Germany’s army has launched its new military space command with a twist of Star Wars cosplay. Instead of the traditional military officers in formal attire, the German military top brass was surrounded by characters straight out of the evil Galactic Empire seen in the iconic movie series Star Wars. Cosplay Darth Vader and a few cosplay stormtroopers were present at the inauguration of the €40 million space command headquarters.
The premise of the evil, authoritarian Galactic Empire, ruled by Darth Vader, was inspired from the ideology moorings of the Nazi party in the 1930s and 1940s Germany. However, the space command building, which includes 122 offices, does not resemble the spherical Death Star of the films.
The German army said that the command would share the office complex with Germany’s aerospace research agency, bringing two of Germany’s space institutions in one place.
This establishment of Germany’s space command follows the growing international trend, followed by space-capable countries, to establish military units tasked for orbital defence and protecting satellite assets in space. NATO has also officially designated space as its fifth theatre of conflict due to increased attention by member countries.
The use of pop-culture icons during Germany’s space command launch is not the first time a national military has used them. Earlier this year, the French air force held a space war game exercise named as AsterX, based on the comic series Asterix. Additionally, the official logo of the U.S. Space Force bears an uncanny sameness with delta-like logo of the Starfleet shown in the movie series Star Trek.
The German space command did not comment on the presence of Darth Vader and stormtrooper cosplays. Still, a video of the event clarified that the cosplays played their roles to raise funds for an army-affiliated charity.
