The Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) is preparing to establish a Space Center that will eventually evolve into a larger organization as it aims to field its first military satellites by 2028.
The plan follows President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.‘s approval of funding for the initiative after directing the military late last year to assemble an independent tactical satellite network.
AFP Chief Gen. Romeo Brawner Jr. presented the strategy during the military’s midyear command conference at Camp Aguinaldo in Quezon City.
“It will be a center. We need to start small… and later on, we will expand into a Space Command or Space Force,” ABS-CBN quoted the chief as saying.
Brawner said the timing of the structure’s launch ahead of the satellites’ launch ensures complete control over the new orbital assets.
“If you wait for the time that we have our own satellites… it will be too late if that is the only time we will create this unit,” he said.
Positioning ‘Eye in the Sky’
According to Brawner, the incoming satellites will reinforce data gathering missions while enhancing communications, oversight, as well as weapons and autonomous system deployments.
The AFP is now working with the Philippine Space Agency and expects to begin with low-Earth orbit satellites linked with existing space assets.
“We need it. There are two very important uses of space. Number one is ISR. Second is to connect all our systems,” Brawner said, according to Manila Bulletin, describing the satellites as the warfighters’ “eye in the sky.”
The outgoing AFP chief, who retires this month after completing the military’s first fixed three-year term under Republic Act No. 11939, said longer leadership tenures have helped advance modernization and long-term reforms such as the upcoming satellite fielding.
Brawner has completed over four decades of service.
