Article content continued

But the measure is intended to be defensive in nature and address the government’s stated desire to make Canada’s military and civilian satellites more resilient to threats. So far there are no indications the government is looking at offensive space capabilities.

Stoltenberg explained during a news conference this week that NATO’s recognition of space as an “operational domain” similar to air, land, sea and cyber was a reflection of its growing importance to global peace, security and prosperity.

“Space is becoming more and more important for our military operations and missions,” he said. “And it also has to do with the vulnerability, the resilience of our civilian societies, because space is so important for navigation, for communications and for many other things.”

That does not mean, however, that NATO has any intention of putting weapons into space, he said.

“We are a defensive alliance and our approach will remain fully in line with international law,” he said.

The NATO chief later sidestepped a question about how NATO would communicate or otherwise link up with the U.S. Space Command, which President Donald Trump officially unveiled in August. It approaches space as a “warfighting domain.”

“I’m convinced that in the future, if we were to get into a conflict with a peer or near-peer competitor, we’re going to have to fight for space superiority,” Gen. John Raymond, the commander of U.S. Space Command, said this week.

“We are a warfighting command,” he later added, noting that meant both offensive and defensive operations.

Raymond went on to insist the U.S. does not want to fight a war in space, and that its approach is one of deterrence rather than provocation.

That distinction has done little to assuage some critics who fear the weaponization of space.

“The U.S. has called it a warfighting domain, whereas the secretary general calls it recognizing space as an operational domain,” said Kuan-Wei Chen. “It shows there is a very clear rift in the alliance.”