Espionage, scrambling, cyberattacks, anti-satellite weapons ... Space has become a field of confrontation between nations. For many years, the great powers, like the United States, China or Russia, are engaged in a race for the domination of space.
To catch up in the field, France has decided to invest in "passive defense". Paris wants to bet on a particular weapon: the power laser. This weapon would be used to neutralize the hostile satellites of other countries.
"The desired effect is not to destroy the object, but to prevent it from carrying out its mission. By concentrating the energy on the target, one could damage the solar panels of an enemy satellite, or penetrate by its optical windows and dazzle, "told the magazine Challenges Franck Lefèvre, Director at Onera, the public laboratory aerospace research to work on the laser.
Some 2,000 satellites are currently circling the Earth. And they should be 8,000 in a few years. By 2025, France intends to invest 4.3 billion euros to impose itself in the field of space military.