Germany could deploy a missile warning system in space, military chiefs have revealed.
The defence ministry said a new space command would begin work in April involving almost 100 military personnel.
It said there were no plans to cut ties with Elon Musk’s SpaceX, but that a new German satellite was being studied.
Defence officials revealed their thinking on space in 40 pages of documents released to German MPs.
“Security in space has become a focal point for Germany and the armed forces,” they said.
“Russia and China are investing in technologies and capabilities with which they could threaten or damage military or civilian space systems, or limit Germany’s access to, use of and freedom of manoeuvre in space.”
The news comes as Europe tries to strengthen its position as a space player to compete with the US, Russia and China.
Britain is still waiting on a first launch from its soil after delays to a mission backed by Sir Richard Branson.
Two satellites from French company Airbus crashed into the Atlantic Ocean after a failed launch from French Guiana last month.
Despite these setbacks, Europe’s space agency wants to make 2023 a landmark year with a first solo mission to Jupiter and the launch of a new-generation rocket.
Germany faces space threats
Only the US and Russia have missile warning systems in space. But Germany's armed forces are "concretely studying the possibility", the government said.
“The timeline for building such a capability is currently being investigated," it said in the military papers.
It comes amid a €100 billion ($106 billion) upgrade to Germany's military forces after Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
Addressing questions from MPs, the ministry would not be drawn on whether a provocation in space could trigger Nato’s Article 5 mutual defence clause.
The Nato treaty is mainly about the defence of allied territory on the ground, and a response to any space attack would depend on the facts at the time, officials said.
The new German space commando will have 91 personnel when it begins work in April and more than double in size by 2027.
It will answer to the head of the air force and follow Britain’s formation of a space command in 2021 and France’s in 2019.
Britain awaits first launch
A rocket made by Sir Richard Branson’s Virgin Orbit has been waiting for months to make the first space launch from British soil.
Planned for last summer, the launch slipped back to autumn and then into 2023. Virgin finally received the required safety permits on December 21.
The rocket is expected to take off from Cornwall, in south-west England, where rehearsals have taken place at an airport in Newquay.
Britain regards its long coastline and high-tech space sector as selling points in the commercial launch market.
Wales wants to be a space industry centre in its own right, hoping to attract jobs and rebuild its manufacturing sector.
One Welsh company, Space Forge, has a slot on the Virgin launch and plans to use the extreme conditions of space to make yet-undiscovered materials on its satellite.
French investment
A pair of Earth satellites built by Airbus in Toulouse, France, were meant to join two others in orbit at the end of 2022, serving civilian and military clients.
It all went wrong when the launcher failed only minutes after blasting off from French Guiana, and the rocket and satellites were lost.
Airbus, which is part-owned by the French government, said it was a “challenging moment” for those who built the spacecraft.
Despite that setback, France plans to invest more than €3 billion ($3.2 billion) in space in the coming years, including in new European rockets.
The Guiana spaceport, on the South American mainland, will get a €900 million ($954.4 million) revamp to make it more environmentally friendly.
A French-Italian venture, Thales Alenia Space, meanwhile, is setting itself up as a rival to Wales’s Space Forge. It signed a contract last month to build what it calls the “first floating space factory".
Europe takes on Jupiter
The European Space Agency's first solo mission to Jupiter is due to launch in April, beginning a decade-long quest to explore the planet's moons.
The Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer, or Juice, is expected to reach the planet in 2031. After joint ventures with Nasa in the 1990s, it will be the first Jupiter mission run almost entirely by the ESA.
The spacecraft will explore the surfaces of Ganymede, Europa and Callisto and ask whether life could exist on Jupiter’s moons.
If all goes well, it will be the last time an Ariane 5 launcher blasts off from Europe’s spaceport in French Guiana, on the South American mainland.
By late 2023, it is hoped, the new Ariane 6 could be ready for launch after repeated delays pushed back a 2020 start date.
The ESA has been handed an increased budget of €4.8 billion ($5.1 billion) until 2027 as Europe tries to become less reliant on other spacefaring powers.
Russia has said it will withdraw from the International Space Station by 2024, while the crises in Ukraine and Afghanistan have made some in Europe nervous about their military reliance on the US.
