Germany Plans €35B Space Defense Investment

Germany's defense minister Boris Pistorius said Russian Luch Olymp satellites have been shadowing German and allied Intelsat communications satellites and that German officials believe Russia has been harassing satellites used by NATO. He warned that Russia and China have rapidly expanded space warfighting capabilities — able to jam, blind, manipulate or kinetically destroy satellites — and called satellite networks the "Achilles heel" of modern societies. Pistorius said Germany must discuss offensive space capabilities, reversing a long-standing policy, and unveiled plans to invest about €35 billion (≈$40–41 billion) in space defence and a resilient military space architecture by 2030. The package will fund satellite constellations, ground stations, secure launch capabilities, cybersecurity, and improved space situational awareness through radars, telescopes and surveillance satellites to deter threats in orbit. He made the remarks amid recent European air and drone incursions — including airport closures in Denmark and Norway and airspace violations in the Baltics and Poland — incidents that have raised alarm though Moscow has denied involvement in some cases.