Leaders of international space commands at the Space Defense & Security Summit in Paris. Photo: Via Satellite

PARIS — International Space Command leaders are pushing for more cooperation in space as the domain becomes more contested.

Speaking at the Space Defense and Security Summit this week in Paris, Maj. Gen. Philippe Adam, Space Commander, French Space Command, hailed French efforts here, building up the French Space Command over the last five years.

“The ambition is there. We definitely think we have a role to play to protect our space interests. Space is becoming more challenged. We need to protect it in the future,” Adam said. “Over the last five years, we had to create something new. We are established now in Toulouse. Systems in space already exist. They will be replaced in the future. But, we have to put in place in new systems. For example, command and control systems will have more autonomous control in the future.”

The theme of autonomy was an interesting one and how the technology is developing. Adam said that in his view, “space is a world of drones.” He added, “It will be a world of drones and automatic devices. We have to take that into account, and create as much autonomy for those drones as we can. If we want to control what we are doing, humans will always have a role. We have to connect everything better. We have to improve automatic behaviors, but it has to stay under control of people. There is the potential for high-intensity conflicts.”

Adam spoke of the need for effective cooperation. He said, “We now have to look at multi-domain operations, how we fit space into military operations. We have to learn how to operate together. If you want to be efficient, you need to do it together. We are all facing the same problems, and looking for the same solutions. But, there is a lot of hope for the future.”

Spanish Space Command will celebrate its first birthday on October 16. Maj. Gen. Isaac Manuel Crespo Zaragoza, chief of staff of Spanish Space Command, said Spain is “progressing well.” Zaragoza spoke of three aims for Spanish Space Command: protecting Spanish assets; access to space; as well as contributing to a free space environment. However, with space becoming more contested, there will be challenges.

“We need a big portfolio of space capabilities,” Crespo said. “We have to make more resilient services. In space, because of the lack of a full picture, the probability of a miscalculation can be really, really high. This is something for us all to think about.”

Developing more space-based capabilities in Spain is also a challenge for the nascent organization.

“We have to find a way to accommodate New Space and take more risks. Cooperation in space is the big theme. We need to have a fluent cooperation,” Crespo said. “In Spain, we are pretty much starting out. We want to have people who want to learn new things. We want to make people more space aware. We changing the syllabus for academia, as an example. We are changing the air operations course to make it an air and space and operations course.”

Like in Spain, Italy is also looking to progress and develop in space over the last few years. Things really accelerated in 2015, when the Minister of Defence looked to take a deeper dive into space. Italy released its latest space strategy in 2022, but Col. Daniele Donati, Chief Space Policy Office, Italian Defence Joint HQ told the event that the strategy will be reviewed soon.

Like others, he spoke of creating a positive space environment for all nations. In his view, cooperation means both development and deterrence.

“We need to guarantee free access and use of space. We need to ensure security in space. The mission is to ensure the development of the industry, but first of all, to ensure long-lasting relationships and international alliances and cooperation. Space is becoming congested. We need to think about better regulations,” Donati said. “Space has no boundaries, we need to think about a common space concept. In the short-term, we need to be responsive in space. In the long-term, we need to be responsible, to make the right decisions. What we are developing right now, will impact things for years to come. We need to be responsible in our future space operations.”

Like his Spanish counterpart, training people in space capabilities is taking on increased significance. “The human capital is one of the main pillars. Human training takes time, it is a lot slower than technology development. The new qualities/abilities means we have to have people trained on the operating and strategic level. We also need quantity. You need to have enough people to carry an idea,” Donati added.

Maj. Gen. Brian Gibson, Director, Plans and Policy, J-5, for United States Space Command spoke about Space Command’s updated vision for space. Gibson echoed Gen. Stephen Whiting’s comments on the global responsibility for space and the moral responsibility to the right thing.

“We must ensure space capabilities to those we support,” Gibson said. “Secondly, we have to protect and defend what we have in space today. The domain is becoming more and more congested and contested. It is important for us we not to lose sight of our military responsibilities for protection and defense.”

Gibson talked about the importance of the power of relationships between allies as everyone looks to benefit from space.

“Our partnerships are built on trust. Each of our countries are like-minded in our approach. That is our collective strength,” he said. “It is similar to other domains we use for military operations. The boundaries that we all pursue are getting further and further away from this planet. We see more and more activities in this domain. We have to counter the threats that are out there. We should approach the things we put in space to things we do in other domains.”