The construction of the Space Command Headquarters will begin for 80 million euros

Created in September 2019, Space Command [CdE] It is currently hosted by the National Center for Space Studies [CNES], in Toulouse. But this solution is only temporary… because it was quickly a matter of building suitable premises to accommodate a military satellite monitoring center by 2025. [CMOS] 1/92 Bourgogne and the Operational Center for Military Observation of Space Objects [COSMOS].

“It will be an ambitious project involving the creation of new infrastructures as well as the development of modern technical means such as big data processing, AI decision support, augmented reality, connectivity, etc.,” explained General Michel Friedling, then head of the CDE.

Also, last October, a forty-year “building lease” was signed to allow the installation of the CDE building as well as the NATO Center of Excellence building. [COE] Zoned for space on a CNES plot. This means “in the heart of the French and European space” according to the Air and Space Force [AAE] In order to “maximize synergy with the latter.”

Since then, the defense infrastructure service [SID] took up the case. Indeed, on March 9, the Ministry of the Armed Forces indicated that it had just notified Puig-Center Sud-Ouest of the contract for the construction of future buildings for the Council of Europe and the Council of Europe.

This notification “comes after the signing of the lease agreement for the building that connects the National Center for Space Studies [CNES] To the Ministry of the Armed Forces,” the text says. He explained that this project “under the supervision of the Directorate for International Development” will cost 80 million euros.

For Bouygues Center Sud-Ouest, a first building of 11,000 square meters will be constructed, which can accommodate up to 500 people. It will be dedicated to four main functions: Space Capability Support, Space Support for Joint Operations, Space Conditions Awareness, and Space Action.

The building for the NATO Center of Excellence will be more modest, with a capacity of about fifty permanent staff [français et étrangers]. The Ministry of the Armed Forces confirmed that “the plot of land will be developed and secured by establishing a reception and filtration station.”

This project will obviously take into account the imperatives of “resilience” and “continuity of service”, while being part of a “sustainable development” approach, with the use of “bio-climatic architecture”, “bio-based” and renewable materials. energies [via des panneaux photovoltaïques].

“These futuristic buildings represent a new stage in the deployment and growth of CDE in close collaboration with CNES. At the local level, the new CDE building will embody the French military space code, making Toulouse and its region a dynamic center for defense space,” concluded the Ministry of the Armed Forces.