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France conducts first military exercises in space

  • Posted By
    10Pointer
  • Categories
    World Affairs
  • Published
    13th Mar, 2021

Context

The French military carried out drills to test the capabilities of its Space Command in tackling threats to its satellites.

Background

  • The French Space Forces Command was created in 2019.

  • The exercises are part of France's strategy to become the world's third-largest space power.

About the exercise in space

  • A defense exercise: During the drill, the French military will monitor a potentially dangerous space object as well as a threat to its own satellite from another foreign power possessing a considerable space force.
  • France also planned to develop anti-satellite laser weapons and to strengthen surveillance capabilities in an area that it believes could become a major theater of confrontation between powers on Earth.
  • Cooperation:The new US Space Force and German space agencies are taking part in the French exercises.
  • Potential threats:In 2017, a Russian “spy-satellite” had tried to approach a Franco-Italian satellite in what Paris called “an act of espionage.”

India and space

    • ASAT:On March 27, 2019, India had become the fourth country to conduct an anti-satellite (ASAT) missile test (after the United States, Russia, and China).
    • In 2019 India conducted a test of the ASAT missile making it the fourth country with that capability. In April 2019, the Indian government established the Defence Space Agency or DSA.
    • India reportedly adapted its missile defense interceptor, the Prithvi Defense Vehicle Mark-II into an ASAT weapon, making it the third country to demonstrate the capability for a direct-ascent kinetic kill.
  • Mission Shakti: Under the “Mission Shakti”, the test entailed launching a ballistic missile into outer space to destroy an Indian satellite located about 300 kilometers above the earth’s surface, in low earth orbit (LEO).

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