and counter threats in space”. It seems America’s historic technological advantage may be under threat from China or Russia, or other private commercial interests. The global space industry already generates annual revenues of $350 billion, according to Morgan Stanley, with those figures set to reach $1.1 trillion by 2040. The first crewed space launch from US soil in a decade was hosted by SpaceX in May this year. Elon Musk has already posited 60 500-pound satellites in orbit, creating the controversial Starlink array for…