Every time we look at the GPS of the car, we consult the time or pay by card, the navigation, observation or time synchronization satellites make everything work without us noticing. But hundreds of kilometers on our heads, a silent war makes its way. One that, to end up exploding, could erase what we take for granted.
The Ukraine War changed everything. He demonstrated, without a doubt, that satellites are not only scientific or commercial tools, but first -order military assets. From the monitoring of the troops to safe and resilient communications, the conflict “consecrated space as an operational domain of full right”, in the words of Vincent Chusseau, head of the French Space Command.
At the same time, the Russian Invasion of Ukraine put on the table the advances in countermeasures to neutralize or interfere with enemy satellite signals, as well as the fragility of a nation that does not have sovereign access to space.
The space has been militarized. It is a documented reality. Reports such as the Space Threat Assessment 2025 of the CSIS or the Global Counterspace Capabilities of the Secure World Foundation draw a disturbing panorama: United States, China, Russia, Iran, Israel and other powers have actively developed an entire arsenal of anti-satellite capabilities.
These technologies range from missiles launched from land to satellites capable of attacking others, through high -power lasers to fry the electronic components in orbit. Advances are added to electronic warfare that we have also seen in Ukraine in the form of usual cyber attacks or interferences.
Europe is staying behind. There are more than 200 anti-satellite weapons in space. For Europe it is a problem. While the United States and China treat space as a pillar of their national security, allocating 50% of public spending on defense, Europe barely allocates 15%, warns Josef Aschbacher, director of the European Space Agency. The remaining 85% is dedicated to civil purposes, which raises a review of strategic priorities.
While one of Aschbacher’s papers is to get more financing from the Member States, divergence attracts attention to the times. The European quota in global spatial financing is increasingly lower: only 10% in 2024, compared to 60% of the United States. Not only because other powers have joined the game, such as China and India, but because the EU invests only 0.07% of its GDP in space activities. The participation of Europe is less and less in a sector that expects to triple its value from here to 2035.
At risk of losing autonomy. Europe has been moving chips so as not to depend on foreign powers for its own safety and the operation of essential services that depend on space, such as investment in the incipient sector of European microlanzores or the creation of IRIS2 as a sovereign alternative to Starlink. But geopolitical instability and growing threats could force it to make more forceful decisions.
European defense companies that are already expanding to the space sector do so without a common vision. The solution proposed by Aschbacher is a significant increase in the ESA budget, which could leave the European rearme plan. And another more pragmatic route: bet on the double -use space systems: develop technologies and satellites that can meet both civil needs (science, observation of the earth, the Internet …) and defense (surveillance, safe communications …). Convert the need into opportunity.
Imagen | ESA, freepik
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