As part of the activities conducted during the International Exercise Resolute Sentinel, carried out by the Colombian Air Force, the Colombian Navy, and members of the Armed Forces of Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Peru, Ecuador, and the United States, an important training session was held at the FAC Space Operations Center at the Marco Fidel Suarez Air Base in Cali, Colombia.
Regarding this, Brigadier General Juan Jaime Martínez, Commander of the Space Operations Command, stated, “We are participating in the Resolute Sentinel exercise, an exercise that integrates several countries worldwide, not only in air capabilities but also in space capabilities. This is why the Arpía team is currently addressing all the needs of the exercise in the space domain, raising awareness of domain control, command and control capabilities, and the integration of the capabilities of various countries.”
The main objective of this component of the exercise is “to strengthen the bonds of cooperation among sister nations, exchanging knowledge and interacting in the development of space surveillance missions of Earth’s orbits. Thus, interoperability is affirmed under the term ‘partner nations’ to unify terms in combined operations, employing the concept of space defense for the development and control of missions against illegal mining, illegal fishing, deforestation, water levels, illicit crops, illegal airstrips, and maritime drug trafficking routes.”
In pursuit of this objective, simulated operations were conducted with the space centers of Peru, Canada, and Brazil, coordinated by the United States, ensuring that communications, data transfer, real-time information, and procedures can be synchronized both in defense against transnational crimes and in Continental defense. The control of the orbits of the participating countries and the protection of space assets also raised particular interest.
This is an important development for the Colombian space program, which has two functional observation satellites, FACSAT I and FACSAT II “Chiribiquete,” that orbit and have managed to photograph most of the national territory, contributing to the fight against fires, deforestation, and crop planting.
*Photographs: Colombian Air Force.
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