On 27-28 January 2026, ESPI contributed to the 18th edition of the European Space Conference (ESC) in Brussels, as a long-term partner across several sessions. This year’s conference title focused on “sovereignty, security and industrial transformation”.
ESPI Director, H. Ludwig Moeller, delivered the key takeaways at the end of the conference. Here are some of his reflections:
Whole of Europe
The unprecedented level of participation at ministerial level, from Germany, France, Belgium, Poland and Cyprus set a new standard at the conference. It confirms that space requires a “whole of Europe approach”, at the highest level of political agendas, in European frameworks and increasingly at national level, with Germany moving into and accepting a leading role.
Yet, the contrast to the World Economic Forum in Davos just the week before remains stark. International space stakeholders are increasingly present on European soil, as part of a truly global debate and in concert with economic and geo-political actors, with a most valuable reach beyond space.
Shield and sword
The military use of space has further moved into the center of the conference, now beyond just a shield, also as a sword. Deterrence has become part of the debate. Space is a war-fighting domain also in Europe.
Yet, the strong pivot towards security and defence, after many years of an overwhelming focus in Europe on climate, works to the detriment of a debate of space in its full value. Space as part of the digital economy, and space exploration in low Earth orbit (LEO) and towards the Moon, will shape global space power.
Federate, federate, federate
The conference demonstrated the changing architecture of space, in technical as well as governance aspects.
- While traditional European programmes, Galileo and Copernicus, are specified, owned and operated each as one system and under one authority, the future of space in Europe will be defined in a federation of national, European Space Agency (ESA), European Union (EU) and commercial assets.
- Pooling and sharing of assets and their coexistence next to core systems under control of the different owners, for example, national, will be key. ESA‘s European Resilience from Space (ERS) initiative will be a precursor to this new model, reflecting Europe’s complexity but also providing increased resilience.
Discussions underlined the need to buy European, to establish European standards, to start with what is at hand in Europe – be pragmatic now, while increasing interoperation over time.
Importantly, the critical role of ground segment and software remains underrated, from control systems to cloud services, and as the middleware enabling interoperability.
Getting closer to 0.15% GDP threshold (but with risk of being outscaled)
Unlike previous years, interventions at highest level did not shy away from advocating for a strong scale-up of European investments in space.
With Germany and its recent 35B EUR announcement leading the dynamics, the European Commission stressed that space requires a substantial share of the 6.8T EUR expected to be invested in European defence in the next 10 years. ESA, after an extraordinary Council at Ministerial Level 2025 (CM25), asked for a further doubling of Europe’s space investment.
A level of 0.15% European GDP invested in space (40-50B EUR per year), as proclaimed by ESPI since 2023, now seems to be in reach.
Yet, while the above represents an extraordinary perspective, it is essential to remain alert of three global developments, which could dwarf Europe’s efforts: The US Golden Dome, the US-China race to the Moon and global tech giants hyper-scaling, for example, the Space-X IPO, each have the potential, to outscale Europe in its efforts to develop autonomy and digital sovereignty.
Note: It is remarkable that discussions at WEF in Davos identified the outscaling by big tech as potentially the most prominent threat, i.e. space (and tech in general) ending up in the hands of billionaires. Recent announcements on direct-to-device (D2D) frequencies and on data centres configurations of 1M satellites further amplify the threat, which in Europe does not obtain the required attention it deserves.
Industry
The conference again made clear that a competitive European industry must stand at the core of Europe’s future in space. A European preference clause must be implemented.
Yet, the debate still calls “to avoid duplications”, when much more competition should be stimulated, as done for launchers now.
Industry should take own initiative, proactively drive innovation and define own products, beyond responding to demand and specifications.
Finding Europe’s north star
This is the time to define Europe’s future in a post-ISS era, and it should implement the ambition voiced at ESC for European boots on the Moon, next to a clear vision for European Space Transportation 2045.
Posture
The conference clearly highlighted Europe’s evolved space posture, almost unimaginable a year ago.
At the European Space Policy Institute (ESPI), we encourage the community gathering at the conference to reinforce the momentum and come to the next edition with new capabilities, new mechanisms and new ways of acting.
Europe needs to become more outspoken on its ambitions and challenges and needs to adopt more bravery and positiveness in its narratives on global stage.
