APOGEE STAFF
U.S.Space Command’s (USSPACECOM) Multinational Force-Operation Olympic Defender (MNF-OOD) aims to strengthen allies’ abilities to deter hostile acts in space, strengthen deterrence against hostile actors and reduce the spread of debris orbiting the Earth. In October 2024, the MNF-OOD took a significant step toward that goal with the additions of France and Germany.
The longtime NATO allies’ entry into the coalition – which comes amid increasing militarization in space, particularly by the People’s Republic of China (PRC) and Russia – boosts multinational collaboration in space defense.
“According to our assessment, multinational cooperation is key to security and defense in space as no nation can guarantee unimpeded access to and secure use of space unilaterally,” Lt. Gen. Gunter Schneider, director-general for military strategy and operations at the German Ministry of Defence, said during an MNF-OOD welcoming ceremony in mid-October in Berlin.
“Our common efforts as allies to increase our space domain awareness will not only lead to a better understanding of the space domain but it will also dissuade possible adversaries from dangerous and escalatory behavior in space as they will have to take into account that we can closely observe and evaluate each of their actions,” he said.
Maj. Gen. Philippe Adam, French Space Command commander, echoed the theme of solidarity as France marked its entry into the program, as well: “Joining the Multinational Force-Operation Olympic Defender is a return to the spirit of Lafayette, in order to defend together freedom in space against growing threats.
“It marks a new stage in the conduct of military space operations in coalition and sends out a clear message of strategic solidarity with our allies,” Adam said.
The increased threats in space stem principally from the PRC and Russia, although other nations, including Iran and North Korea, are bolstering their counterspace capabilities, according to an April 2024 Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) report. Among the threats cited by the CSIS are direct-ascent anti-satellite (DA-ASAT) weapons, lasers (or dazzlers), satellite jamming and spoofing, cyberattacks, and high-powered microwave emitters.
Other worrying developments include increased cooperation among Russia and allies Iran and North Korea, as well as reports that Moscow is developing a counterspace weapon that involves nuclear technology. Despite these developments, the PRC – which has escalated its space-based capabilities at an astonishing pace – remains the U.S.’s pacing challenge.
The CSIS authors wrote: “China has demonstrated nearly every counterspace capability covered in this report, having fielded jamming and directed energy systems, demonstrated DA-ASAT capabilities, and tested technologies relevant to on-orbit counterspace weapons systems.”
At the April 2024 Space Symposium in Colorado Springs, Colorado, Space Force Gen. Stephen Whiting, commander of USSPACECOM, reiterated concerns about the PRC’s ascendancy, noting Beijing has tripled the number of intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance satellites on orbit since 2018 while at the same time developing “a kill web over the Pacific Ocean to find, fix, track and, yes, target United States and allied military capabilities.”
“The threats we’ve been talking about for years are no longer theoretical possibilities,” Whiting said, according to a transcript of his keynote address. “They are deployed in the domain and terrestrially and many of them are now on combat duty in China and Russia. They hold at risk our modern way of life and how we defend this nation. And we must be able to deter and counter these threats when called upon to achieve space superiority.”
Makena Young, a fellow with the Aerospace Security Project at CSIS, told Apogee that the addition of France and Germany helps send a signal to aggressors about the international community’s combined resolve to defend space and ensure access for all nations.
“One of the unique strengths of the United States when compared to China and Russia is our allies,” said Young, one of the authors of the CSIS Space Threat Assessment. “Allies make the U.S. and our position stronger, and signal to China and Russia that we have a growing ability to address threats and that we have a wide range of nations aligned with our values and operations.
According to our assessment, multinational cooperation is key to security and defense in space as no nation can guarantee unimpeded access to and secure use of space unilaterally.” ~ Lt. Gen. Gunter Schneider, director-general for military strategy and operations at the German Ministry of Defence
“The addition of countries like Germany and France, which each have growing space capabilities of their own, creates a larger network for the United States for things like space domain awareness (SDA), which can lead to a better understanding of the space environment and the actions of others,” she said. Expansion of the network, in turn, not only enhances SDA for the benefit of the U.S. but for MNF-OOD partner nations, as well.
France brings significant military and technological know-how to the Multinational Force. In its assessment, the CSIS noted that France, which established a space command in 2019, was “the most vocal” among European nations in stating its aims for developing and fielding counterspace weapons.
“In April 2023, the Ministry of the Armed Forces of France released its 2024-2030 Military Programming Law, which includes plans for orbital counterspace capabilities,” the CSIS wrote. “These include a project for ‘lasers in orbit’ called FLAMHE and a ground-based laser counterspace system called BLOOMLASE, both of which aim to be operational by the end of the decade. An article published by the ministry in October 2023 mentions plans for a GEO-based active defense constellation. YODA, a demonstrator satellite for the constellation, is planned to be launched in 2025.”
