Europe is seeking to elevate its role in space in response to security concerns following Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, capability gaps in European armed forces, and uncertainty over U.S. space and alliance policies. At the same time, space is becoming increasingly commercialised. Europe is encouraging private actors to enter the market, shifting the state’s role from operator to customer. Building robust space capabilities under these conditions requires navigating a set of competing objectives. Three main tensions define the challenge: sovereignty versus speed, private-sector dynamism versus regulatory ambition, and ecosystem design versus investment preferences.
To translate today’s relatively favourable funding environment into durable capability gains, Europe should adopt a dual-track procurement strategy that reconciles urgent capability needs with long-term industrial sovereignty; make commercialisation the main driver of ecosystem growth, expanding challenge-based procurement beyond launch services and ensuring that institutional demand rewards innovation, risk-taking and scalable business models and strengthen and retain Europe’s industrial base through targeted ‘buy European’ policies, selective consolidation where necessary, and new financial instruments.
