Brussels hosted the inaugural European Space Security and Defence Forum on 2 July, bringing together senior defence officials, European policymakers, military leaders, and space industry innovators to examine the deepening integration of space and defence, the scale of investment required to deliver credible capabilities, and the strategic shifts needed to secure Europe’s long-term resilience and autonomy in an increasingly contested environment.

 

 

As space is now recognised alongside land, sea, air, and cyber as a contested operational domain, discussions reflected a clear consensus: the era of viewing space merely as an observation platform has come to an end. Europe's future security increasingly depends on its ability to protect, defend, and sustain its presence in orbit.

 

 

Moving Beyond Observation to Active Defence

 

The geopolitical climate has accelerated the urgency of European space defence.
Drawing on lessons from recent conflicts, Jens Plötner, State Secretary at Germany's Federal Ministry of Defence, noted that European space assets are routinely subjected to interference, highlighting the growing vulnerability of critical orbital infrastructure.

Throughout the forum, defence leaders agreed that resilience alone is no longer sufficient:

"Security in space now requires active protection, not only resilience: the ability to detect, attribute and respond."

Janne Kuusela, Permanent Secretary, Finnish Ministry of Defence

 

 

Key Themes and Takeaways

 

1. Federation Over Centralisation

With capabilities spread across national governments, the European Union, ESA, NATO, and commercial operators, participants favoured a federated architecture that connects existing sovereign assets instead of creating entirely new integrated systems.

The Cost Challenge: Building sovereign critical enablers is estimated to cost roughly €500 billion over a decade, a figure that requires combined national spending.

Rapid Expansion: The number of European nations with Earth-observation capabilities is projected to rise from 5 to 15 within the next two years.
Scalability: Commercial providers like ICEYE are leading the way, with plans to deliver 40 synthetic-aperture radar satellites to European armed forces within 24 months.

2. The Vulnerability of the Ground Segment

One of the forum's strongest messages concerned cybersecurity. While satellites often receive the greatest attention, speakers emphasised that the most vulnerable components are frequently ground stations, software infrastructure, and supply chains.

The Viasat Lesson: The 2022 cyberattack on Viasat, which disabled tens of thousands of terminals (including 9,000 in France), remains the blueprint for modern hybrid space threats.

Physical Protection: The strike on the Dubna ground station near Moscow on 24 June served as a stark reminder that physical control stations remain priority military targets.

To strengthen resilience, experts advocated classifying space infrastructure as tier-zero critical cyber infrastructure, protected through rigorous end-to-end European encryption and cybersecurity standards.

 

 

3. Bridging the Series B "Financing Chasm"

Europe's space sector continues to generate strong early-stage innovation, yet many promising companies struggle to secure the financing needed to scale beyond Series B.

Participants highlighted a significant shift in the market:

Institutional Shift: Following the collapse of the commercial geostationary telecom market, 71% of European space industry turnover is now institutional.

Catalytic Public Capital: To bridge this, the European Investment Bank (EIB) has carved out a €500 million envelope for space, while the European Investment Fund (EIF) is targeting a €1 billion defence scale-up fund.

 

The Open Questions Ahead

 

While the forum demonstrated strong momentum behind initiatives such as the proposed European Space Shield, targeted for 2027, participants acknowledged that significant governance questions remain unresolved.

Chief among them is who should hold decision-making authority during a European space crisis. Issues including treaty reform, qualified majority voting, and the legal authority to direct military action in wartime remain politically sensitive and unresolved.

As discussions begin around the next Multiannual Financial Framework, establishing a clear operational authority capable of coordinating European space defence is likely to become one of the defining policy challenges of the coming years.

 

 

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