Germany has unveiled an ambitious €35 billion (£30 billion) military space investment plan designed to counter escalating orbital threats from Russia and China, according to the head of the country's space command.
Major Space Capability Investment
Major General Michael Traut, who leads the German Space Command, revealed that Germany intends to construct an encrypted military constellation of over 100 satellites in the coming years. Speaking on the fringes of a space event ahead of the Singapore Airshow, Traut indicated this network would emulate the model employed by the US Space Development Agency, a Pentagon unit focused on deploying low-Earth-orbit satellites for communications and missile tracking.
The substantial funding will be channelled into intelligence-gathering satellites, sensors and systems specifically designed to disrupt adversary spacecraft. This includes offensive lasers and equipment capable of targeting ground-based infrastructure that supports hostile space operations.
Countering Orbital Threats
Traut underscored that Germany's significant investment in military space architecture directly reflects a considerably more contested space environment since Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. He emphasised that Berlin and its European allies need to bolster their deterrence posture by investing not only in secure communications but also in capabilities that could hinder or disable hostile space systems.
"We need to improve our deterrence posture in space, since space has become an operational or even warfighting domain," Traut told Reuters. "We are perfectly aware that our systems, our space capabilities, need to be protected and defended."
Non-Kinetic Defence Options
The German space commander clarified that Germany would not field destructive weapons in orbit that could generate dangerous debris, but said a range of non-kinetic options exist to disrupt hostile satellites. These include electronic jamming, laser systems and actions against ground control stations that manage adversary spacecraft.
Traut specifically pointed to so-called inspector satellites - small spacecraft capable of manoeuvring close to other satellites - which he noted Russia and China have already deployed in orbit. "There is a broad range of possible effects in the electromagnetic spectrum, in the optical, in the laser spectrum, and even some active physical things like inspector satellites," he explained.
European Collaboration and Domestic Priorities
The German investment aligns with broader European efforts to establish independent space capabilities. Leading European space firms Airbus, Thales and Leonardo are currently seeking to establish a European satellite communications alternative to Elon Musk's Starlink network.
Traut added that Germany would prioritise small and large domestic and European suppliers for the ambitious programme, ensuring European technological sovereignty in this critical defence domain. The potential investment follows recent reports of German defence company Rheinmetall engaging in discussions with satellite manufacturer OHB regarding a joint bid for an undisclosed German military satellite initiative.
The space commander concluded with a stark warning about the interconnected nature of modern conflict: "You could even go after ground segments of a space system in order to deny that system to your adversary or to tell him, 'If you do something to us in space, we might do something to you in other domains as well.'"
