GERMANY SETS MILITARY SPACE SPENDING PLAN – To fund intelligence‑gathering satellites, sensors and systems
Germany’s space commander said that the country is weighing investments ranging from spy satellites and space planes to offensive lasers under a 35 billion euro military space spending plan aimed at countering any military threat in orbit
The head of German Space Command, Michael Traut, said Germany will build an encrypted military constellation of more than 100 satellites, known as SATCOM Stage 4, over the next few years. Traut said the network would mirror the model used by the U.S. Space Development Agency, a Pentagon unit that deploys low-Earth-orbit satellites for communications and missile tracking.
Traut said Germany’s investment in military space architecture reflected a sharply more contested space environment. Berlin and its European allies, he said, needed to bolster their deterrence posture by investing not only in secure communications but also in capabilities that could hinder or disable hostile space systems.
He further added that Germany will channel funding into intelligence‑gathering satellites, sensors and systems designed to disrupt adversary spacecraft, including lasers and equipment capable of targeting ground-based infrastructure.
