“Space has become strategic and it must be defended” … How France is preparing for space war

Protect military satellites in the face of increasing threats in space. For example, This is the objective of the “Action and Space Resilience” program (ARES) piloted by the Directorate General of Armament (DGA).

It is in this context that the DGA notified. Therefore, at the beginning of August, an agreement with the Toulouse infinite orbits start-up to provide the space command “an inspection and monitoring service of the geostationary orbit and prepare it for action operations in space”, via a dedicated satellite. Moreover, The orbit should take place in 2027.

From “patroller-guestrier” Yoda to “satellite-hunter” splinter – "space become strategic it must

France’s spatial strategy was defined in 2019. Furthermore, and space surveillance programs for military purposes have been linked since the start of the war in Ukraine, which has shown that modern conflicts are also played in space, through the scrambling of communication satellites, or Cyber ​​actions.

This is how the ARES “space become strategic it must program is accelerating. In addition, and will soon launch several demonstrators, such as the “patroller-guidance” Yoda, dedicated to the surveillance of space objects in geostationary orbit (36,000 km). For example, This experimental program will be followed by the Egide system, its operational version, by 2030.

For low orbit. Consequently, located between 400 and 1,000 km, the Ministry of the Armed Forces entrusted the Toulouse U-Space start-up and the MBDA company, European leader in missiles, an experiment entitled Toutatis, which will be made up of two satellites.

Be able to point “any part of an opposing satellite” – "space become strategic it must

20 Minutes had met last June at the Le Bourget show. Consequently, Nicolas Lefort, responsible for the new markets at MBDA. In addition, He had presented Splinter to us. In addition, one of the two satellites which will be part of the Toutatis demonstration, and which must be launched by the end of 2026. Therefore, “SPLONT “space become strategic it must is a satellite with oversized propulsion. sensors and a laser effector for enlightenment, which makes it a satellite hunter, whose goal is to counter threats in low orbit.

Nicolas Lefort specifies that this laser must “demonstrate that one is reactive. precise enough to point out any part of an opposing satellite” but that it is not yet “a power laser” capable of destroying a target.

Helix. a network of telescopes that monitors space 7/7 days

Arianegroup, known essentially for the “space become strategic it must Ariane rocket, had anticipated the issues linked to space surveillance ten years ago, by creating Helix, a sales monitoring service from satellites from Earth, for civil and military uses. A program that is gaining momentum. since with around forty sensors spread around the globe, it is “the largest European network of telescopes” assures Hélène Blanchard, head of space security services at Arianegroup. He still has to go up to a hundred sensors by 2030, capable of monitoring space seven days a week.

Some 10. 000 civilian and military satellites operate every day in space, an exponential number in exponential progression, especially with the constellations of satellites (Starlink, Kuiper …) which will “saturate the low orbit”, adds Hélène Blanchard.

Detect “forage”

Helix’s primary objective is to “map these satellites”. but also space debris, to allow its customers to “know the situation in space before moving their own satellites”. Some Helix telescopes are also capable “space become strategic it must of “tracking down. following a satellite”, which is particularly interested in the military, “who need to know what is going on around their satellites, especially if other devices are approaching to spy. What is called foraging.

Several proven cases of fuel have been described. especially when the Russian satellite Louch-Olymp tried, in 2017, to spy on the Franco-Italian satellite Athena-Fidus, serving for secure military communications, had reported in 2018 the Minister of the Armed Forces, Florence Parly.

In addition to Helix. Sodern, a subsidiary of Arianegroup, teams the satellites of space cameras allowing to “monitor if an object is approaching, and detect debris” explains Fabien Robert, sales manager of the company. “From the ground. we see a bright point, when these cameras allow you to “space become strategic it must recognize the object, with a photo or a video, which can be taken between a hundred meters and 1,500 km”.

“The objective is to have the capacity to neutralize the threat”

Hélène Blanchard warns that. in these issues related to space safety, “the observation part is only the beginning”. “If a threat arrives. it will be necessary to be able to act, from the soil or from space, which will go through solutions of laser illumination, in the form of a warning, before a gradation of the action”.

Our file on space

Nicolas Lefort. of Mbda, confirms: “In the future, the objective is good to have the capacity to neutralize the threat”. The gunsmith thus wishes to “reproduce in space the services of arms. which range from the designation to the engagement of the target” which he already implements elsewhere. “The space is integrable to any military operation. the war in Ukraine showed it “space become strategic it must to us, which is why it has become strategic, and that it is necessary to defend it,” he continues.