By: Nana
Appiah Acquaye
European Commission
President Ursula von der Leyen has called for stronger European investment,
industrial cooperation and strategic coordination in space as the European
Union seeks to preserve its competitiveness, security and independent access to
critical space-based capabilities.
Speaking at the
International Space Summit in Paris, von der Leyen said Europe must act
collectively and invest at scale as space enters a new era shaped by artificial
intelligence, lower-cost satellites, renewed lunar exploration and growing
security risks in orbit.
She said the global space
economy is expected to nearly triple by 2035, rising from about US$630 billion
today to around US$1.8 trillion, creating significant opportunities for Europe
but also intensifying global competition.
Von der Leyen pointed to
Europe’s existing capabilities, including the Copernicus Earth-observation
system and the Galileo satellite navigation constellation, as examples of how
joint European investment can create technologies with global benefits.
She said Copernicus has
supported responses to wildfires in Europe and floods in Nepal, while providing
data used to monitor climate change. Galileo, meanwhile, is used by more than
4.5 billion devices globally and provides navigation and precise timing for
transport, financial systems, electricity grids and emergency services.
According to von der Leyen,
the success of these systems demonstrates why Europe must continue making
long-term investments in capabilities that are too strategically important to
depend entirely on external providers.
She said Europe must now
apply the same collective approach to the next generation of space technologies
and infrastructure.
A central part of the
strategy is strengthening Europe’s independent access to space. Von der Leyen
said the European Commission, European Space Agency and national governments
need to pool demand and provide greater certainty for European launch companies.
She pointed to Ariane 6 and
Vega-C as examples of Europe’s existing launch capabilities and cited the
emergence of new space companies as evidence of growing industrial momentum.
The Commission, together
with the European Space Agency, is developing a new European vision for access
to space designed to coordinate European demand and create anchor customers for
European launch providers.
Von der Leyen also called
for investment at scale to help European space companies develop and compete
globally. She said the Cassini Investment Facility is mobilising €2 billion in
risk capital for European space companies, while the proposed €5 billion
Scaleup Europe Fund would support strategic technologies requiring
internationally competitive European companies.
Under the Commission’s
proposed next long-term budget, €131 billion has been proposed for defence,
security and space, which would represent a substantial increase in funding for
the sector.
The Commission is also
seeking to use the scale of the European Single Market to strengthen the
competitiveness of space companies. Von der Leyen said proposals include a
“Single Market in satellite communications” with spectrum assigned at European
level and an EU Space Act establishing common rules for safety, resilience and
sustainability.
She said the objective is to
allow European companies to operate across a market of about 450 million people
without facing fragmented national regulatory systems.
The EU is also reviewing
competition policy to take greater account of the need for European companies
to achieve sufficient scale to compete globally. Von der Leyen cited the
proposed Bromo joint venture involving Airbus, Thales and Leonardo as an example
of the type of industrial cooperation Europe needs.
Space security formed
another major part of the address, with von der Leyen arguing that Europe’s
security on Earth increasingly depends on the security of its space
infrastructure.
She pointed to Russia’s war
against Ukraine as evidence of the strategic role of satellite communications
and Earth observation, while also highlighting growing concerns about
navigation-signal jamming and spoofing, cyberattacks against satellite networks
and the use of drones dependent on satellite-based navigation.
To strengthen secure
communications, Europe is developing IRIS², a multi-orbit satellite
constellation. Von der Leyen said the system is being accelerated and expanded
to more than 350 satellites, providing additional capacity for defence,
security and emergency services, with the first satellites scheduled for launch
from 2029.
She said Europe is already
combining existing satellite capacity to provide secure communications before
the full constellation becomes operational.
The Commission is also
developing a European Space Shield aimed at improving awareness of threats and
strengthening protection against jamming, spoofing and other risks to space
infrastructure.
The initiative is intended
to combine European capabilities, address critical gaps and improve protection
of satellites through measures ranging from space-based early warning to
enhanced defensive capabilities.
Von der Leyen stressed that
Europe’s pursuit of strategic independence should not lead to isolation,
arguing instead that independence means having the ability to make choices
while remaining open to international cooperation.
She welcomed the
establishment of a UN Group on Space Situational Awareness and said Europe’s
proposed Space Act would seek to promote stronger standards for the safe,
secure and sustainable use of outer space.
The Commission President
emphasised that space is a shared resource and argued that international
cooperation will remain essential as activity in orbit increases.
The message from Paris was
that Europe’s future in space will depend on its ability to combine industrial
strength, public investment, technological innovation and collective action.
From navigation and Earth
observation to launch systems, secure communications and space security, von
der Leyen said Europe must act together to ensure that the capabilities being
developed today provide the foundation for prosperity, security and strategic
autonomy in the decades ahead.
