Conflicts in space to increase over time, German general predicts

BERLIN, September 21. /TASS/. Major-General Michael Traut, the head of Germany’s Military Space Command, believes that the risk of conflicts in space will increase over time.
“Already today, various actors have been actively monitoring space systems to be able to purposefully disrupt or even disable them in the event of a conflict. It is therefore already important today to bear in mind the entire situation in space, to determine through our own means what is happening in this context, who is doing or intends to do what,” he said in an interview with the Funke Media Group.
“The enemy views our space capabilities, both civilian and military, as targets,” he noted. “Of course, we try to avoid escalating a conflict in space whenever possible. In my estimation, though, that will not always be possible,” Trout warned.
“In the foreseeable future, space, primarily because of rapid technological and commercial development, will increasingly become an area of operations that will have to be treated like other media – land, air and sea – and controlled accordingly,” General Traut believes. To avoid conflicts the focus should be on expanding the Bundeswehr’s capabilities and deterring potential adversaries, he remarked.
As Funke writes, by the end of the year the German government intends to present a strategy to ensure security in space. Currently it is being prepared jointly by the German Defense Ministry and Foreign Ministry. The Bundeswehr Space Command was established in 2021.