France is expanding its defense strategy into outer space. In July 2019, French Minister of the Armed Forces Florence Parly announced France’s first Defense Space Strategy, which includes the establishment of new space defense units and the potential weaponization of satellites. French defense strategists plan to implement a Space Command as an overarching space defense unit in Toulouse on September 1, 2019. Furthermore, the government will remodel the Air Force into an Air and Space Force, equipping the new unit with a greater range of duties. France’s move to establish an outer space division fits into its wider defense strategy that aims to strengthen its military defense capabilities in order to maintain strategic autonomy. Key constituents of France’s defense plan cover threat awareness, reconnaissance and intelligence, a defense build-up that is in compliance with international law, and the utilization of emerging technologies such as hypersonic glide vehicles.
In order to fully streamline its space defense operations, France will amend its national laws, granting its space division the authority to independently control satellites. French satellites were previously operated by the governmental civilian space agency, the National Centre for Space Studies (CNES). While the international community may view this military build-up with concern, France stresses that it will comply with the regulations of the 1967 Outer Space Treaty and utilize its new assets for defense purposes only, thus maintaining a policy that supports the peaceful and responsible use of outer space.
Despite France’s affirmation that it will adhere to international laws, it is clear is that the government is following a current trend among great powers like the United States, China, Russia, and India to militarize space in an accelerating international military competition. India successfully launched its first anti-satellite missile in early 2019, while China and Russia are exploring new offensive and defensive options for outer space, such as jamming devices and cyber-capabilities. France is one of few countries that has its own space surveillance system, deploying the Graves and Satam radars as well as telescopes by the Ariane Group and the governmental research center CNRS. Advancing its capabilities to match its assets with those of opponents, France aims to develop light satellites and to utilize lasers to handicap opponents’ satellites or missile interceptors. The French government also seeks to introduce early-warning cameras in space that detect potentially threatening satellites. Moreover, small satellites and nano-satellites will permit quick recovery after an attack and constitute an essential tool to guarantee France’s endurance in a potential outer space conflict.
In order to realize these space defense goals, France is expanding its military budget by an additional 700 million Euro (USD 774 million) over the next six years. In addition to the overhaul of the military space infrastructure, the budget also provides for the launch of new surveillance satellites and the renewal of the Graves radar. In total, France’s space defense program will amount to 4.3 billion Euro (USD 4.8 billion) between 2019 and 2025.
As a strong proponent of the concept of strategic autonomy, France aims to uphold national and European security by mitigating strategic risks as China, Russia, and the US develop their own defense assets. The term strategic autonomy first emerged in 2013 and was reaffirmed in the EU Global Strategy in 2016. Seeking to maintain integrity and cooperation with Europe, France promotes a results-based European security plan that provides rapid response to military threats and international humanitarian crises. Ensuring French and European security after Brexit is another central objective that the French government is pursuing. France’s current strategic autonomy concept is based on the intention that the UK and the EU continue to match their security efforts and broader political agendas even after the UK leaves the EU. Therefore, France’s space defense strategy fulfills a twofold purpose in the context of its strategic autonomy ambitions; firstly, ensuring national security at home and, secondly, establishing political and strategic stability within Europe.
