Paris plans to develop anti-satellite weapons, stressing however, that it will only be deployed for self-defence goals, French Defence Minister Florence Parly said on Thursday, announcing a new military strategy for space forces.
"If our satellites are threatened, we intend to blind those of our adversaries", she said. "We reserve the right and the means to be able to respond: that could imply the use of powerful lasers deployed from our satellites or from patrolling nano-satellites".
The issue caused a stir after New Delhi successfully tested its new anti-satellite missile earlier this year, hitting a defunct Indian satellite at an altitude of 300 km. Indian PM Modi added that the country had become the fourth country in the world to possess such a weapon after China, Russia, and the United States.