Germany unveils space defence strategy
'Satellite networks today are an Achilles heel of modern societies,' says Defence Minister Boris Pistorius.
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Hello, and welcome to this week’s edition of The View from Space.
🛰️ Modern life is highly dependent on space, yet – as German Defence Minister Boris Pistorius has pointed out – we are woefully underprepared against attacks beyond the Earth’s atmosphere. Today, Germany passed its first national space security strategy, which involves a promise to invest €35 billion between now and 2030 in space – equivalent to the entire budget of the European Space Agency. Bloomberg reports:
‘The new strategy laid out on Wednesday by Chancellor Friedrich Merz’s cabinet focuses on joint projects with allies, expanded satellite networks and the promotion of “responsible state behavior” in space. It comes on the heels of a September announcement that the defense ministry would invest €35 billion ($40.5 billion) in space projects by 2030.
The aim is to become more independent and capable of acting in space together with European allies and other NATO member states, Defense Minister Boris Pistorius told reporters in Berlin.
“Space systems have become an integral part of our lives. A failure or disruption would have serious consequences for our security and our everyday lives,” Pistorius added. “We are already seeing, for example, that Russia regularly jams GPS signals in the Baltic Sea region.”
The security strategy sets the framework for how Germany can better protect and defend itself in space and make its satellite networks more resilient. The armed forces would be crucial to that effort, Pistorius said, and the country will establish a military satellite operations center in its armed forces’ space command.
Pistorius told a space industry congress in September that the €35 billion would be used to harden military space systems against disruptions and attacks. Germany will also discuss with allies the development of “offensive capabilities” in space, he said.’
🚀 Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin launched a huge New Glenn rocket carrying NASA spacecraft destined for Mars. In a first for the company, it recovered the booster following its separation from the upper stage and the Mars orbiters. The Guardian reports:
‘The 321ft (98-meter) New Glenn blasted into the afternoon sky from the Cape Canaveral space force station, sending Nasa’s twin Mars orbiters on a long journey to the red planet. Liftoff was stalled for four days by inclement local weather as well as solar storms strong enough to paint the skies with auroras as far south as Florida. …
“Next stop, moon!” employees chanted following the booster’s bull’s-eye landing. Twenty minutes later, the rocket’s upper stage deployed the two Mars orbiters in space, the mission’s main objective.
The New Glenn’s inaugural test flight in January delivered a prototype satellite to orbit, but failed to land the booster on its floating platform in the Atlantic.
The identical Mars orbiters, named Escapade, will spend a year hanging out near Earth, stationing themselves 1m miles away. Once Earth and Mars are properly aligned next fall, the duo will get a gravity assist from Earth to head to the red planet, arriving in 2027.’
🪖 Writing for Defense Opinion, Sonder’s Creative Director Harry Readhead asks if the British government’s defence advisor and the former head of MI5 might be onto something when they suggest that NATO is already at war with Russia:
‘Consider the facts. Russia has held military drills along the Polish border – drills sufficiently menacing to lead the Poles to scramble fighter jets. Russian drones are flying over Danish airports. Five men were convicted of arson for an attack on a warehouse in London that was ordered by Russia.
Cases of alleged Russian espionage abound. In Latvia, police detained a man for giving sensitive NATO information to Moscow. The Austrian company OMV sacked someone accused of spying for Russia. Six Bulgarians in Britain were jailed for running a network across Europe.
And these events took place before the British defense secretary noted a “30% rise in Russian vessels threatening UK waters”, before the UK Space Command chief said the Russians were jamming British satellites on a “weekly” basis, before alleged Russian election interference in Moldova and Romania.
Poisonings, cyber-attacks, sabotage of infrastructure – these have become so common it is increasingly hard to think that Russia is not at war with us, that war is not already here and unfolding in slow-motion.’
🔎 In SpaceNews, Sandra Erwin reports that U.S. military leaders are describing the scale, ambition and progress of China’s space programme as ‘mind-boggling’:
‘In its 745-page Annual Report to Congress scheduled to be released at a public event Nov. 18, the bipartisan U.S. China Economic and Security Review Commission lays out a blunt assessment of Beijing’s push to become the world’s top space power.
