At the risk of understating the case, Europe has been shaken by recent geopolitical events. ‘Great power politics’ is back, and Europe faces the very real risk of becoming a piece on the global chessboard rather than a player. Unsurprisingly, European leaders have scrambled to beef up their defenses. France’s President Emmanuel Macron has warned that the continent is at a “turning point of history,” calling for unity and increased defense spending, and suggesting France would extend its nuclear umbrella to other European countries.
But as Rohan Silva argued in a recent article in British newspaper The Times, any cash raised for defense is at risk of being squandered. In the United Kingdom and the rest of Europe, procurement processes are sluggish and fragmented. If Europe wants to defend itself in space, it must do more than make speeches and increase spending — as useful as those are. It should take lessons from the United States Space Development Agency (SDA), the Space Force direct-reporting unit tasked with deploying disruptive space technology. The SDA has shown that military space programs do not have to be slow and expensive.
The SDA was founded in 2019 with the stated intention of shaking up the traditional way of doing things. In the past, U.S. defense programs relied on slow, multi-year tender processes designed to be fair and low risk rather than fast. The SDA changed this, operating according to two key principles: proliferation and spiral development. Proliferation means deploying a large number of small, cheap satellites. These satellites operate in low Earth orbit (LEO), which is much closer to the Earth than traditional military satellites tend to be. They are easier to design, build, launch and replace. They are also more resilient. If an enemy takes out one satellite, the network still works. Destroying an entire constellation would require enormous effort.
This is a big change from traditional approaches to defense in space, which involved relying on fewer, more advanced satellites that were expensive and difficult to replace. The SDA’s strategy allows for the rapid deployment of satellites and avoids the risk of losing critical capabilities in the event of an attack. It also ensures that technological advances can be incorporated more quickly, since new satellites can be introduced into the system without disrupting the existing network.
Spiral development, on the other hand, speeds things up even more. Instead of waiting years for a perfect system, the SDA deploys an initial version quickly — something like a minimal viable product, or MVP — and then improves it, iterating in cycles. This approach, which is common in industries like software and consumer tech, ensures that military space tech keeps pace with new and emerging threats. Traditional procurement processes tend to lock in designs that soon become obsolete. Spiral development avoids this pitfall by prioritizing adaptability.
The benefits of this model extend well beyond speed. Spiral development also brings down costs. The initial investment is lower, and new technology can be incorporated without the need to start from scratch. The SDA’s model strongly emphasizes flexibility — crucial for any modern military force, which must respond to shifting geopolitical threats and technological changes with great agility.
An SDA model for Europe
Space is not just about the peaceful exploration of the cosmos. It’s about how we live here on Earth. It plays a central role in communication, logistics, sustainability and — increasingly defense. The establishment of the U.S. Space Force, a new arm of the American military, in 2019 made this crystal clear. So too have Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and rising tensions with China, in which space plays a major part. Europe needs a radical change of approach — one that, inspired by the SDA, aims at centralization, speed, resilience and innovation. It’s a matter of national and continental security.
The good news is that this is possible. By adopting elements of the SDA model, Europe really could innovate quickly and cheaply. Moreover, a smarter procurement process would stimulate aerospace and technology sectors across the continent. Downstream of U.S. military spending we find the creation of the internet, the semiconductor industry and Google’s search engine. This is key for Europe which, after years of underinvestment, is rapidly trying to rebuild its defense industrial base.
It’s important to note that this isn’t about adapting the SDA model for everything; even the Aerospace Corporation — a leading architect for the nation’s space programs — specifies in its report that it is relevant only for specific contexts. And in Europe, those relevant contexts should be relatively new capabilities, to avoid strong pushback from the large incumbents, and if possible proliferated capabilities, such as LEO constellations or drones, where the number of units allow for the creation of a competitive ecosystem. Any European agency, from ESA to EUSPA to DLR, or even newer entrants like Portugal Space, could launch such a program, provided it had the relevant authority.
The clock is ticking. The threats to European security are evolving rapidly. If Europe, in the form of ESA or DLR, clings to its outdated procurement models, it will fall behind. The U.S. has already proved that a faster, leaner model works. If Europe wants to be resilient in space, it should stop hesitating and start learning. The SDA’s approach is a blueprint for innovation, efficiency, and security in an increasingly uncertain world. Europe just has to follow it.
Jean-François Morizur is co-founder and CEO at Cailabs. Cailabs designs, manufactures and develops photonics solutions for the space, industrial, telecommunications and defense sectors. He is also vice president of France Deeptech and vice president of the public purchasing commission of FDT.
François Alter is a former Ministerial Advisor at CNES and President of the public purchasing commission at France Deeptech.
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