The Air Force has a Space Command dedicated to that. What would a separate branch be able to do that they aren't?
Same reason there’s now a separate cyber branch. There are completely different strategies, tactics and technologies involved. The procurement of those is completely different. AFAIK, there’s no much at DARPA for space, unlike for cyber. I have no idea how we’re going to pull our butts out of this fire, but it is long overdue.