Statement from the French Air and Space Force Chief of Staff

With the massive surge of new technologies and the opening up of space to private companies, new players have disrupted the established scheme of things. The space sector has now opened up to several new state and nonstate players. Step by step, new satellite propulsion technologies, smaller and less expensive platforms, smaller launch vehicles and the deployment of satellite constellations are transforming long-held perceptions. New possibilities, based on audacious financing, are introducing new perspectives for innovative applications and “low-cost” access to outer space. These possibilities also potentially generate new types of threat to the use of space. In view of these developments, the national space defence strategy, published in July 2019, states that space is an essential domain for our country and notes the growing strategic competition and an increase in the risks and threats to our space interests.

The new strategy aims to reinforce France’s strategic autonomy by giving the country the resources necessary to defend its interests in space in compliance with international law and to guarantee freedom of access and action in space. The resulting roadmap is structured around four main pillars: a new doctrine of military operations in space, a new capabilities ambition, a new organization with the creation of the French Space Command (CDE - “Commandement de l’Espace”), and the development of the space expertise within the Ministry of Armed Forces. This roadmap is concretely and quickly applied in all areas.

French Space Command (CDE), bridgehead of France’s space defence strategy

The CDE was created on 3 September 2019 to improve the operational effectiveness, consistency, visibility and simplicity of the organization and governance of the space within the French Ministry of Armed Forces. The CDE is a French Air and Space Force command but is unique in that it is also a joint forces organization. It therefore includes not only members of the Air and Space Force but also of the French Army, Navy, Defence Procurement Agency (DGA) and joint forces logistics department (SCA). Functionally, the CDE is under the authority of the French Chief of Defence Staff (CEMA), which directs military operations in space and space policy, in particular space capabilities and international cooperation, while organically it is under the Chief of Staff of the French Air and Space Force CEMAAE). As the expert military command in the domain of space, the CDE advises CEMA and all entities of the Ministry of the Armed Forces and other entities outside the Ministry regarding military issues in space. In coordination with several other organizations, it contributes to defining France’s space defence policy and is responsible for its implementation. The CDE is also responsible for conducting France’s military space operations.

Although a new command, and original both in its form and responsibilities, the CDE, under the dual authority of CEMA and CEMAAE, is the linchpin for the implementation of the national space defence strategy and plays a key role in the expansion of the space defence sector in coordination with all the organizations concerned, in particular the CNES.

New capability ambitions

Besides the challenge of renewing the operational support capabilities (satellite communications, observation and signals intelligence), the CDE, in coordination with the French Defence Procurement Agency (DGA) and the National Centre for Space Studies (CNES), and under the authority of the joint forces Chief of Defence Staff, is tasked with meeting the challenge of establishing a surveillance capability in space and a capability for the protection and defence of France’s interests in space. The overall ARES programme covers the entirety of this new field of renewed ambitions, together with the command and control of military operations in space, as the backbone of a global capability, including the capability to defend our satellites, based on specific payloads and the capability to carry out close proximity operations in orbit, with a first trial in this field scheduled for 2025. The CDE also supports the development of new players and services in space. For example, several innovative projects are supported by the CDE’s Defense Space Innovation Laboratory (LISA), in coordination with France’s Defence Innovation Agency (AID), the DGA and CNES. At the same time, contracts for space services have been signed with trusted operators or are currently being incubated, opening up attractive development prospects for the needs of France or our international partners.