French Space Forces Reach For Higher Orbit

Article by Murielle Delaporte                                          April 9, 2021                                            (breakingdefense.com)

• France led its first multinational military space exercise, known as the ASTERX exercise, in Toulouse March 8-12 along with Germany, Italy and the U.S. The exercise was described by General Michel Friedling, head of the French Space Command, as a ‘’stress test’’ for the country’s space command processes and systems, and signals the country’s preparedness to face any future space conflict.

• The ASTERX exercise was a tactical exercise meant to train and prepare space combatants, with no less than 18 different simulated space events and scenarios ranging from an attack on a French satellite to space debris threatening civilian populations to an adversary jamming of allied SATCOM.

• The ASTERX exercise is one of the first tasks for French President Emmanuel Macron to overhaul the country’s space policy. The French military is moving to keep its rank as the third international space power in an increasingly large and competitive club of nations. The Covid pandemic has had a slight impact on that effort, postponing the launch of the military observation satellite CSO-2 spy satellite by a few months.

• 2021 already is set to be a busy year for French military space activities and organizational reforms with three major thrusts: 1) Restructure Military Space Chain of Command; 2) Modernize Space Capabilities; and 3) Pursue More Allied Cooperation.

• France is developing an integrated French Air and Space Force to replace the 2010-established joint space command. The combined force is now assembling about 200 AAE personnel, spread among four different sites and centers – Paris (management), Toulouse (space operations, command and control), Lyon (a space situational awareness center called COSMOS), and an observation center called CMOS in Creil. The CDE plans to host 500 military staff by 2025 in a building of its own in Toulouse.

• The Defense Ministry is hoping to tap into the commercial space industry to more rapidly develop modern capabilities. For example, the French space agency CNES will use the Ariane 5 heavy lift rocket to launch the first of two planned Syracuse IV military communications satellites, as well as the first of three planned Ceres signals intelligence. The next-generation Syracuse satellites, being developed by an Airbus/Thales Alenia Space team, are scheduled for launch in 2022. A third satellite is projected for 2030. The first Ceres sat, built by Airbus Defence and Space, is slated for launch this year.

• CNES is also going to participate in research under the recently designated ‘Yoda’ program — named after the Jedi master in Star Wars — for the development of France’s nano-satellites ‘patrol’. The patrol nanosats would identify on-orbit threats to France’s satellites and, if deemed necessary, disable the threat using an on-board laser.

• France considers international cooperation as vital for both France and Europe in order to face the ‘new front’ of space threats, and to gain new opportunities. Germany, Italy, the UK, the US, Canada, Australia, India and Japan are considered key partners for France in the 2019 military space strategy. The US’s participation is a primary reason why France officially joined Space Command’s Combined Space Operations Initiative a year ago. NATO just approved Paris’ request to locate a new Center of Excellence for Space in Toulouse, inviting 42 experts – including 17 foreigners – in charge of doctrine, analysis, training and exercises.

• ASTERX is the first of many military space exercises with international partners. The name of the exercise is a tribute to the very first satellite France put in orbit in 1965, called Asterix. And both, of course, pay homage to the famous cartoon character all French children have grown up with since 1959: Astérix, a very stubborn chief of a Gallic village in the Roman era, whose inhabitants’ worst and constant fear is that the sky will fall on their heads … perhaps not such an irrational fear after all.

PARIS: France led its first multinational military space exercise last month, with

Germany, Italy and the US, marking the country’s effort to re-vamp its forces and operations to meet 21st century threats.

The exercise signals the French government’s intent to reach for a higher ‘orbit’ as a sovereign nation in order to be able to face any future space conflict. Up until now, Paris was a participant in US-led space wargames.

The ASTERX exercise, took place in Toulouse March 8-12. It was described by Gen. Michel Friedling, head of the French Space Command, as a ‘’stress test’’ for the country’s space command processes and systems. A tactical exercise meant to train and prepare space combatants, ASTERX simulated an international crisis with no less than 18 different space events and scenarios ranging from an attack on a French satellite to space debris threatening civilian populations to an adversary jamming of allied SATCOM.

Assessing future space operational needs through this kind of exercise is one of the first tasks for the government of French President Emmanuel Macron in its full speed effort launched in 2019 to overhaul the country’s space policy. The Covid pandemic has had a slight impact on that effort, postponing the launch of the military observation satellite CSO-2 spy satellite by a few months. (The satellite was launched in December from France’s spaceport in French Guiana, joining its sister CSO-1 in a 300km polar orbit.) By and large, the French military is moving apace in keeping with Paris’ determination to, at a minimum, keep its rank as the third international space power in an increasingly large and competitive club of nations.

Indeed, 2021 already is set to be an especially busy year for French military space activities and organizational reforms. Three major thrusts are underway.

Restructure Military Space Chain of Command.

Contrary to the US move to create a Space Force separate from the Air Force, France is developing an integrated French Air and Space Force (AAE for ‘’armée de l’Air et de l’Espace’’). The new combined force was officially stood up on Sept. 11, 2020 — a year after the French Ministry of the Armed Forces created a Space Command (CDE) to replace the 2010-established joint space command.

The AAE has now received its first officer, nicknamed “bébé espace” (literally space baby), directly assigned to a space position after graduation from France’s equivalent of the Air Force Academy. There currently are about 200 AAE personnel, spread among four different sites and centers – Paris (management), Toulouse (space operations, command and control), Lyon (a space situational awareness center called COSMOS) and an observation center called CMOS in Creil. The CDE plans to host 500 military staff by 2025 in a building of its own in Toulouse — for now, the command is co-located within France’s civil space agency, CNES.

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