France to launch ‘fearsome’ surveillance satellites to bolster space defences

 France plans to launch mini surveillance satellites to enhance the protection and defence of French satellites from 2023, its defence minister said on Thursday, signalling an intensification in the race to militarise space…

“If we want to be able to carry out real military operations in space, then we need to develop the ability to act alone,” Parly said, speaking at the Lyon-Mont Verdun air base…

Parly described the mini-satellites that will patrol space from 2023 as “fearsome little detectors that will be the eyes of our most valuable satellites”. Space and aeronautics company Thales had ambitions in the field, she said.

She called on France’s European partners to work together on space surveillance. “In particular I count on Germany to be at the heart of space surveillance.”