Earlier this month we first heard news from France’s president Emmanuel Macron that they would create a space force as part of France’s Air Force. The French space force will be tasked with protecting its satellites.
Now we get more information from Defence Minister Florence Parly, who has announced a program that would develop nano-satellites equipped with guns and lasers. The France space force would be receiving €700 million from the military budget for space defence, with more than €4.3 billion to be spent by 2025.
This vast amount of money would go towards upgrading France’s network of Syracuse military communications satellites. According to the military, this next generation of satellites will also include cameras that could identify potential threats, with a follow-up generation equipped with submachine guns and lasers to attack and disable other satellites.
“If our satellites are threatened, we will consider blinding those of our opponents,” said Parly. “This may involve the use of power lasers deployed from our satellites or from our patrol nano-satellites.”
“Active defence is not an offensive strategy; it’s self-defence,” Parly said. “It is, when a hostile act has been identified as such, acceptable within the confines of international law to be able to respond in an appropriate and proportionate manner. The law does not exempt self-defence, does not prohibit militarization, nor does it prevent weaponization.”
As part of the new program, Parly also alluded to a “space campus” and a “space academy” for promoting space careers. The French space force will need new skills and create new types of roles in the military, which will require new training programmes.
More major powers are considering creating this type of department within the military as weaponry capable of going to space develops in leaps and bounds.
Do you think these departments will be useful in years to come or a waste of money? Let us know in the comments below.
