Billy Bryan
Space exploration is entering an exciting, but precarious, new phase. Private robotic missions to the Moon, cheaper heavy-lift launchers, and even the first commercial space station are all on the horizon. As the transatlantic alliance is tested in unprecedented ways, the United States and European allies must ask themselves how they can unite to work better together in space. The answer will be shaped by how they tackle security, safety, sustainability, investment, and scientific cooperation in the space domain.
Security, Sustainability, and Strategy
Russia's war on Ukraine has exposed the West's reliance on private space assets and services from single suppliers: SpaceX's satellite communications system Starlink has been a lifeline (for now), but it is solely operated by SpaceX in the United States. This raises urgent questions about dependency on private actors in one nation for secure communications and space situational awareness. The European Union's proposed space law offers a chance to align policies across the bloc, and NATO must take on a stronger role in space security. Without coordinated action, the West risks ceding control over critical capabilities to those who do not share the same priorities with no alternative joint services that can operate at the same scale.
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