These measures are a response to the findings of the White Paper published in March 2025 and the findings of the ReArm Europe programme.
Photo. Guillaume Périgois/Unsplash
In 2026, the European Commission intends to launch the European Space Shield project, which aims to strengthen the EU’s space security capabilities.
The new initiative was discussed at the beginning of the year by Andrius Kubilius, EU Commissioner for Defence and Space. At that time, it was assumed that the project would strengthen EU space security in terms of faster access to information, analysis, decision-making and possible retaliation.
„I want to set up a dialogue with member states and space commands to look at options towards a European space domain awareness to monitor threats, including military threats.” – said Andrius Kubilius at the 17th European Space Conference. The measures were to be „building blocks” of the European Space Shield’.
A more detailed description can be found on the European Commission’s website in the document ”Preserving Peace – Defence Readiness Roadmap 2030” published in October this year. In addition to the European Space Shield, several other initiatives have been launched to strengthen the security of the community, such as the European Air Shield and the European Drone Defence Initiative and the Eastern Flank Watch.
These measures are a response to the findings of the White Paper published in March 2025 and the findings of the ReArm Europe programme. According to EU forecasts, defence investments could reach €800 billion over the next four years.
The latest announcements also remain vague about the details of the planned project. The European Space Shield is to be based on national and commercial space systems, supported by EU capabilities. According to the document, the initiative will ”complement the EU’s dual-use space capabilities” in the fields of telecommunications (IRIS²), navigation and timing (Galileo) and Earth observation (Copernicus and the planned EOGS programme).
The European Space Shield is to be launched in the second quarter of 2026, with operational readiness expected in 2030. The European Commission has not indicated the expected budget or the countries and entities most involved in the project.