France hosts participants from 15 different countries at AsterX 2024 military space exercise

Europe, News March 11, 2024 , by IRIA No Comments

France is hosting the annual AsterX 2024 space-military conference in Toulouse, where military servicemen from 15 different countries have gathered to increase coordination by solving fictional space warfare scenarios.

The two-week-long exercise involves the simulation of 23 different scenarios, including military satellite attacks, jammed space communications, and satellites maneuvering to take out hostile orbiters. The primary goal of the exercise is to enhance the collaborative skills of forces and promote effective teamwork within a joint space command. Some 190 participants from 15 different countries are participating in AsterX 2024.

While the majority of the participating troops are from the French military, 27 members from the U.S., Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Germany, Italy, Japan, Poland, Portugal, Romania, South Korea, Spain, the United Arab Emirates, and the UK are participating in this year’s wargames.

According to the French Ministry of Defense, AsterX aims to achieve the following objectives:

Develop the operational culture needed to coordinate space operations with partners under realistic threat conditions.
Train all units of French Space Command (CDE) in the domains of cyber warfare, navigation warfare, orbital warfare, information warfare, and multi-domain support.
Test the structure and connectivity of the future command and control system for military space operations.
Enhance the existing synergy with the French space agency (CNES) and strengthen relations with industrial partners.

French Space Command AsterX military space exercise — *^{French Space Command AsterX 2024 military space exercise. (Image Credit: France Ministry of Armed Forces/via Twitter)}*

This exercise comes at a time when the global space race is rapidly evolving. Both China and India have recently planted their military satellite networks into space, while Japan, South Korea, and North Korea have intensified satellite surveillance, responding to escalating tensions on the Korean peninsula. This is the first time that AsterX includes countries outside of Europe and North America, with South Korea, Japan, and the UAE joining the mix.

Commander of France’s space command General Philippe Adam highlighted the need for such exercises by stating that “unfriendly behavior” by Russian satellites, with uncoordinated and unannounced approaches, happens “all the time,” in all orbits. He said that “it’s as realistic as an exercise scenario can be, obviously, inspired by a lot of things you’ve probably recognized.”

Multiple threats in fictional ‘Arnland’ and ‘Mercure’

For the fourth consecutive year AsterX exercise, the French-led blue team faces off against the fictional country of Mercure, which has military and geostrategic ambitions that may sound similar to those of Russia.

Mercure is trying to establish its regional dominance by financing a separatist militia to destabilize southern Arnland, a weakened and destabilized state that turns to its allies for help amid increasing threats from Mercure.

For the first time in AsterX, the U.S. Space Force personnel, participating as the red team and equipped with significant space resources, are assuming the role of an adversary in the war games.

This year’s fictional scenario involves over 4,000 objects orbiting in space. The objects had been left to spin around in a simulated environment days before the exercise began. Both the blue and red teams are not fully informed about the capabilities of their adversary and they have to achieve their particular targets within the given period.