The German government has published its first space security strategy. The country wants to better protect its interests in space and intensify cooperation with its partners. Find out more about what this means for Norway here – and in our new Space Report, which will be published in early 2026.
Picture: BDI / Christian Kruppa
“Space domains are an integral part of our society. A collapse or disturbances would have significant consequences for our security and everyday lives.” With these words, Boris Pistorius, the German Minister of Defense, introduced the country’s new “Space Safety and Security Strategy”. He was joined by the German Minister of Foreign Affairs, which emphasized the strategy’s importance to the government.
This is the first time, the German Government introduces a Space Strategy on Safety and Security. It comes at a time when space becomes an increasingly important part in matters of defense. Modern society heavily depends on space-based satellites providing services such as communication and navigation. Others, i.e. reconnaissance and observation, are crucial for the defense and security sector. Therefore, Germany sees a growing necessity to invest into safety and security in space. The country aims to become more capable of acting in space – together with its partners in the EU and NATO and others around the world. The new strategy is intended to lead the way. The new strategy is intended to lead the way.
Identify, cooperate, deter
In order to set a foundation for the protection of German interests in space, the strategy defines three fields of action:
- Identify dangers and threats, develop measures for action: satellites, ground infrastructure and the communication between them can and are being targeted in an effort to destabilize the country. It is necessary to build up counter-space abilities
- Support international cooperation and sustainable order: increase the efforts for a regulation of space usage, closely cooperating with the allied partners of NATO, the EU and the UN to not only develop a national, but also European space safety and security architecture. Create independent access to space through own launch vehicles / rockets and spacecrafts.
- Building deterrence, promoting defense capabilities and resilience: build the capability to defend with the highest level of transparency and involvement of international partners. Using technological advantages to be able to respond continuously to attacks and ensuring stable cyber security architecture
These measures will incur costs: The Government expects expenditure of around EUR 35 billion within the next five years. Despite its security and defense focus, the new strategy is not intended to serve as a starting point in a race of arms, but to increase the German and European ability to defend itself in space. Minister Pistorius highlighted that during the presentation.
Opportunities for Norway
The announced investments underline Germany’s commitment to the space sector. This will create further possibilities for German Norwegian cooperation to build up on the already existing partnerships, especially with Andøya Space. The strategy also emphasises cooperation with NATO, which could open opportunities for Norway as a member, both economically and militarily.
Interested in further analysis? We will publish our updated Report on the Space Industry in Norway and Germany in early 2026. It will provide a detailed overview of both German and Norwegian space markets as well as trends and developments. You can pre-order it here.