Space will bring the United States and France closer together after the turbulence caused by the Aukus and the submarine crisis. Yesterday, Vice President Kamala Harris and President Emmanuel Macron announced from Paris the start of a “comprehensive” bilateral dialogue for the space sector, which will see the two countries cooperate on issues such as climate change, exploration and access to Stem disciplines. To understand why, we talked about it with Marcello Spagnulo, engineer and aerospace expert, president of the Marscenter and author of “Geopolitics of space exploration” (Rubbettino, 2019). Among other things, Harris has recently announced the first meeting of the National space council, the leading organ of the Stars and Stripes Space (wanted by Donald Trump and confirmed by Joe Biden) entrusted to the US vice president, scheduled for the first of December. How do you interpret the “spatial” rapprochement between the United States and France
I would like to underline that, in fact, there has always been a spatial proximity between the two countries. We are talking about two nations that use space activities as a tool for diplomacy as well as for technological and commercial dominance. I remember that at the beginning of the nineties NASA and Cnes collaborated for an oceanographic observation satellite developed bilaterally and which then continued over the years until today it becomes one of the sentinel satellites of the Copernicus constellation. Among other things, oceanographic radar altimeters are extremely useful for navigation of both civilian, military, surface and submarine fleets. And let’s not forget that in 2020 France (and Germany) formally became members of the US Combined Space Operations (CSpO) together with Australia, Canada, New Zealand, United Kingdom. The CSpO is directed by the US Space Command, and has the task of developing multilateral space collaboration in the military field.Yet the meeting between Harris and Macron seems to mark a step forward. Washington and Paris have (also) chosen Space to mend after the Aukus. Because
Two months after the Australian submarine crisis, yesterday’s meeting was deemed crucial by the French press to revitalize cooperation with the United States and show a strong understanding between the two countries. On the other hand, the American vice president, who will participate in today’s ceremonies (in France and a national holiday to commemorate the fallen of the First World War), actually begins a tour in Paris also to let the dust settle after the Australian submarine affair ( we talked about it at the time). On the fact that they have chosen space as one of the main and significant themes of what the orbital garrison is assuming geopolitical centrality. Explain to us better.
We have been writing it on Formiche.net for years: space domination (understood here in the sense of operational theater in the meaning given by NATO with the resolution of last June) is increasingly integrated with the strategic dynamics of the superpowers and becomes a defense lever, deterrence and, unfortunately, also of potential attack. In addition, it becomes a place of global trade war, where private US corporations are monopolizing Earth’s orbit in what the French themselves call a “far-west” orbital. He believes that the relaunch of the space agreement could be further strengthened
It is likely to imagine the accession of Paris to Artemis
For Artemis, the matter is complex. The US agreements that Italy has signed (and in my personal opinion it has done well) contain aspects related to security that are delicate. I believe that Paris prefers in the near future that ESA eventually integrates them. However, it must be revealed that Blue Origin by Jeff Bezos, one of the most important companies in the American New Space, has chosen Paris for the headquarters of its European branch. Meanwhile, the agreement deals with human exploration of Space …
Yes, another interesting aspect. Aside from the obvious military cooperation and that relating to space systems for Earth observation (the topic of climate change was taken up in the joint communiqué), there is the future of human space exploration. For some time now it has been observed that in France the idea of ​​making Europe an autonomous power in the Human Exploration sector with manned launchers and new generation housing infrastructures has been reviving. I do not know, maybe and still soon, but this issue could in the future also constitute a further field of cooperation. Speaking of ESA, how does this agreement fit into the European framework, which is undergoing a profound review of governance
It is obvious that strengthening bilateral cooperation with the United States then gives France that extra element in the revision of European governance. However, it will be necessary to see how this cooperation will be substantiated. In my opinion it is very likely that the defense and security aspect will be increasingly pervasive. And the so-called sustainability of orbits
Of course, even if it is not mentioned in the joint announcements of yesterday’s meeting, the theme of the policy for the management of satellite constellations in relation to pollution and the orbital monopoly that they are already producing now seems relevant. France has been taking political action on this for more than a year. Perhaps, the renewed cooperation with the United States could lead to the opening of joint tables on an issue that risks becoming explosive in the short term. I also say this as food for thought for national politics.
(Photo: Vice President Kamala Harris Twitter account @VP)
