Space, because more defense is needed
Who was there and what was said at the webinar "Space in conflicts, conflicts in space" organized by the Iai
“We must not close our eyes to the growing link between space and defense”.
This is the hope of the Minister of Defense Lorenzo Guerini in the video message sent to the webinar "Space in conflicts, conflicts in space" organized by the Iai with the Chief of Defense Staff Giuseppe Cavo Dragone and the Space Operations Commander Luca Capasso, starting from the study on the subject edited by Iai.
The president of the Senate Defense Commission, Roberta Pinotti, also spoke; the Italian Nato and EU Representative, Roberto Nordio; the CEO of Leonardo Alessandro Profumo and the CEOs of Thales Alenia Space Italia, Massimo Comparini and Telespazio, Luigi Pasquali.
Space is the last frontier not only for technological-industrial, intelligence and political competition between great powers, but for innovations that open up new scenarios for space operations conducted by special military commands.
The EU is investing in constellations of satellites for Earth observation and satellite navigation such as Copernicus and Galileo, which must be protected. Technological innovation opens up new scenarios, all to be explored and the link between space and defense becomes closer. So much so that in 2019 NATO recognized space as a new operational domain.
Italy as the second European country for assets in orbit and third for investments in the sector, equipped with a special Command for Space Operations and a competitive and cutting-edge industry, can and must play a greater role in this strategic sector.
But "the military instrument must be modernized to carry out the defense tasks that also extend into space" underlined the Adm. Giuseppe Cavo Dragone Head of SMD.
GUERINI: "AN INCREASINGLY STRATEGIC SPACE"
The launch of Cosmo Skymed on 1 February "represents the most recent success, an approach in which dual structures and inter-ministerial governance are central to generating economies of scale and synergies that make our country an important player in space", Guerini pointed out.
“Today Italy has more interest and more responsibility but also more challenges and opportunities in space. We are the second European country in terms of number of objects in orbit, the third investor of ESA and the home of a complete space value chain in the upstream segment including launchers to downstream capabilities ”, Guerini pointed out.
But "We cannot close our eyes to the reality of a space that is increasingly strategic, more competitive but also more congested, especially more contested", points out the owner of the Defense.
THE COMMERCIAL RACE TO THE SPACE COMPLETES THE MONITORING
The commercial race to space has made it more difficult to monitor this precious asset, with so many actors (with different rules and interests) it becomes difficult to ensure the defense framework.
“The defense is working to protect its assets, but also the national ones. On the one hand we need to develop all the technologies to operate in space. On the other hand, we need to improve the monitoring of this environment, ”said Luca Capasso, Commander of Space Operations.
“First of all, the concept of space cannot be separated from the concept of safety”, points out Capasso.
THE LIMITS OF NATO IN SPACE
"In Europe we are at a crossroads: if we want to rely on strategic autonomy, there can only be commitment in the space domain as well, because there can be no autonomy without autonomy even in space" highlighted Roberto Nordio, Italian Nato and EU representative.
In this context, according to General Nordio, “NATO has to face three limits. First, the decision not to be an independent actor and therefore not to launch programs for the acquisition and management of satellite assets. Two, the consequent need to resort to resources under the sovereignty of proprietary countries. Three, the limited number of specialized personnel. Some of these limits find answers in the NATO Space Policy ”.
CERTAIN RESOURCES NEEDED
Furthermore, "It is necessary to understand how many and what resources we want to use in this sector" pointed out Roberta Pinotti, president of the Defense Committee in the Senate. "Today the resources invested in space are about 70 billion euros and of these 58% is from the United States where there are also many large private capitals and only 16% from Europe, therefore now that also in the compass and strategic compass the spatial question is being defined ”.
“For Europe too, the theme of investments in space is a theme that must always be focused on keeping together the civil and military functions of space” pointed out Pinotti.
PERFUME: "EUROPEAN MILITARY PROGRAMS LACK"
Finally, even the number one of the Italian aerospace and defense giant reiterated that space is an integral part of defense. “For us industry it is essential to have a holistic approach, to pursue a real integration between technology and capacity”, underlined Alessandro Profumo, CEO of Leonardo. For Profumo, it is essential to “exploit the natural duality of space technologies and cooperate at an international level in the protection of their respective skills”.
“This is an industry that isn't particularly fast: we're talking about Tempest in 2035, we don't know when the Main Battle Tank, we tend not to be fast. Space is very fast ”, highlights Profumo. This is why “there is a need to have the ability to integrate different skills with frightening speed. Changes in space travel at the speed of light ”concluded Leonardo's number one.
Profumo recalled that “In Europe we have Pesco and EDF, but there are no major programs. Copernicus and Galileo are fundamentally civil and dual. We currently have no European military programs. So we look with confidence at the Strategic Compass and Security Defense Package which should initiate further steps from this point of view ”.
This is a machine translation from Italian language of a post published on Start Magazine at the URL https://www.startmag.it/innovazione/spazio-perche-ce-bisogno-di-piu-difesa/ on Thu, 24 Feb 2022 06:50:07 +0000.