At the meeting of national representatives of the CSPO initiative, on February 11 and 12 in Ottawa, General Michel Friedling, the Chief of France’s Space Command, signed on behalf of the Minister of Armies, the letter required to join the organisation. CSPO aims to coordinate the efforts made by each of the participating nations in the area of space defence. It also seeks to improve space capabilities, both national and collective and to facilitate combined space operations between participants. This initiative initially brought together the US, the UK, Canada, Australia and New Zealand. France and Germany joined it as observers in 2016, then as associate members in 2017.