A top NATO official has warned that Europe must act urgently to secure its role in space or risk ceding dominance to global powers like China, Russia, and even Elon Musk’s SpaceX.
"There can be no European sovereignty without efforts in space. Today, a major awakening is necessary, even urgent, for Europeans to get started," Caliber.Az reports, citing NATO’s Supreme Allied Commander Transformation, Admiral Pierre Vandier’s interview with POLITICO.
He emphasised growing pressure from Washington: "The Americans themselves are calling for a form of emancipation, for Europeans to come of age and be better on a number of subjects — and that includes space," he said.
"That's a huge opportunity." The war in Ukraine has highlighted space assets’ importance for military communication and intelligence. Yet Europe remains heavily reliant on US providers, primarily SpaceX, as its IRIS² system remains years away from deployment. Amid rising militarization, the US Space Command recently described space as "a highly contested strategic environment."
Vandier echoed these concerns: "Today, we're seeing a number of players introducing space weapons," he said, urging vigilance and resilience. He warned that Europe’s current satellite model is outdated. "The economic model chosen by the Europeans is based on geostationary satellites... From an economic point of view, if they don't, I think they're going to get kicked out," Vandier said.
To catch up, he proposed a European Defense Act and supported creating a US-style space marketplace. NATO is expanding its space capabilities, but Vandier said more coordination is needed: "We'll be able to see, understand and coordinate action... That's what we call attribution." Still, space won’t top NATO’s agenda at the June summit. "It would be nice to have a statement on space, but I don't think we’re there yet," he said.
By Naila Huseynova
Source: caliber.az
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