The German Bundeswehr is working on offensive space capabilities, according to the Inspector of the Air Force, Lieutenant General Holger Neumann. “NATO is a defense alliance, but if we are attacked, we will strike back,” Neumann said during a panel discussion at the 3rd Space Symposium hosted by IDLw and IABG in Ottobrunn. He said the aim was effects in all orbits up to geostationary orbits, and he did not rule out kinetic effects in space. “We are considering all options,” he said. Ground stations and transmission links would also be included.
In connection with the offensive capabilities, Neumann named the GISMO project (German Inspector Satellite for Multiple Operations). According to well-informed circles, it is not a single satellite but a broader approach involving numerous satellites in different orbits. Germany’s space security strategy calls in this context for the “development and use of highly agile, low-signature guard satellites as well as space gliders/spaceplanes for the inspection of and effects against adversary systems.” Under GISMO, studies are reportedly being carried out in parallel with the development of effect satellites in order to save time. Neumann said on the sidelines of the event that GISMO was a test vehicle with only limited operational capability that would also be used for training; he declined to comment on whether it was part of a broader program. The Air Force hopes the test vehicle will be available at the end of next year. Separately, the German Aerospace Center (DLR) is apparently close to awarding two similar satellite projects called “Schwert” (Sword) and “Schild” (Shield), which are not part of GISMO.
“We will also build up space forces,” Neumann announced. He said a “four-digit” personnel target was planned, with the space forces to be part of the Air Force. As a first step, seven Air Force personnel are currently being trained as satellite operators. Another unit of the new force will be tasked with implementing so-called Responsive Space Launch, the ability to put satellites into space quickly and flexibly, Neumann said.
For transporting satellites into space, the Bundeswehr is pursuing another new approach, according to Major General Wolfgang Ohl, deputy head of the Armed Forces Directorate at the Defense Ministry. Whereas previously the manufacturer of a satellite was generally also responsible for transporting it into space, the ministry is now concluding standby contracts with launch service providers that guarantee “Space Launch Capacity.” These providers are being paid now without it being clear what payload will be sent into space. This is a novelty under the rules of the German federal budget code and highly unusual. “But everyone has recognized the signs of the times and everyone is on board,” Ohl said.
While Europe is considered capable in satellite technology, the continent and Germany have huge bottlenecks in launch capacity. Securing launch slots is therefore seen as crucial to building satellite constellations at all. According to Ohl, the Bundeswehr will need both small launchers and heavy-lift rockets in the future, the latter including SpaceX, Blue Origin and Ariane. Germany is also talking with Norwegian partners at government level about converting the Andøya Spaceport in northern Norway into a military launch site. If that succeeds, a fishing boat is unlikely to interrupt a launch process in the future, he said. Ohl said there had also been important progress on what is currently probably the Bundeswehr’s largest space project, the SATCOM Bw Stage 4 satellite constellation. Decision maturity for the project is to be reached in November, with the contract to be signed early next year. Ohl had initially spoken of a contract signing next month but later corrected himself.
The background to the activities is the growing importance of space as an operational domain. Only a few days ago, according to press reports, a Russian reconnaissance satellite approached a reconnaissance satellite belonging to the Finnish company Iceye to within a few meters – an unusual maneuver. Iceye also supplies data to the German Defense Ministry.
