Maj. Gen. Phillipe Adam, Commander of the French Space Command
A pivotal stage in its rise to power, the Space Command (CDE) is preparing to move into a brand new building on the site of the National Center for Space Studies in Toulouse (CNES) in a few months’ time.
Similarly, France’s space defense strategy is also at a crossroads, as space has now become a place where “war is already present,” as explained by General Adam, who has commanded the CDE since the summer of 2022.
The CDE at a crossroads: a geographical and operational shift
“Even if it is difficult to tangibly demonstrate the progress made in recent years – because the lack of space is its lack of visibility – the rise of the CDE is one of the indicators of the good progress of France’s defense space strategy, while the current context could bring opportunities for acceleration,” begins General Adam, who emphasizes significant progress in terms of internal organization – particularly in terms of recruitment and training – but also in terms of concrete actions at the national level and in cooperation with France’s international partners.
The current relocation of the CDE to Toulouse is symbolic for him on two levels:
First is on a geographical level.
On the one hand, with the creation of a complete spatial ecosystem, illustrated by the grouping of all CDE resources in one place: thus, to name but a few, the C3OS (space operations command and control center) will leave Paris to become the C4OS (space operations command and control center), that the CMOS (military satellite observation center) will move from Creil and that the COSMOS (operational center for military surveillance of space objects) has already left the Lyon-Mont Verdun base, with the transfer of the GRAVES data operating system successfully completed last June.
These Air and Space Force (AAE) units are thus in the process of joining, one after the other, the FA101, administrative formation 101 set up in 2019 as a prefiguration body of the CDE version 2025 and co-located on the site of the Toulouse Space Center (CST) of the National Center for Space Studies (Cnes). Also already in Toulouse are the Armed Forces’ space innovation laboratory (LISA) and NATO’s space center of excellence (CoE), officially accredited in 2023.
This year, therefore, FA101 becomes the first space air base (BAVS) and symbolically reverts to the name BA101, which was the very first French air base (it was in fact created in 1934 at Toulouse-Francazal and sacrificed on the altar of RGPP.
Second is on the operational level.
On the other hand, with the initial operational capacity (IOC for “Initial Operational Capacity”) that the Air Brigade for Space Operations (BAOS) is on track to reach this year as planned: 2025 is thus an essential milestone and a pivotal year with the installation of a true integrated combat system in Toulouse with 470 personnel (compared to 226 when the CDE was created in 2019). A real capacity for active defense in space is thus taking shape, with the Space Operations Squadron (ECAS) due to implement the experimental YODA satellite protection system, for “eyes in orbit for an agile demonstrator”, pending its operational version known as Egide for “geoderivative intervention and deterrence craft”.
“A lot of things will be able to be done once in Toulouse (…) and one of the visible parts of this weapon system is indeed the C4OS. This center is the brain of everything that happens, a hive concentrating all the efforts and ensuring the coordination necessary to act for the benefit of the space maneuver,” explains General Adam, for whom the assessment of these almost three years of command is characterized by a change in the logic and perception of this space maneuver and, more generally, of the military presence in space.
“In the past, our space policy consisted of launching observation and communication satellites, monitoring them and maintaining them. Today, the logic is different: we must protect our space capabilities against attacks and have therefore entered a logic where we must fight to preserve peace, as space activities increase in number and type.”
Reflecting the confirmation of this development, “the issues have changed a lot: two and a half years ago, the general public was wondering about the role of the military in space, which was perceived above all as a means of scientific and peaceful exploration for all of humanity. Today, the strategic stakes are well understood and the questions concern the way to proceed, with what capacities and what legal framework”, one of the major difficulties in implementing a so-called ‘active defense’ space policy being the intrinsically dual nature of space activities.
Space, the ultimate gray area
“Everything in space is increasingly dual, because it is the use we make of the means and not the means themselves that determines whether the objective is civil or military. Whether we are talking about military or civilian satellites, observation, communication and/or research missions can be interchangeable – the example of Starlink being particularly characteristic of this state of affairs, or even the use of a military observation satellite in the event of a natural disaster”, recalls the Commander of Space.
The boundary between the two domains is thus very difficult to differentiate, while the identification of hostile action or an aggressor in what has become a new environment of conflict in its own right is very complex. This environment lends itself particularly well to hybrid warfare, for at least four reasons:
Remote observation is difficult: “it is a world of drones and robots: apart from a dozen or so astronauts, everything is remote-controlled and piloted from ground stations, the problem being that the sensors only observe part of the sky. It is therefore necessary to use calculation and simulation mechanics to imagine the trajectory of the object being tracked”.
- A world in perpetual motion: what makes this observation all the more difficult is the fact that “except in geostationary orbit, all objects are mobile: the image is therefore not permanent and we can only work on the momentum and the observations made intermittently by ourselves and our allies”.
- The absence of regulatory constraints: “With the exception of the prohibition on the placing of weapons of mass destruction in orbit, as stipulated by the 1967 Treaty, everything is authorized”, with negotiations aimed at a legal framework within the United Nations remaining dormant, due to the opposition of those with a vested interest in keeping this area as grey as possible. As the conflict in Ukraine has clearly shown, “any high-intensity conflict will begin in gray areas such as space and cyberspace, where aggression is precisely difficult to characterize and attribute”.
- The absence of borders: “in outer space, each user comes across everyone else, allies as well as adversaries, and there is no such thing as national outer space.” Space is international by nature and this is what limits its control. Although the CDE is inspired by the High Seas, traffic on the High Seas is nevertheless governed by a number of rules delimiting operating procedures and priorities in the event of dangerous maneuvers.
