Before launching its own satellite, Peru purchased about 10 Earth observation images annually. Since the Airbus-built PeruSat-1 reached orbit in 2016, Peru has gathered and stored more than 500,000 satellite images.
“We can take images whenever we want, and the sovereignty is really important to us,” Lt. Col. Javier Ildefonso, Commander of Peru’s Space Operations Center, said in September at the Space Defense and Security Summit. “We will continue to buy the NewSpace technologies in the future. But at the same time, we want to develop our own technology as well.”
Government officials from around the world underscored the importance of sovereignty at the Space Defense and Security Summit and the Summit on Earth Observation in Paris in September. National space capabilities, long seen as a sign of technological sophistication, have become a national priority for many countries in light of ongoing wars and heightened economic competition.
“This summit comes at an unprecedented time of transformation in the space domain and for space defense,” said NovaSpace CEO Pacome Revillon at the event’s outset. “More than 50 nations now have a dedicated space military budget, while the number of government and commercial organizations operating at least one infrastructure in space has tripled in just the last six years.”
CAPACITY BUILDING
It can take many years for nations to establish robust space programs.
Malaysia, for example, intends to launch its first military satellite by 2030, “so we are now slowly acquiring this expertise,” said Rear Adm. Mohd Fadzli Kamal, director general of the Malaysia Armed Force’s Defence Cyber and Electromagnetic Division.
In the shorter term, Malaysia is focused on building ground stations for communications satellites.
“If possible, we would like the satellite ground stations to be in Malaysia, and perhaps with 90 to 95 percent of the people working in these industries to be local citizens,” Kamal said.
Senegal, meanwhile, is working with French company Prométhée Earth Intelligence to build its first constellation of seven satellites. The Senegal space agency ASES was established in March 2023.
“When you start building a space agency from scratch, it is not easy to build a whole constellation,” said ASES Director General Maram Kaire.
Senegal’s first Earth-observation satellite, launched in August on a SpaceX Falcon 9 Transporter rideshare, was built at the University of Montpellier Space Center.
“But the fact is that we want to know how to build our own satellites and how to build our own constellation,” Kaire said.
Senegal plans to set up a national assembly, integration and testing center in 2025. Prométhée is helping Senegal with its first two satellites. The rest of the constellation “will be built in Senegal with Senegalese engineers and technicians,” Kaire said.
Senegal’s new Earth-observation constellation will help civil government agencies monitor natural resources and plan land use. In addition, Senegal is “working on a program for space surveillance that will be directly connected with the Ministry of Defense,” Kaire said.
Workforce development is also important for Gabon’s Agency for Space Studies and Observation (AGEOS) established in 2010. AGEOS has sent young people to France, the United States, and South Africa to learn about space programs and applications.
Earth observation is the agency’s primary interest. With satellite and ground station facilities covering 24 African nations, AGEOS helps its neighbors monitor forests, mining operations and coastlines, and respond to natural disasters and identify illegal fishing.
Gabon is eager to acquire more maritime imagery and synthetic aperture radar data.
“I want to meet some people who can provide satellite data for maritime surveillance, and I want to explore some ways to collaborate for the capacity building,” said AGEOS Director General Aboubakar Mambimba Ndjoungui.
SECURITY CONCERNS
On the other end of the spectrum is France, which has been launching satellites since 1965. Despite its already extensive space industry and infrastructure, France remains intent on expanding space-related capabilities.
France is contributing 300 million euros ($334 million) to IRIS², Europe’s planned broadband constellation, to enhance security, maintain European sovereignty and bolster France’s telecommunications industry.
“Development of our industry is crucial for competitiveness and this program is crucial also for our sovereignty,” said Lionel Suchet, chief operating officer for the French space agency CNES.
Satellite communications is a priority for South Korea as well. For civil applications, South Korea does not need a large communications constellation.
“But for the military side, it is different,” said Kyeong Keun Kim, Space Task Force programs manager for the Korean Agency for Defense Development, alluding to tensions between North and South Korea.
Since South Korea cannot afford to launch 100 or 200 satellites to create its own broadband network, government officials are considering commercial options.
During World Space Business Week in Paris in September, Kim met with commercial “satcom suppliers like OneWeb and Amazon” to figure out the best way to tap into existing and planned communications constellations.
SAFETY AND SECURITY
Military and economic concerns lead to Poland’s increased investment in space programs. The Polish Space Agency was established in 2014 under the nation’s Ministry of Economic Development.
“The need to grow and to be at least a partner for more mature countries like France or the U.K. in the space sector” was “the economic purpose which encouraged our decision-makers to invest more in space” and to contribute funding to the European Space Agency, said Col. Marcin Mazur, Polish Space Agency vice president.
Meanwhile, the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine and other conflicts are prompting Poland’s Ministry of Defense to procure national space systems and invest in commercial technology.
In early 2023, Poland’s Ministry of National Defence awarded Airbus Defence and Space a contract to manufacture, launch and deliver two electro-optical Earth observation satellites. Under the contract, Airbus also will provide the ground segment, maintenance, technical support, training and imagery from Airbus’ Pleiades Neo constellation.
“From a military point of view, we always say that diversity is the point, that you have access to different types of sources and different type of capabilities,” Mazur said. “Governmental services are safe and secure long-term solutions. However, when we take into account the many countries in Europe which don’t have resources to invest in space, the commercial sources are definitely the solutions to provide them the capabilities.”
Keeping space startups in Europe is a priority for the European Commission.
“We don’t want just to be the nursery of startups and see them go to the U.S. or elsewhere across the globe where they can find easy investors,” Guillaume de la Brosse, head of the European Commission’s Innovation and NewSpace unit, said in September at the Space Defense and Security Summit in Paris. It’s a matter of sovereignty, he said, “because those startups more and more work closely with the defense ministries in all member states.”
European defense ministries and space commands are eager to test technologies and services offered by space startups, de la Brosse said. “We need to ensure that those companies remain in Europe and remain EU-controlled,” he added.
With that goal in mind, European organizations known for supporting legacy space companies are helping space startups attract investment.
“Thanks to some initiative that we have put in place, we’ve managed to get 30 venture capital funds that are working with us and are investing in space tech companies,” de la Brosse said.
To encourage further investment, the European Investment Bank and European Investment Fund established the Cassini program in 2022. Cassini provides venture capital for funds investing in European space companies or companies offering digital services based on space data.
To date, these programs have largely helped startups in early funding rounds.
“It’s nice to go for pre-seed, seed, series A fundraising, but we know that we need to go through series B, C and D,” de la Brosse said. “This is exactly the kind of challenge that we need to fix. How do we best use the public research and investment, be it at national level or the EU level?”
Specifically, de la Brosse said, European organizations should support “mobility in space, the possibility to extend the lifetime of satellites, to repair satellites, to upgrade satellites.”