Germany has stepped up its focus on space defense, as well. In particular, the federal government, in its 2022 National Security Strategy, for the first time acknowledged space as a “strategic dimension” for the military.
“For several years now, outer space has become an ever more important part of our security,” said the report, Integrated Security for Germany.
“The safe use of space, especially in the form of satellite communications and navigation as well as earth observation satellites, has become indispensable for many spheres of civilian life,” the report said. “At the same time, the military use of space has become increasingly significant for modern armed forces. The Federal Government will therefore place a stronger focus on space as a strategic dimension and expand its capabilities in this domain.”
Following this theme, Germany’s Federal Ministry of Defence and Federal Foreign Office began drafting a space security strategy. That report, The German Federal Government’s Space Strategy, calls for both increased capabilities in space and cooperation with partner nations.
“We plan to intensify our strategic cooperation with our partners, with the aim of protecting the space industry’s global supply chains against unlawful influence, espionage, unauthorized leading of knowledge, and sabotage,” the report states. “In our R&D cooperation in the area of critical and emerging space technologies, we are giving special priority to safeguarding such technologies, in the interest of international security and of preventing abuse of the technologies.”
USSPACECOM, which leads MNF-OOD, has welcomed these developments. Acknowledging Germany’s participation in the operation during the Berlin ceremony, Whiting described space as a “team sport” where international cooperation is key to safety and security. “The addition of Germany to our roster of growing like-minded partners contributes to our collective ability to address the growing threats in the domain and ensure space remains safe and secure for generations to come,” he said.
Whiting sounded a similar theme regarding France, saying its inclusion “codifies our shared commitment to ensuring the safety and security of the domain against the growing range of threats.”
While it’s understood that each nation will supply liaison officers to MNF-OOD and participate in training exercises, few other details have emerged regarding the program’s inner workings, including the degree of cooperation among members and operational control dynamics. In statements to media at welcoming ceremonies at Berlin and Paris, USSPACECOM characterized the Multinational Force–Operation Olympic Defender as “a multinational effort that focuses to optimize space operations, improve mission assurance, enhance resilience of space-based systems, synchronize efforts to strengthen deterrence against hostile actors and reduce the spread of debris orbiting the Earth.”
Whiting shed some more light at the symposium in Colorado Springs, focusing largely on the program’s operational aims. In a keynote address, the general told symposium attendees that MNF-OOD enables members to share intelligence, train and plan operations together with the intention of imparting to adversaries the understanding that “we’re always watching together.”
“We’ll execute combined training and exercises where we develop our command and control, and plans, and we demonstrate interoperability,” Whiting said. “We’ll close friendly kill chains to improve the speed that joint force commanders can make decisions by linking friendly sensor-to-shooter information. We will reveal to deter, and we will conceal to win. And by presenting a potential adversary with synchronized and compounding dilemmas, it’s our job to instill doubt, so that every morning they wake up and say, ‘today is not the day for armed conflict.’”
Prior to France and Germany joining MNF-OOD, the operation consisted of Australia, Canada, the United Kingdom and the United States. New Zealand announced its intent to join the coalition in September 2024; its final submission for application was expected at the end of December 2024. The program was established under U.S. Strategic Command in 2013, then transitioned to USSPACECOM after the command was reestablished in August 2019 as a separate entity. USSPACECOM staff oversees day-to-day activities for MNF-OOD.
In a May 2020 statement, then-USSPACECOM Commander Gen. John W. “Jay” Raymond called the addition of Operation Olympic Defender to USSPACECOM “a major milestone for the newly established command.”
“As the threats in the space domain continue to evolve, it is important we leverage and synchronize capabilities with our allies not only to understand each other’s national perspectives, but to work seamlessly together to optimize our multinational space efforts,” Raymond said.
In July 2019, the United Kingdom became the first international partner to announce its participation in the operation. U.K. personnel were subsequently assigned to the Combined Space Operations Center and the 18th Space Control Squadron at Vandenberg Air Force Base, California. Australia and Canada joined the program in 2020.
Whiting, who took over for Gen. James H. Dickinson as commander of USSPACECOM in January 2024, has carried the ball forward in regard to collaboration in space. Testifying before the Senate Armed Services Committee in February 2024, the general, like his predecessors, reiterated calls for continued multinational cooperation.
“Today USSPACECOM seeks to expand competitive advantages over the PRC and Russia by leveraging every available asset of the interagency, the rest of the joint force, our allies, and our partners in U.S. commercial industry and academia,” Whiting told the committee. “No one department, service, command, even country can do all the things we need to do. … We partner as widely as we can with like-minded countries and organizations because it maximizes our ability to execute our mission.”