The commission, created by Congress in 2000, has long tracked China’s economic and military rise. This year’s edition says the speed, scale and ambition of China’s space program have entered a new phase that U.S. military leaders describe as “mind boggling.”
Space Force Gen. Chance Saltzman, the U.S. chief of space operations, used that phrase in testimony to the commission as he detailed a rapid expansion of Chinese space based systems designed to give Beijing an edge across peacetime competition and potential conflict. The report cites Saltzman’s warning that China’s growing arsenal of military space capabilities threatens the United States’ ability to rely on satellites for targeting, communications and surveillance, especially in a Western Pacific contingency where long distances and scattered U.S. forces depend on resilient networks.
“China’s rapid advancements in space capabilities should concern every American,” the commission writes. It stresses how deeply U.S. society depends on satellite services for GPS navigation, banking, weather forecasting and the power grid. Defense officials say that dependence remains underappreciated outside national security circles.’
🇪🇺 NewSpace Capital Partner Daniel Biedermann writes for The Engineer that ‘a reality-check is in order’ if the new Airbus-Thales-Leonardo merger aims to rival SpaceX – but that smaller companies may be the real winner of the European mega-merger:
‘These European firms are great houses, with a tradition of quality, but they’re also bureaucratic and slow. They have to work within a framework of EU rules, procurement codes, national treasuries, and political interests. That isn’t helpful if the aim is the innovation and ambition typical of Space X/Starlink.
But it could be good news for the wider European space landscape. When the great primes merge, smaller companies have the chance to stand out. While the leaders of Airbus, Thales and Leonardo are tied up in thorny questions of structure, process, and power, gaps will appear. And into those gaps other companies can step. They can find niches – niches too small, strange or new for the giants to reach.
These might involve novel sensing payloads, agile satellite buses, or AI for data services. These are ideal for companies that can try, fail, and adapt quickly. And when the merger is complete, and the new company is thinking with one mind, it will still depend on subcontractors and suppliers. No prime can do it all. Smaller companies can pitch themselves as valued providers, rather than rivals.
My advice to these smaller companies? Take the opportunity.’
🌙 Canada has boosted its funding to the European Space Agency in a bid to strengthen ties with the European Union, reports Reuters:
‘Canada, seeking tighter ties with the European Union, will boost its investment in European Space Agency programs by C$528.5 million ($377.96 million), a tenfold increase compared to previous contributions, a top cabinet member said on Tuesday.
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, who won an April election on the back of a promise to diversify the economy in the face of U.S. tariffs, is pressing for tighter defense and security relations with the EU.
The money will be spent over a three to five year period. In a statement, Industry Minister Melanie Joly said the investment would advance research and development of Canadian-made space technologies for both civilian and defense purposes.’
🪖 SAR powerhouse ICEYE sees itself as having ‘a very big role to play’ in European space intelligence, reports Defense News:
‘European interest in ICEYE rose after Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022. But it was the U.S. halting intelligence sharing with Ukraine in March 2025 that really underscored the need for sovereign access to space-based intel, Vice President for Missions Joost Elstak told Defense News. …
Space-based intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance, or ISR, was seen as the toughest area for Europe to achieve self-sufficiency, according to a Defense News survey in February. Most of the surveyed defense experts estimated Europe would need five to 10 years to build sufficient capacity to no longer rely on U.S. space intel.
Since then, and following the U.S. data-sharing pause, ICEYE has signed contracts with the armed forces of Poland, Portugal, the Netherlands and Finland. All four will have their own deployed capabilities within the next 12 months, with multiple satellites in orbit before 2028, Elstak said.’
🚀 And has SpaceX launched a satellite from California on a landmark flight – the company’s 500th orbital mission with a used rocket:
The Achilles heel analogy is perfect. We rely on space infrastruture so heavily but haven't invested nearly enough in resilience. Germanys 35 billion commitment is a serious signal. The part about Russia jaming GPS in the Baltic is a reminder that this isn't hypothetical anymore.