By
Murielle Delaporte
on April 09, 2021 at 10:53 AM
A screen shot from control center during France’s first military space exercise, ASTERX, in March.
PARIS: France led its first multinational military space exercise last month, with Germany, Italy and the US, marking the country’s effort to re-vamp its forces and operations to meet 21st century threats.
The exercise signals the French government’s intent to reach for a higher ‘orbit’ as a sovereign nation in order to be able to face any future space conflict. Up until now, Paris was a participant in US-led space wargames.
The ASTERX exercise, took place in Toulouse March 8-12. It was described by Gen. Michel Friedling, head of the French Space Command, as a ‘’stress test’’ for the country’s space command processes and systems. A tactical exercise meant to train and prepare space combatants, ASTERX simulated an international crisis with no less than 18 different space events and scenarios ranging from an attack on a French satellite to space debris threatening civilian populations to an adversary jamming of allied SATCOM.