The Kingdom of Denmark is the only Arctic state that does not have its own satellites aimed at the Arctic.
This means that Denmark is dependent on private companies and other countries like the U.S. when it comes to monitoring what is happening in the large areas of the Arctic that fall under the Kingdom.
Crucial Vulnerability In The Arctic
And that makes us vulnerable, warns a new report from the Danish Institute for International Studies (DIIS).
“In a crisis situation, you will have to trust that partners prioritise sharing critical images and data. This creates great vulnerability to changing political interests and priorities that Denmark itself has no influence on, the report states.”
One of the authors behind it is Signe Ravn Højgaard, who is also co-founder and director of the think tank Digital Infrastructure.
“In a geopolitically tense situation, we cannot be sure that other countries will prioritise like us or will provide data. Satellites can only provide a certain amount of data at a time. So, if other countries, even though we are good friends with them, need to use that data themselves, then Denmark may be downgraded,” she says.
Today, there are many things that the military cannot see in the Arctic, partly because there are no satellites to monitor the area, says Signe Ravn Højgaard.
“This means that, for example, there may be violations of sovereignty that we do not notice. It could be ships that have their AIS transmitters turned off, which we cannot see,” she says.
A Good Idea To Get Started Now
There are several things that make satellites particularly important in the Arctic for Denmark. Firstly, it is a large geographical area. Secondly, it is dark for large parts of the year, says Signe Ravn Højgaard.
Satellites can also be important for communication—both civilian and military.
The other countries in the Nordic region have established satellite programmes with a focus on communication, surveillance and sovereign access to data. She recommends that Denmark also get this.
“It takes time to acquire satellites and build up the capacity. So, it would be a good idea to get started now,” she says, without specifying how many satellites Denmark will acquire.
The Danish company GOMspace is located in Aalborg, and produces advanced surveillance satellites. They supply, among others, to the French defence, and they are also ready to supply to the Danish defence.
20 Satellites For Denmark
Their satellites can, for example, keep an eye on ships, planes and drones, says CEO Carsten Drachmann.
“We can keep an eye on borders and take high-resolution images from space. We can listen to whether there are digital signals, whether there is a radar somewhere watching.”
He even makes a very specific offer to Denmark, which he believes can solve the surveillance task in the Arctic:
20 satellites for a total of about two billion kroner.
“We can be up and running in a fairly short time, and then they will fly around. Then we have data on everything that is going on. We know what the Russians and the Chinese are doing up north,” he says.
Need For An Improved Intelligence Picture
In the first partial agreement from January this year on the Arctic and the North Atlantic, the parties in the defence conciliation circle and the Greenlandic government agreed to “establish a satellite capacity and ground-based sensors with a view to strengthening the current situational and intelligence picture in the Arctic and the North Atlantic as well as in space”.
And in the political agreement with the catchy name: ‘Agreement on strengthening the Danish Armed Forces’ ability to detect, identify and respond to threats and establishing physical frameworks for the construction of larger ships’ from June this year, 3.4 billion kroner was allocated up to and including 2033, which will be used to “strengthen the Danish Armed Forces’ ability to detect, identify and respond to threats and incidents”.
This includes, among other things, an increased number of satellites.
In addition, the government has also invested 2.7 billion kroner in the space sector over the next four years, among other things with the aim of making Europe less dependent on American satellites.
The Danish Defense Acquisition and Logistics Organization (DALO) has not wanted to be interviewed by DR, but writes:
“As is clear from the political agreements on the Arctic and the North Atlantic under the defence agreement, the Danish Armed Forces need to have an improved situational and intelligence picture, and this also points to the need for satellite capacity. The Danish Armed Forces are currently working on implementing the political agreements.”
Source: dr.dk (in Danish)