Military Space Operations

Military Space Operations include all the activities conducted by or on behalf of the French Ministry of the Armed Forces in, from or to outer space in order to guarantee the availability, tracking, safety and security of France’s national space capabilities and services or of the space capabilities and services in France’s national interest and thereby to preserve our freedom of analysis, access and action in this domain. These operations consist in operating space capabilities that provide services in support of governmental authorities and military operations, thereby helping to maintain freedom of manoeuver. They contribute to the security of France’s national territory, the robustness of our economy and the protection of populations. They also include actions conducted in space to protect our assets and deter any aggression. Military Space Operations are divided into four functional subdivisions.

Space capabilities support

Space Capabilities Support ensures the deployment, implementation and availability of space capabilities. Of the four subdivisions of OSM, Space Capabilities Support has the most clearly marked dual functionality. Its functions include launching satellites and putting them into orbit, the commissioning of launch pads, satellite operational maintenance and station-kee ping and capability restoration - i.e. restoring or replacing diminished or inadequate capabilities, including the use of allied or commercial capabilities.

Space-based operational support

This function is characterized by the commissioning and operation of space capabilities to support political decisions and military operations. Space services indeed provide critical support to military operations, from the strategic level to the tactical level, via remote sensing or electronic intelligence, high-speed secure communications and precise and secure navigation and positioning services. In all the weapon systems currently under development, the various platforms will be interconnected, and space will play a vital role.

Space Domain Awareness

The protection of satellites and the defence of national interests in space require one key foundation - situational awareness of the space domain, conferring the ability to anticipate. This in-depth understanding of the situation, including the characterisation of objects and potential intentions, is termed Space Domain Awareness (SDA). SDA has become essential for commercial use of the space domain, collision avoidance management, coordination with other space operators and conduct of space operations. Based on a combination of state-owned capabilities and commercial services provided by private sector operators, SDA is fundamental to accurately inform strategic decision-makers. 

Action in space

This function includes all measures, both passive and active, aimed at preserving France’s freedom of access and development in space under all circumstances, discouraging and foiling adversaries seeking to act below the level of armed conflict. Today, space action is based on prevention, via an all-domain approach (diplomatic, legal, economic, etc.) and on the resilience of all our space assets. In future, space action will be based on the active defence of French and Allied assets, including self-defence capabilities in strict compliance with international law and the peaceful use of space. These active defence capabilities will enable us to protect and defend the satellites vital to our national interests. 

France’s Military Planning Law (LPM) is designed to enable the French armed forces to procure the initial capabilities necessary to conduct actions in space. The aim of the CDE is to pave the way for “YODA” (“Yeux en Orbite pour un Démonstrateur Agile” - Eyes in Orbit for an Agile Demonstrator), its first space action demonstrator satellite system, scheduled for launch by 2025. This demonstration system is designed to experiment France’s capability to carry out close proximity actions in geostationary orbit. It will reflect a first operational capability and will be a major source of information for achieving full capability by 2030.

ASTREOS : the future military space operations command and control system

Understanding, monitoring, verifying, deciding and taking action are key requisites for control of the space domain and will demand a high-performance operations command and control system to serve as the veritable central nervous system for military operations in space. This new C4 system, dubbed ASTREOS, will enable us to anticipate the modus operandi of our adversaries, taking into account the specific characteristics and dynamics of the space domain and the increasing number of objects in orbit. The challenge will be to acquire and maintain our capability to collect vast quantities of data of different types and to store, process and merge these data, replay situations and simulate scenarios in order to obtain useful information and generate appropriate responses.

The development strategy for this system, in which artificial intelligence (AI) will play a key role, has been defined in coordination with the Directorate General of Armament (DGA - France’s defence procurement and technology agency), with the aim of having a fully operational system for integrating data of different origins and diverse characteristics by the year 2025.