Increasing the predictability of maneuvers and intentions is precisely the primary mission of the CDE and what General Adam calls for at the international level, as the number of actors and satellites continues to grow exponentially: “For me, what matters today is that we reach even an incremental agreement, because the increase in traffic – we have gone from about 3,000 satellites five years ago to more than 10,000 today – means that we are going to get more and more scared…”.
While automatic anti-collision systems are not yet operational and some forecasts predict 30,000 or even nearly 60,000 satellites by 2030[6], it is therefore essential to prepare for increasingly complex protection missions, due to an additional difficulty that the Space Commander describes as follows:
“While the situation is currently manageable thanks to an automatic early warning and efficient sorting system that means we have to intervene to modify the trajectory of one of our satellites less than ten times a year, the increase in the number of objects in space, as well as the less predictable nature of satellite trajectories as their maneuvering capacity increases, make this type of space operation increasingly delicate.
The conjunction of visibility “several thousand kilometers” and high speed (“about 7 km/s in low orbit”) means that the operator literally has only “a few tenths of a second to react”, while if maneuvers remain rare, many satellites cross each other “quite close”…
The solutions currently being implemented are therefore based on two major axes:
- Developing space observation and a good understanding of it – what is known in NATO language as Space Situational Awareness – and therefore implementing the appropriate means to do so
- Developing interoperability between allies through exercises, such as AsterX – the only international European space exercise, the fifth edition of which took place from March 17 to 26, 2025 – but also other themed exercises, such as Global Sentinel, Sprint Advanced Concept Training and the Schriever wargame, which brings together the Five Eyes countries, as well as France, Germany, Japan, Norway and Italy. Most of these exercises consist of “practicing working together (…). Being interoperable in terms of equipment does not necessarily mean being interoperable in terms of procedures. And it is above all this technical capacity to be able to exchange data quickly in case of a problem and the procedures to be followed (TTPs for ‘Tactics, Techniques and Procedures’) developed together that we work on in the context of these exercises.” This mutual knowledge also makes it possible to conduct joint operations such as Olympic Defender (OOD), a permanent multinational operation created in 2013 by StratCom in the United States to protect freedom of access and action in space, which France joined last October.
The inclusion since July 2024 for the first time of a foreign officer in the command of American space, in this case Air Vice-Marshal Paul Godfrey, former UK Space Commander, with a view to developing a new international partnership strategy, illustrates this common desire and awareness among the allies to be able to rely on each other. Space is by nature international and essentially “Allied by Design”, if only because of the partial observation capacity inherent in the nature of the environment, which requires allies to be able to take turns and help each other. For General Adam, this new step towards increased international cooperation is the “formal recognition that in space, we are never alone and that to do something effectively, we must do it with our partners…”
From space support for operations to space operations per se: the CDE, sentinel of high intensity?
Space is similar to other environments, in that a challenge in the event of hostile action will unfold in the same way. This will consist of trying to “find out who is responsible for the anomalies noticed, and then what the intentions behind them are. The objective of active defense is to organize this treasure hunt to clear up any doubts. We have the capacity to do it, but it is more difficult technically because it is further away and going there is of course more complex,” explains General Adam. Such space surveillance is crucial for the CDE to accomplish its dual mission, namely, on the one hand, to provide permanent support to other armies and environments by providing data and communication means and, on the other hand, to be able to protect itself and fight in space.
The training exercises and dialogues on the ground are intended to bring research and action methods into contact with other partners, but also increasingly with other environments in a multi-environment, multi-field (M2MC) approach characteristic of current threats. This has been the case since Orion 2023 in the various AsterX exercises and will be the case during Orion 2026, but also through missions and exercises in which the CDE is a full participant: “For example, we are participating in the Clémenceau23 mission in the Indo-Pacific region and providing the Navy with day-to-day support. We learn from each other and our responsiveness – in conjunction with our joint, allied and also interministerial partners – is in itself a deterrent to discourage a potential adversary.” Whether with a view to supporting operations or dealing with the effects of actions carried out in – and by – other environments, the management of high-intensity escalation thus begins with the CDE’s reaction capacity.
There is thus a real continuity between the “Air environment” and the “Space environment”. Enjoying a “common DNA – the first astronauts being, in fact, and in all countries, from the Air Force –” and sharing “the same pioneering spirit”, the boundaries of action between the two environments are well defined, if only because of the differences in flight mechanics: orbital in space, the latter is atmospheric below a line located at an altitude of one hundred kilometers, which therefore encompasses the so-called VHA zone for “Very High Altitude”, a zone that “has many affinities with airspace”. It is therefore logical, as General Adam points out, that we should extend aerial concepts towards the THA rather than the other way around.
This makes Space a special environment, however – in addition to the absence of borders and the differences in flight mechanics already mentioned – it is a permanent mission, since the resources deployed are constantly in flight, as General Adam reminds us: “the CDE is permanently in operation, because it is of course impossible to bring our capabilities down once they are in the air. ”
This characteristic, combined with the hybrid nature of emerging conflicts and spatial threats, means that Space is de facto – and increasingly – at the forefront of the threat, with Space Command playing the role of sentinel of high intensity operations.
The featured photo: French Space Command Commander Maj. Gen. Phillipe Adam addresses the crowd during a ceremony where U.S. Space Command formally recognized France’s membership in Multinational Force-Operation Olympic Defender, Oct. 14, 2024, in Paris, France. The multinational named operation represents a growing commitment among the closest allies in space to jointly strengthen defenses and deter aggression, ensuring space remains a domain that benefits all of humanity. (Courtesy photo)