French Military Warns Of Increasing Enemy Activities In Space

JAKARTA - French space military top officials warn of increasing "hostile" activity in space, especially by Russia.

Major General Vincent Chus TOLD Reuters there has been a significant spike in hostile activity since Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

In his first interview with international media since taking over France's Space Command last month, he said enemies, especially Russia, had various methods of disrupting satellites, with activities such as vandals, lasers, and cyberattacks having become commonplace.

The Ukraine conflict shows "space is now a fully mature operating domain," Chusber said.

France, the country with Europe's largest government spending budget for space, publicly accused Moscow in 2018 of trying to spy on its secret communications by sneaking into French-Italy military satellites using reconnaissance spacecraft a year earlier.

But France has not detailed the suspicious maneuver since then.

The Kremlin says Western powers have waged a massive hybrid war against Russia, including propaganda, cyberattacks, and intelligence operations.

Moscow says it opposes any weapons in space and has denied United States statement that Russia has launched weapons into Earth orbit capable of examining and attacking other satellites.

China, the country with the world's second-largest government spending on space after America, is developing its space capabilities rapidly.

"Every day shows tremendous progress launching more satellites for the new constellation, developing action modes that go beyond what we've seen before," Chus said.

The United States, Canada, and Britain are among other Western countries that publicly warn of growing threats to satellites, which are important to the military and economy, from banking to energy management.

"This economic and military dependence on space is increasingly threatened," said Britain's Head of Space Command Major General Paul Tedman, in a speech last week in London.

The threat is increasing "on a scale, sophistication and speed".

Canada's space military chief, speaking with Chus Marital at a conference in Paris on Tuesday, said there are currently more than 200 anti-satellite weapons in orbit.

"That figure is shocking," said Canadian Brigadier General Christopher Horner.

He said it poses a risk to everything, from satellite communications, Earth observations, to space domain awareness, or the ability to monitor what is happening in space.

Western countries responded by strengthening their own space-based capabilities.