While the US Space Force is the biggest global military space player and will remain so for some time to come, sharp eyes should be focused on Europe in 2026, as the region’s individual and collective governments ramp up serious space spending plans aimed at freeing themselves from reliance on US capabilities.
Perhaps just as interesting will be watching for weight-class shifts among European capitals in driving regional space priorities via spending — with Germany sprinting to catch up and perhaps overtake France as the dominant player, Spain throwing down significant sums for ESA’s new dual-use initiative, and Poland emerging as a newcomer on the block.
[This article is one of many in a series in which Breaking Defense reporters look back on the most significant (and entertaining) news stories of 2025 and look forward to what 2026 may hold.]
EU Makes Space Defense A ‘Flagship’ Effort
The European Union in 2026 will commence creation of a “Space Shield” as one of four “flagship” initiatives approved by the bloc’s ruling Council of Ministers in October under a new “readiness roadmap” [PDF]. While the details about what exactly that Space Shield program will involve and how much it will cost are hazy, the post-meeting press release said the effort is designed to “ensure the protection and resilience of space assets and services.” The concept is designed to build upon the current collective EU programs such as the Galileo positioning, navigation and timing (PNT) constellation, as well as help support its 27 member states build new, interoperable capabilities such as systems to counter adversary jamming.
The €7.3 billion ($8.5 billion) European Defense Fund for 2021-2027, which funds basic defense research and new capabilities for collective EU use, includes two new space programs in its annual workplan for 2025: a feasibility study for on-orbit servicing, budgeted at €49 million and prototype development of a new small satellite constellation in low Earth orbit (LEO) for intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR), budgeted at €66 million. Proposals from interested vendors were due on Oct. 16, and winners are expected to be announced in April 2026.
The space-based ISR constellation in particular is squarely aimed at creating European “strategic autonomy” in space — reducing reliance on the US Intelligence Community for spy satellite data. At the moment, only a handful of EU countries (notably France, Germany, Italy and Spain) operate their own military satellites for remote sensing, and the EU’s collective Copernicus network is aimed at civil uses rather than military.
The European Defense Fund program is related to another initiative being proposed by the European Commission (the EU’s executive branch) for the next EU budget covering 2028-2034, called the Earth Observation Governmental Service (EOGS). The concept, which would provide all EU members with remote sensing data as a service, was first laid out by the commission in 2024 with the launch of two year-long feasibility studies and a pilot project.
“[W]e intend to set up an Earth observation governmental service [providing] space based geo-intelligence adapted for the military and for civil security use. Allowing almost real time surveillance in rain or shine, night and day for different types of use, it will be an absolute game changer for our defense,” Andrius Kubilius, EU commissioner for defense and space, said in an Oct. 27, 2025 speech.
The commission’s goal is to start the service in 2028. Details of how EOGS might work and which EU countries will participate by providing data, however, are still under debate by the European Council of Ministers. Further, the 2028-2034 proposed budget remains in negotiation with the European Parliament, which much approve it.
ESA Takes A Step Toward The Dark Side
That said, the European Space Agency (ESA) in its next three-year budget cycle intends to fund the development of space-based ISR technologies and capabilities, directly in support of the EOGS concept. The move, approved by the ESA Council of Ministers on Nov. 27, marked the first time the agency has explicitly agreed to finance projects designed to bolster European defense-related space capabilities.
ESA is independent from the 27-member EU; not all 23 members of ESA are members of the EU and vice versa.
The new ESA European Resilience from Space (ERS) effort is funded at €1.35 billion, and will focus on development of dual-use technologies to underpin EOGS. The ESA Council of Ministers gave member countries a year, however, to decide on national contributions to the program.
The initial tranche of ERS funds also will finance a new program to provide “navigation services” from LEO satellites.
ESA back in 2022 approved a pathfinder program for a 10 satellite PNT constellation in LEO. The agency now plans to launch two birds, one built by Spain’s GMV and the other by French giant Thales Alenia Space, by the end of the year on a Rocket Lab Electron medium launch vehicle from its facility in New Zealand.
Germany, Spain And Poland Up Their Space Games
German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius in September announced that MoD intends to invest €35 billion between 2026 and 2030 on space security, “including new satellite constellations for early warning, reconnaissance, and communications.”
On Nov. 19, Germany published its first-ever national security space strategy, which envisions a plethora of new military capabilities to boost Berlin’s capacity to act independently to protect and defend its space assets — as well as play a stronger role in influencing European and global security policymaking. German Space Command chief Maj. Gen. Michael Traut told the Berlin Security Conference the same day that the strategy includes procuring new synthetic aperture radar satellites to replace its current SAR-Lupe constellation, and perhaps even new optical imagery and signals intelligence birds.
Berlin followed up at the ESA Council of Ministers, pledging a whopping €5.4 billion for 2026-2028, according to a German space agency fact sheet. This sum includes a first time contribution from MoD of approximately €292 million, “supporting in particular launch vehicle development for future launch capacity and activities in space safety and security.” This makes Germany the largest contributor to ESA, accounting for 23 percent of the total budget.
Berlin’s military space budget sprint put it in a pole position to overtake France as Europe’s premier milspace player — although at the moment France still operates more defense-dedicated satellites and ground-based space systems such as missile defense and space surveillance radars.
French President Emmanuel Macron on Nov. 12 announced a planned increase of €4.2 billion in military space spending between 2026 and 2030. France’s current budget for 2024-2030 included some €6 billion for milspace.
Paris also pledged nearly €3.6 billion to ESA for the next budget round, equaling about 16.4 percent of the total agency funding, according to an ESA fact sheet.
Spain stood out at the ESA Council of Minister’s budget meeting for being the largest contributor to the ERS effort, pledging €325 million out of its total ESA contribution of €1.8 billion, according to a Nov. 27 article in Space Intel Report.
Further, the Spanish Defense Ministry in October launched its second new SpainSat NG-II secure communications satellite, built by Airbus and operated by Spanish firm Hisdesat. Madrid intends to contribute bandwidth from the new constellation to the European Commission’s proposed GOVSATCOM service for both military and civil uses.
“[T]he GOVSATCOM system will be based on the aggregation of the demand from the different satcom user communities and on the pooling and sharing of the existing satcom offer. Its services will be accessible through GOVSATCOM Hubs, which will connect users with providers, optimising the available resources and guaranteeing access, even in unpredictable situations,” according to a commission fact sheet.
While Poland’s €731 million contribution to the latest ESA budget is considerably smaller than that of Germany, France and Spain, according to an agency fact sheet, Warsaw “has increased its financial contribution to ESA ten-fold over the past three years.”
Poland now comes in as the 7th biggest contributor to ESA percentage wise — behind Germany, France, Italy, Spain, the United Kingdom and Switzerland, in that order.
Poland’s ESA contribution includes an unspecified amount pledged to the ERS program.
Poland’s Defense Ministry in May awarded a €200 million contract to Finnish synthetic aperture radar provider ICEYE for three satellites, with an option to purchase three more satellites and additional ground segment capabilities through May 2026, the company said in a press release.
The MikroSAR program is a first for the Polish military; although back in 2022 it purchased two optical Earth-observation satellites from Airbus that are expected to be launched in 2027.
“This is a great day for the Polish Armed Forces and Poland, because they are gaining full independence in radar reconnaissance and imaging,” Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz, who is double-hatted as Polish deputy prime minister and defense minister, said in the May 14 ICEYE release.
Poland and ESA further are in discussions about opening a security-focused center in Poland, the fact sheet added.