02/06/2026: Building a European Security Architecture in Space
A Franco-German discussion
On Tuesday, 2 June 2026, the Jacques Delors Centre organised another “Research Meets Politics” event of its flagship Franco-German project, the Pariser Platz Dialogue event series. Hosted and co-organised by the French Embassy in Germany, the event consisted of two panel discussions on ensuring Europe’s security in space, as well as the role of European companies regarding innovative space infrastructure.
Setting the Scene: Cooperation, Competition and Security in Space
The Ambassador of France to Germany, François Delattre, opened the event by highlighting the new chapter in the Franco-German relationship based on the 2025 Toulon Agenda. He recalled the existential threats Europe is facing from within and without, not least through Russia’s war of aggression in Ukraine. In his view, “space is one of the keys to both European sovereignty and European competitiveness, which are both sides of the same coin”.
General Philippe Adam, Secretary General of the International Space Summit, talked about the importance of cooperation, which needs to include everyone – the industry, potential rivals, and even potential enemies – due to the fact that in space, there are no borders. He stressed the need for speedy decision-making and a well-established set of rules to avoid conflict and possibilities of war. According to him, there are several possible futures – and Europe should choose the one it wants, even if it does not yet have the capacity to describe them exactly.
Security in space: How do we organise and coordinate European assets?
The first panel was moderated by Wilhelmine Stenglin, Editor at Table.Media, and tackled security, autonomy, and resilience in the orbit. The speakers commented on France and Germany’s national space strategies whilst unanimously welcoming Germany’s soaring investments in space defence.
“Security starts with autonomy – this is an old idea in Europe.” Thus, Thomas Courbe, Director General for Enterprises at the Ministry of the Economy, Finance, and Industrial, Digital and Energy Sovereignty, called for reducing over-dependence and implementing clearer governance regarding space security. He expressed the need to support innovation, which in his view has already been initiated by European businesses proposing solutions in fields such as missile or drone defence.
According to Thomas Reiter, Head of the Space and Security Department at the Federal Ministry of Research, Technology and Space, “space is still a lighthouse of international cooperation”. He recognised the threat posed by Russia and China, warning that proximity operations and the potential deployment of Russian nuclear weapons into orbit pose a significant danger to European security. In his view, current dependency of the supply chain on the US are not critical, since interdependencies are somewhat balanced. Finally, he called for a strong European pillar within NATO and pointed out that Europe is underdeveloped in mass-producing satellites, with the regeneration cycle being an important aspect.
Antje Nötzold, Senior Researcher at the University of the Bundeswehr Munich, worried that Europe might become more fragmented in space. She pleaded for coordination and the achievement of interoperability, since an increasing number of countries are contributing to niche capabilities in space. From her perspective, the volume of available data leads to information overload, while transparent battlefields and real time warfare only need limited information, at the right time. Furthermore, she identified the lack of a commonly accepted European lead as one of the core challenges faced by the continent.
Paul Wohrer, Head of the Space Programme at the French Institute of International Relations, recalled the importance that space plays on the Ukrainian battlefield and stressed the need to discourage potential adversaries from attacking Europe. He echoed the concerns about fragmentation all while recognizing the “extremely mature industry in Europe”, which is already acting in surveillance, navigation, and telecommunication. In his view, there are critical gaps in early warning satellites. This could be tackled by implementing lessons learned from Ukraine, who is already experienced in the new types of warfare.
Investing and integrating: The role of European companies in building an innovative space infrastructure
The second panel was moderated by Cécile Boutelet, Economics correspondent in Germany at Le Monde, and went into depth on the balance between the public sector, established players, and new space companies.
Samuel Mamou, Director of Alliance New Space France, recognised that not all needed technology is available in Europe, stressing the need for a long-term strategy to start developing locally. According to him, in the 2010s, companies found it easiest to settle in the US, with the real question today being how to achieve collaboration between legacy players and the new space companies emerging in France and in Germany.
Magnus von Cramm, Head of Space at the German Aerospace Industries Association, found that “in space, it’s impossible to be nationalistic; everyone will profit from the developments”. Thus, Germany’s investment in the space industry will benefit the whole continent, under the condition that governments “think more industrial” and ensure the existence of good industrial policies.
Herman Ludwig Moeller, Director of the European Space Policy Institute, insisted on the need for scaling up the budget that can be raised across Europe. In his view, venture capital, which is currently at only 10%, needs to be doubled. Europe should achieve a space budget of 50 billion per year (public and private combined) and “not put all its money on one bet” (naming Starlink over Ukraine as an example), diversifying across industry and across countries. Finally, he called for strict mechanisms regarding foreign direct investment.
Erin Pobjie, Senior Fellow for Space at the International Institute for Strategic Studies, shed light onto the legal framework in space, where states become responsible for the actions of commercial players. She argued that, since space is becoming increasingly crowded, unintentional events such as collisions are more likely to occur, with commercial actors being targeted in military contexts. Identifying the tension between national sovereignty and the agility the industry has to offer, she called for common standards and rules about what is responsible behaviour in space.
Closing Reflections
The event was closed by the Jacques Delors Centre’s Acting Co-Director, Thu Nguyen, who considered space infrastructure to be “exactly the kind of strategic resource that we need”. She underlined that investment in this infrastructure reflects a common European purpose, and as such, should lead to a common approach – with the decisions being taken today shaping Europe for the years to come.
Watch a recording of the event below.
Our “Research Meets Politics” event gathers distinguished speakers from academia, government and industry in a Franco-German setting and with a European perspective to tackle these questions. It is part of the Pariser Platz Dialogue event series, funded by the Federal Foreign Office. The event is supported by the Embassy of France in Germany.
Photo credits: Sebastian Pfütze
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