Space command of the Bundeswehr: more perspective in space

Defense Minister Kramp-Karrenbauer officially activated the Bundeswehr’s “space command” today. That sounds like “Star Wars” and science fiction. But what exactly is behind it?

Space has a great deal to do with what is happening down here on earth: satellites steer motorists through traffic using navigation systems, establish telephone connections, and the armed forces are also urgently dependent on their distant companions in orbit. Satellites act as an early warning system to detect enemy rocket launches or troop movements, to name just two examples.

So it stands to reason that in the event of a conflict, the enemy could get the idea of ​​attacking these systems in space. To paralyze civil or military infrastructure. It is now possible to make satellites inoperable with the help of lasers, but anti-satellite missiles, launched from the ground or from aircraft, are no longer a dream of the future.

Protecting the satellites is the ultimate goal

“Corresponding capability developments” have been observed in individual countries over the past few years, according to the Bundeswehr. NATO specifically names Russia and China. A possible confrontation in space is therefore less likely to have to imagine that – as in science fiction films – spaceships fire at each other. Rather, states are likely to strive to protect their respective satellites in space in such a way that life down on earth can continue as normal.

The new space command in Uedem, North Rhine-Westphalia, initially has little to do with “Star Wars”. Above all, the Bundeswehr wants to be able to capture even more clearly what is happening high up in space, including what the weather incidentally. Space debris can also pose a threat to satellites or the earth itself.

Part of the Bundeswehr reform

The new command is therefore primarily intended to educate people. And by the way, it is the first step in the implementation of the recently announced Bundeswehr reform. To carry out its own attack in space against another satellite, Germany has not yet been able to do this militarily. It is already clear that one will react to an attack in or from space in consultation with the alliance partners.

At its last summit in June, NATO decided for the first time that an attack in space could trigger the alliance case. In other words: An attack on one in space can be seen as an attack on all NATO countries. This should be decided – on a case by case basis and here on earth – by the highest NATO decision-making body, the North Atlantic Council.