Germany Establishes New Space Command
Article by Vivienne Machi July 13, 2021 (defensenews.com)
• On July 13th at the German Space Situational Awareness Centre in Uedem, the German Ministry of Defense announced the creation of a new space command, becoming the latest of a handful of nations prioritizing more resources and missions among the stars.
• Defence Minister Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer provided a keynote speech for the event. The military is “responding to the increasing significance of space for our state’s ability to function, the prosperity of our population, and the increasing dependency of the armed forces on space-supported data, services and products,” Kramp-Karrenbauer said.
• Since 2009, the German Air Force (or Luftwaffe), has used the Space Situational Awareness Centre to monitor space assets, order maneuvering of systems and recommend evasion routes to commercial satellite operators. The Air and Space Operations Center was inaugurated there in the fall of 2020 in response to NATO’s declaration of space as a new operational domain.
• NATO has named space as one of its top seven priorities for ‘emerging and disruptive technologies’. In March, NATO member nations’ defense ministers endorsed a new strategy of increased cooperation with technology innovation hubs and nontraditional industry.
• Germany is not the only country to create a separate military space entity. The U.S. officially reestablished its Space Command in August 2019, and the U.S. Space Force was established in December 2019. The original Space Command was established in 1985, becoming part of the U.S. Strategic Command in 2002 as part of the military reorganization following the Sept. 11 attacks.
• With the creation of its new space command, Commandement de l’espace, in 2019, France renamed its Air Force to become the Air and Space Force in the fall of 2020.
• The United Kingdom also established a separate Space Command in spring 2021 as a joint command staffed with personnel from the British Army, the Royal Navy, the Royal Air Force and the civil service.
STUTTGART, Germany — The German military has announced the creation of a
separate command dedicated to space, becoming the latest of a handful of nations prioritizing more resources and missions among the stars.
The Ministry of Defence introduced the new space command in a July 13 ceremony at the German Space Situational Awareness Centre in Uedem, located in the country’s North Rhine-Westphalia region.
Defence Minister Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer provided a keynote speech for the
event.
The military is “responding to the increasing significance of space for our state’s ability to function, the prosperity of our population, and the increasing dependency of the armed forces on space-supported data, services and products,” the ministry said in a statement.
Since 2009, the German Air Force, or Luftwaffe, has used the center to monitor space assets, order maneuvering of systems and recommend evasion routes to commercial satellite operators, according to the German Aerospace Center. In fall 2020, the Air and Space Operations Center, or ASOC, was inaugurated there in response to NATO’s declaration of space as a new operational domain at the alliance’s 2019 meeting in London, England.
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