NATO announces its biggest-ever space project to boost surveillance & military operations

The US-led North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) has announced Wednesday the biggest space project in the bloc’s history to boost its military operations, surveillance and intelligence gathering. This project is named Alliance Persistent Surveillance from Space (APSS) and will see participation of 16 NATO allies along with Sweden and Finland, which have been longing for a membership of the bloc since Russia’s ‘special military operation’ launched on Ukraine last year. 

Countries part of this APSS project are– the US, the UK, Belgium, Bulgaria, Canada, Finland, France, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Romania, Spain, Sweden, and Turkey.

16 Allies, Finland and Sweden, launch largest space project in NATO’s history

The initiative will transform the way #NATO gathers and uses data from space, significantly improve intelligence and surveillance, and provide essential support to military missions and operations

— NATO (@NATO) February 15, 2023

NATO outlines objectives of APSS project

According to an official statement by NATO, the APSS space project will see the establishment of a constellation named ‘Aquila’ which will include both national and commercial satellites for using space more effectively and improving military intelligence gathering and supporting other operations. It will also be used to facilitate better navigation, communications and detection of missile launches and facilitate the growth of Europe's space industry. The constellation is also expected to streamline data collection, sharing and analysis among NATO Allies and with the NATO command structure, all while cutting operational costs. 

“This project is also a great example of civil-military cooperation, providing a powerful asset to our intelligence toolbox”, Mircea Geoană, NATO’s Deputy Secretary General said in an official release. 

So far, Luxembourg has contributed 16.5 million euros to lay the foundation of the project and more countries will later pool their resources for its development. NATO is exhibiting hyperactivity owing to Russia’s aggression which has flared up as the bloc continues to expand eastward. This was one of the reasons for Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, a move which sent Finland and Sweden into panic and made them desperate to join NATO. Both the countries believe that their inclusion into the soviet-era pact would protect them from the Russian military as NATO's Article 5 says that an attack on a member country is an attack on the entire bloc.

A NATO membership for Finland is even more urgent as it would be on the forefront in the event of an attack since it shares a 1,340 kilometer border with Russia. Their membership, however, is being blocked by Turkey which claims that both the nations support terrorist organisations acting against it.