Germany Has No Plans To Follow France, US In Creating Space Force - Space Agency

Daniyal Sohail Published August 30, 2019 | 02:21 PM

Germany does not plan to follow in France's and the United States' footsteps by creating a national space force, Prof. Dr. Hansjoerg Dittus, the German Aerospace Center's executive board member for space research and technology, told Sputnik

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 30th August, 2019) Germany does not plan to follow in France's and the United States' footsteps by creating a national space force, Prof. Dr. Hansjoerg Dittus, the German Aerospace Center's executive board member for space research and technology, told Sputnik.

On Thursday, the United States took a major step toward creating a full-fledged US Space Force by officially launching its newest military branch, the US Space Command, in a ceremony presided over by Vice President Mike Pence. Likewise, French President Emmanuel Macron in July said that he had also acted to establish a space command by approving a division within his country's air force that will together become the Air and Space Force.

"No, that's not the case. Whatever we do in Europe and also in France is based on European considerations. The EU is now planning to get a new director-general in space and defense.

And, of course, I have to be honest, whatever we do in space had been based on military developments and military consideration. Nevertheless, I think it's not a goal for Germany to be in the lead to bring up military forces to space," Dittus said when asked whether Germany plans to establish its own space force by the examples of France and the United States.

He noted that the European countries were mulling measures to improve security in space.

"The question is how we can defend our infrastructures, observation satellites. How we can guarantee a very safe communication, how we can protect our life with satellite infrastructure in the future. This is the core part of new considerations," Dittus added.

There have been concerns that the creation of the US Space Force may lead to other countries following suit, which could therefore result in the militarization of space.