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Company profile
Name: Fruitful Day
Founders: Marie-Christine Luijckx, Lyla Dalal AlRawi, Lindsey Fournie
Based: Dubai, UAE
Founded: 2015
Number of employees: 30
Sector: F&B
Funding so far: Dh3 million
Future funding plans: None at present
Future markets: Saudi Arabia, potentially Kuwait and other GCC countries
INDIA V SOUTH AFRICA
First Test: October 2-6, at Visakhapatnam
Second Test: October 10-14, at Maharashtra
Third Test: October 19-23, at Ranchi
HER%20FIRST%20PALESTINIAN
%3Cp%3EAuthor%3A%20Saeed%20Teebi%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3EPages%3A%20256%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3EPublisher%3A%C2%A0House%20of%20Anansi%20Press%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
GIANT REVIEW
Starring: Amir El-Masry, Pierce Brosnan
Director: Athale
Rating: 4/5
Why seagrass matters
- Carbon sink: Seagrass sequesters carbon up to 35X faster than tropical rainforests
- Marine nursery: Crucial habitat for juvenile fish, crustations, and invertebrates
- Biodiversity: Support species like sea turtles, dugongs, and seabirds
- Coastal protection: Reduce erosion and improve water quality
The story in numbers
18
This is how many recognised sects Lebanon is home to, along with about four million citizens
450,000
More than this many Palestinian refugees are registered with UNRWA in Lebanon, with about 45 per cent of them living in the country’s 12 refugee camps
1.5 million
There are just under 1 million Syrian refugees registered with the UN, although the government puts the figure upwards of 1.5m
73
The percentage of stateless people in Lebanon, who are not of Palestinian origin, born to a Lebanese mother, according to a 2012-2013 study by human rights organisation Frontiers Ruwad Association
18,000
The number of marriages recorded between Lebanese women and foreigners between the years 1995 and 2008, according to a 2009 study backed by the UN Development Programme
77,400
The number of people believed to be affected by the current nationality law, according to the 2009 UN study
4,926
This is how many Lebanese-Palestinian households there were in Lebanon in 2016, according to a census by the Lebanese-Palestinian dialogue committee
The specs: 2019 BMW X4
Price, base / as tested: Dh276,675 / Dh346,800
Engine: 3.0-litre turbocharged in-line six-cylinder
Transmission: Eight-speed automatic
Power: 354hp @ 5,500rpm
Torque: 500Nm @ 1,550rpm
Fuel economy, combined: 9.0L / 100km
BMW M5 specs
Engine: 4.4-litre twin-turbo V-8 petrol enging with additional electric motor
Power: 727hp
Torque: 1,000Nm
Transmission: 8-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 10.6L/100km
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh650,000
Dust and sand storms compared
Sand storm
- Particle size: Larger, heavier sand grains
- Visibility: Often dramatic with thick "walls" of sand
- Duration: Short-lived, typically localised
- Travel distance: Limited
- Source: Open desert areas with strong winds
Dust storm
- Particle size: Much finer, lightweight particles
- Visibility: Hazy skies but less intense
- Duration: Can linger for days
- Travel distance: Long-range, up to thousands of kilometres
- Source: Can be carried from distant regions
The National's picks
4.35pm: Tilal Al Khalediah
5.10pm: Continous
5.45pm: Raging Torrent
6.20pm: West Acre
7pm: Flood Zone
7.40pm: Straight No Chaser
8.15pm: Romantic Warrior
8.50pm: Calandogan
9.30pm: Forever Young
MATCH INFO
Uefa Champions League semi-final, first leg
Bayern Munich v Real Madrid
When: April 25, 10.45pm kick-off (UAE)
Where: Allianz Arena, Munich
Live: BeIN Sports HD
Second leg: May 1, Santiago Bernabeu, Madrid
Famous left-handers
- Marie Curie
- Jimi Hendrix
- Leonardo Di Vinci
- David Bowie
- Paul McCartney
- Albert Einstein
- Jack the Ripper
- Barack Obama
- Helen Keller
- Joan of Arc
More from our neighbourhood series:
3%20Body%20Problem
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The biog
Born: High Wycombe, England
Favourite vehicle: One with solid axels
Favourite camping spot: Anywhere I can get to.
