to land back after few orbits, as reported by the press agency Xinhua.
73
It is evident
that China plans to counter the potential threat posed by the X-37B.
The X-37B worries not only US rival nations, but its allies as well. In 2017,
Gen. Jean Pascal Breton, head of the French Commandant interarmées de
l’espace,
74
said before the Commission de la défense nationale et des forces
armées
75
that the X-37B
76
had a definitive strategic role in space operations. A
member of the Commission asked, “what do we know about this shuttle? We
know it maneuvers, it changes orbit, but what does it actually do? In space we do
not have enemies, but we do not necessarily have many friends”.
77
As Breton said:
the increased importance of space-based operations and our growing dependence from them, together with the greater threats to our capabilities, require
security and a guarantee of the resilience of our space-based assets. This
protection is based on the autonomous ability to monitor all the orbits of our
interest to avoid collisions with debris; but we must also be able to detect and
manage suspicious or hostile operations. Space is not only a field of economic and strategic competition, but it is becoming a real field of confrontation, in which some states could carry out, discreetly or openly, hostile or
illegal acts, using means to degrade, temporarily or permanently, the spacebased capabilities of other states…”.
78
According to the book Mastering the Ultimate High Ground: Next Steps in the
Military Uses of Space
79
published by the RAND Corporation, the US strategic
goal in the twenty-first century will be the full control of the Higher Ground – that
is, the highest orbit in deep space. This strategy could involve a shift of the command & control chain farther from Earth, for example from geostationary orbits to
73
http://www.xinhuanet.com/english/2020-09/04/c_139342598.htm.
74
https://www.defense.gouv.fr/english/portail-defense/dossiers/l-espace-au-profit-des-operations-militaires/le-commandement-interarmees-de-l-espace-cie-et-le-cloud-spatial.
75
Audition du général Jean-Pascal Breton, commandant interarmées de l’espace, Commission
de la défense nationale et des forces armées, Mercredi 20 décembre 2017, Compte rendu n° 24,
http://www.assemblee-nationale.fr/15/cr-cdef/17-18/c1718024.asp.
76
Idem: page 6 and alia.: question from Deputy Fabien Gouttefarde: « General, do we have a
way to follow and observe the American Shuttle X-37B? This nine-meter shuttle has a somewhat irregular orbit and we don’t know its mission very well. What is your interpretation? In
space we do not have enemies, but we do not necessarily have many friends...».
77
Idem
78
Audition du général Jean-Pascal Breton, commandant interarmées de l’espace, Commission
de la défense nationale et des forces armées, Mercredi 20 décembre 2017, Compte rendu n° 24,
page 4 and alia, http://www.assemblee-nationale.fr/15/cr-cdef/17-18/c1718024.asp.
79
Lambeth, Benjamin S. 2007. Mastering the Ultimate High Ground: Next Steps in the Military
Uses of Space. RAND Corporation.
Battlestar Galactica: The Space Cyberwar of the Future 113
73
It is evident
that China plans to counter the potential threat posed by the X-37B.
The X-37B worries not only US rival nations, but its allies as well. In 2017,
Gen. Jean Pascal Breton, head of the French Commandant interarmées de
l’espace,
74
said before the Commission de la défense nationale et des forces
armées
75
that the X-37B
76
had a definitive strategic role in space operations. A
member of the Commission asked, “what do we know about this shuttle? We
know it maneuvers, it changes orbit, but what does it actually do? In space we do
not have enemies, but we do not necessarily have many friends”.
77
As Breton said:
the increased importance of space-based operations and our growing dependence from them, together with the greater threats to our capabilities, require
security and a guarantee of the resilience of our space-based assets. This
protection is based on the autonomous ability to monitor all the orbits of our
interest to avoid collisions with debris; but we must also be able to detect and
manage suspicious or hostile operations. Space is not only a field of economic and strategic competition, but it is becoming a real field of confrontation, in which some states could carry out, discreetly or openly, hostile or
illegal acts, using means to degrade, temporarily or permanently, the spacebased capabilities of other states…”.
78
According to the book Mastering the Ultimate High Ground: Next Steps in the
Military Uses of Space
79
published by the RAND Corporation, the US strategic
goal in the twenty-first century will be the full control of the Higher Ground – that
is, the highest orbit in deep space. This strategy could involve a shift of the command & control chain farther from Earth, for example from geostationary orbits to
73
http://www.xinhuanet.com/english/2020-09/04/c_139342598.htm.
74
https://www.defense.gouv.fr/english/portail-defense/dossiers/l-espace-au-profit-des-operations-militaires/le-commandement-interarmees-de-l-espace-cie-et-le-cloud-spatial.
75
Audition du général Jean-Pascal Breton, commandant interarmées de l’espace, Commission
de la défense nationale et des forces armées, Mercredi 20 décembre 2017, Compte rendu n° 24,
http://www.assemblee-nationale.fr/15/cr-cdef/17-18/c1718024.asp.
76
Idem: page 6 and alia.: question from Deputy Fabien Gouttefarde: « General, do we have a
way to follow and observe the American Shuttle X-37B? This nine-meter shuttle has a somewhat irregular orbit and we don’t know its mission very well. What is your interpretation? In
space we do not have enemies, but we do not necessarily have many friends...».
77
Idem
78
Audition du général Jean-Pascal Breton, commandant interarmées de l’espace, Commission
de la défense nationale et des forces armées, Mercredi 20 décembre 2017, Compte rendu n° 24,
page 4 and alia, http://www.assemblee-nationale.fr/15/cr-cdef/17-18/c1718024.asp.
79
Lambeth, Benjamin S. 2007. Mastering the Ultimate High Ground: Next Steps in the Military
Uses of Space. RAND Corporation.
Battlestar Galactica: The Space Cyberwar of the Future 113