Space Espionage

The German military satellite system ,,SAR-Lupe"consists of five structurally identical units which will be launched into orbit at intervals of 6 months beginning in March of 2005. In the middle of 2005 the first unit should be ready for use. Military plans call for the whole system to be available by the middle of 2007. The involved radar satellites will be able to transmit pictures of high resolution through dense cloud covers and at night. These instruments can watch larger areas at any time and can, when necessary, produce enlargements of objects of interest of less than a meter in diameter. With this technology the satellites will be able to deliver detailed photos to the German military independent of weather conditions, at all hours and for almost any location on earth. ¹⁾

Restrictions Nonexistent

The German military, which is in the process of being converted into a mobile, world wide operating combat unit, had complained about the antiquated supply of spy photos. The availability of satellite based intelligence sensors promises a decisive improvement of German military and defense policy experts' ability to analyze and make decisions in the planning and implementation of global military missions. Particularly attractive for those who are responsible for satellite reconnaissance is that the business of intelligence gathering is not limited by borders: ,,The decisive advantage of satellites over all other means of reconnaissance is that they can be deployed without legal or geographic restrictions. Space is open to everyone, national sovereignty and other restrictions are non-existent,"according to the commandant of the ,,Commando of Strategic Reconnaissance"of the German armed forces. ²⁾

Espionage Center

The command center, established at the beginning of 2002 in Rheinbach bei Bonn, pools almost all of the means and powers of strategic reconnaissance of the military which, until recently, had been distributed among the different branches of the armed forces. It provides operational contingents for the foreign missions of the federal armed forces and functions as a ,,service organization"for the newly formed ,,Center for Military Intelligence." ³⁾This new espionage center of the German military ( ,,center of the armed services for reconnaissance, management, and analysis of the situation of other states and their armed forces (...) to cover the specific need for information concerning political and military leadership") accompanies the global missions of the federal military and works closely with the Federal Intelligence Service (BND) and the foreign office. ⁴⁾

New Dimensions

The German military also counts on space technology for communicating intelligence with its strike forces and plans to enter ,,into a new dimension of military satellite communication."In 2003 a bid for the intelligence satellite system ,,BW-Sat"(German military satellites) which is under the sole leadership of the armed forces and will accomplish real time transmission of commands. With this the German armed forces expands its existing long distance dispatch system to regions outside of Europe: Transportable ground stations in areas of deployment as well as internal anchor stations are to be ready in the future to provide satellite channels which have the capacity to connect the mobile long distance nets of the various branches (army, air force, navy) with the corresponding nets in Germany. In addition to the first ground station established in Gerolstein in 1997, the German military now controls a second type of these ground stations, the recently transferred satellite communications facility in Kastellaun. ⁵⁾The total system will be expanded this year step by step.

Espionage Network

With its military space activities, the German military wants to overcome its dependence on US espionage technology. To accomplish this Germany cooperates closely with France and Russia. Already in August of 2002, Defense Minister Struck and his official French partner, Mme. Ailliot-Marie, had signed an agreement concerning joint military satellite reconnaissance. Shortly before the end of the year, Paris stationed its own military satellite ( ,,Helios IIA") in space which produces images in which 30 cm tall objects are recognizable, however, only during daylight and with clear skies. The French ,,Helios"project and the German project ,,SAR-Lupe"(which supplements the ,,Helios"photos with its images which are less detailed but are available without time limitations) are to be combined to establish the core of a European satellite reconnaissance system which is completely separate from that of the USA. ⁶⁾The military ,,providers"of the Federal Republic of Germany, France, Italy and Spain have developed a joint document which defines the technical requirements and functional principles of the desired network of satellite supported reconnaissance. Belgium joined the project.

Projecting into the Future

Berlin bases the launching of German military reconnaissance satellites on Russia's military groundwork ( ,,space partnership"). The German military satellites are being launched in a joint venture with Moscow's state monopoly ,,Rosoboronexport"from the Plesetsk missile base. Berlin and Moscow also cooperate closely in a demonstration project of German space technology: On December 24, 2004 the joint space project ,,Rokviss"introduced the trial of German robot technology in orbit. ⁷⁾The German minister for research recently declared during a government consultation between the German chancellor and Russia's head of state, that in the future, German-Russian space cooperation will expand further and ,,project into the future." ⁸⁾

1) Ab 2005 kreisen deutsche Spionagesatelliten am Himmel; Die Welt 27.12.2004
2) Die Bedeutung der satellitengestuetzten Aufklaerung durch das System SAR-Lupe fuer die strategischen Aufklaerungsfaehigkeiten der Bundeswehr; www.dgap.org
3) Das Kommando Strategische Aufklaerung; www.streitkraeftebasis.de 27.10.2003
4) Zentrum fuer Nachrichtenwesen der Bundeswehr; www.streitkraeftebasis.de 04.06.2004
5) Via Satellit. Fernmeldebataillon 282 uebernimmt neue Bodenstation in der Hunsrueck-Kaserne; aktuell - Zeitung fuer die Bundeswehr 29.11.2004
6) Franzoesischer Spionagesatellit ins All gebracht; Netzeitung 19.12.2004
7) Deutsche Robotertechnologie erfolgreich zur ersten Bewaehrungsprobe in den Weltraum gestartet; www.dlr.de 24.12.2004
8) Deutsch-russische Raumfahrt-Achse. ,,Zukunftsweisende"Kooperation soll ausgebaut werden - Beispielsprojekt ,,Rokviss": Roboter-Arm fuer die ISS; Der Standard 30.12.2004

see also ,,Reorganisation"of the European space program