PETERSON SPACE FORCE BASE, Colo. –
PETERSON SPACE FORCE BASE, Colo. – U.S. Space Command commander, Army Gen. James Dickinson, visited several countries throughout the European theater, July 14-21, 2022.
Dickinson began his trip in Finland. He met with the U.S. Ambassador to Finland, Mr. Douglas Hickey, to discuss the progress of Finland’s membership into NATO. Following the meeting, Dickinson met with Brig. Gen. Timo Herranen, Deputy Chief of Staff, Air Force Command Finland, who was accompanied by several Finnish Air Force personnel. Dickinson and Herranen discussed areas in which the U.S. and Finland may increase space cooperation such as education and training, subject matter expert exchanges and exercises and experiments.
Following the trip to Finland, Dickinson traveled to Poland where he met with the U.S. Ambassador to Poland, Mr. Mark Brzezinski, and Poland’s Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of National Defence, Minister Mariusz Błaszczak, to discuss activities that may aide Poland in moving further along on USSPACECOM’s Pathway to Partnership. Minister Błaszczak and Dickinson both strongly reaffirmed their commitment to growing the partnership between U.S. and Polish military space elements and opening new channels of cooperation and communication.
Also, Dickinson met with the President of Poland’s Space Agency, Prof. Grzegorz Wrochna. Dickinson and Wrochna discussed civil-military space cooperation. Additional topics of discussion included SSA data sharing, planned space missions and enhancing safety, to include the security and stability of space activities for planned projects.
Lastly, while in Poland, Dickinson met with the Head of the State Space Agency of Ukraine, Mr. Volodymyr Taftay, and members of his staff. Dickinson and Taftay discussed how to further build upon the SSA sharing agreement signed in Aug. 2021, as well as other opportunities to further increase the U.S. and Ukraine space partnership.
After the visit to Poland, Dickinson landed in Sweden where he met with U.S. Ambassador Erik D. Ramanthan to receive an update on the centuries-old alliance and the status of Sweden’s NATO membership. Also, Dickinson and Ramanthan met with the CEO of the Swedish Space Corporation, Stefan Gardefjord, as well as members of the SSC staff. Dickinson and Gardefjord discussed opportunities to advance commercial integration in the areas such as increased communications to the Polar Regions and space domain awareness.
Dickinson concluded his international engagements with a meeting with Maj. Gen. Carl-Johan Edström, Chief of the Swedish Air Force. Dickinson and Edström discussed ways to increase cooperation such as education and training and exercise integration, as well as more advanced areas of cooperation for countries further along on the Pathway to Partnership. Sweden is one of the newest members of the U.S.' SSA sharing program, having signed the agreement Apr. 6, 2022, to further strengthen the Transatlantic link between Sweden and the U.S.
“For over seven decades, the bond between Europe and North America has made the North Atlantic Treaty Organization one of the strongest military alliances in history,” said Dickinson. “The alliance has proved the undefeatable strength of its integration across land, air and sea, and now, we are extending that integration to space. I want to thank Finland, Poland and Sweden for hosting me and the State Space Agency of Ukraine for meeting me in Poland. The meetings held and the information shared this week will continue to lead to stronger partnerships and integration in the future.”
Finland, Poland, Sweden, and Ukraine exemplify the success of USSPACECOM’s Pathway to Partnership. All four countries have a Space Situational Awareness sharing agreement with USSPACECOM and will participate in the Global Sentinel capstone event July 24-Aug 3 at Vandenberg AFB, Calif., alongside more than 20 other allied and partner nations.
USSPACECOM conducts operations in, from, and to space to deter conflict, and if necessary, defeat aggression, deliver space combat power for the Joint and Combined force, and defend U.S. vital interests with allies and partners.