France launched, Saturday, October 23, a military communication satellite presented by the army as a jewel of technology and a pillar of its sovereignty, witness among others that geopolitical tensions are now exported into space.

The Ariane 5 rocket took off from Kourou, Guyana, carrying the 4A satellite of the Syracuse program, which will allow French armies deployed around the world to communicate at high speed and in complete safety from ground, air, sea and sea relays. submarine.

“Syracuse 4A is designed to resist military attacks from the ground and in space as well as interference”, explained to Agence France-Presse (AFP) Colonel Stéphane Spet, spokesperson for the Air Force and Space. It is equipped with means of surveillance of its close surroundings and with a capacity of movement to escape an attack.

A real risk: in July 2020, the US space command accused Moscow of having “Conducted a non-destructive test of an anti-satellite weapon from space”. And in 2017, the “Spy satellite” Russian Louch-Olympe had already tried to approach the Franco-Italian military satellite Athena-Fidus.

S4 is also protected against electromagnetic pulses that would occur from a nuclear explosion, Marc Finaud, an expert in arms proliferation at the Geneva Security Policy Center (GCSP), told AFP. “This is the ultimate warning scenario, if deterrence fails. “

The Syracuse program represents a total investment of some 4 billion euros. The fourth generation triples the communication speed of S3. The Directorate General of Armaments (DGA) has committed with Thales to the tune of 354 million euros and with Airbus for 117 million for Syracuse 4 alone.

“There is an almost mathematical law of regular increase in data volumes”, underlines Colonel Spet, citing the needs generated by the command systems, the representation of tactical situations in the field, the video (for example from Reaper drones deployed in the Sahel).

Or the real-time processing of data from several places on the planet. Ultimately, France has 400 stations capable of communicating with S4 from the ground, an aircraft, a ship or a submarine, according to the DGA.

A credibility tool

Or French nuclear deterrence relies heavily on its submarines, recalls Marc Finaud, an expert in arms proliferation at the Geneva Center for Security Policy (GCSP). “If an adversary is able to modify, hack, damage communications with submarines, the end of deterrence. “

The long-planned deployment of the satellite is timely as Paris pushes its project for European sovereignty in defense. France, which has sovereign maritime areas on all the seas of the globe, cannot do without a powerful technological base.

“She needs this segment to show that she has the means to achieve her ambitions”, says Xavier Pasco, director of the Foundation for Strategic Research (FRS) and specialist in space issues. “This gives credibility to all of its military tools, as well as its industrial capacity. “

A few weeks after the humiliation received by Australia, which gave up a huge contract for French submarines in favor of American submarines, further weakening French power in the Indo-Pacific, the S4 satellite gives a little pride to the wounded beast.

“Politically, it is the demonstration that France remains a perhaps middle power, but whose scope of action remains international”, wants to believe Xavier Pasco.

With its two billion euros of annual investments in military and civilian space, France remains far from the top three: 50 billion for the United States, 10 for China and 4 for Russia, according to figures from 2020 from the French government. But S4 allows France to remain in the leading pack and confirms that Paris is participating in the arms race.

Marc Finaud mentions in passing the potential risk coming from the “Nebula of hackers, pirates, criminal or terrorist actors who could embark on a kind of more artisanal star wars”. As for spatial geopolitics, it is stretched a little more each year. “We are talking about space warfare and this risk is accepted by everyone. “