Favourite road trip: My first trip to Kazakhstan-Kyrgyzstan. The desert they have over there is different and the language made it a bit more challenging.
Favourite spot in the UAE: Al Dhafra. It’s unique, natural, inaccessible, unspoilt.
'Laal Kaptaan'
Director: Navdeep Singh
Stars: Saif Ali Khan, Manav Vij, Deepak Dobriyal, Zoya Hussain
Rating: 2/5
Desert Warrior
Starring: Anthony Mackie, Aiysha Hart, Ben Kingsley
Director: Rupert Wyatt
Rating: 3/5
RESULTS
6.30pm: Al Maktoum Challenge Round-1 Group 1 (PA) Dh119,373 (Dirt) 1,600m
Winner: Brraq, Adrie de Vries (jockey), Jean-Claude Pecout (trainer)
7.05pm: Handicap (TB) Dh102,500 (D) 1,200m
Winner: Taamol, Connor Beasley, Ali Rashid Al Raihe.
7.40pm: Handicap (TB) Dh105,000 (Turf) 1,800m
Winner: Eqtiraan, Connor Beasley, Ali Rashid Al Raihe.
8.15pm: UAE 1000 Guineas Trial (TB) Dh183,650 (D) 1,400m
Winner: Soft Whisper, Pat Cosgrave, Saeed bin Suroor.
9.50pm: Handicap (TB) Dh105,000 (D) 1,600m
Winner: Hypothetical, Mickael Barzalona, Salem bin Ghadayer.
9.25pm: Handicap (TB) Dh95,000 (T) 1,000m
Winner: Etisalat, Sando Paiva, Ali Rashid Al Raihe
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Winners
Best Men's Player of the Year: Kylian Mbappe (PSG)
Maradona Award for Best Goal Scorer of the Year: Robert Lewandowski (Bayern Munich)
TikTok Fans’ Player of the Year: Robert Lewandowski
Top Goal Scorer of All Time: Cristiano Ronaldo (Manchester United)
Best Women's Player of the Year: Alexia Putellas (Barcelona)
Best Men's Club of the Year: Chelsea
Best Women's Club of the Year: Barcelona
Best Defender of the Year: Leonardo Bonucci (Juventus/Italy)
Best Goalkeeper of the Year: Gianluigi Donnarumma (PSG/Italy)
Best Coach of the Year: Roberto Mancini (Italy)
Best National Team of the Year: Italy
Best Agent of the Year: Federico Pastorello
Best Sporting Director of the Year: Txiki Begiristain (Manchester City)
Player Career Award: Ronaldinho
F1 2020 calendar
March 15 - Australia, Melbourne; March 22 - Bahrain, Sakhir; April 5 - Vietnam, Hanoi; April 19 - China, Shanghai; May 3 - Netherlands, Zandvoort; May 20 - Spain, Barcelona; May 24 - Monaco, Monaco; June 7 - Azerbaijan, Baku; June 14 - Canada, Montreal; June 28 - France, Le Castellet; July 5 - Austria, Spielberg; July 19 - Great Britain, Silverstone; August 2 - Hungary, Budapest; August 30 - Belgium, Spa; September 6 - Italy, Monza; September 20 - Singapore, Singapore; September 27 - Russia, Sochi; October 11 - Japan, Suzuka; October 25 - United States, Austin; November 1 - Mexico City, Mexico City; November 15 - Brazil, Sao Paulo; November 29 - Abu Dhabi, Abu Dhabi.
The Voice of Hind Rajab
Starring: Saja Kilani, Clara Khoury, Motaz Malhees
Director: Kaouther Ben Hania
Rating: 4/5
Indian construction workers stranded in Ajman with unpaid dues
World Cricket League Division 2
In Windhoek, Namibia - Top two teams qualify for the World Cup Qualifier in Zimbabwe, which starts on March 4.
UAE fixtures
Thursday February 8, v Kenya; Friday February 9, v Canada; Sunday February 11, v Nepal; Monday February 12, v Oman; Wednesday February 14, v Namibia; Thursday February 15, final