For many years, space policy in Europe was treated as a technocratic domain (for engineers and ESA committees) or a prestige project for national leaders. That’s changing. Now space underpins everything from climate policy, digital infrastructure, and defence.
By Tommaso Marini, Governance Intern at ELF
Why liberals should lead on space – not just follow
For many years, space policy in Europe was treated as a technocratic domain (for engineers and ESA committees) or a prestige project for national leaders. That’s changing. Now space underpins everything from climate policy, digital infrastructure, and defence. If liberals stay silent, the vacuum will be filled by two familiar models: a state-capitalist approach that blurs civil-military lines and uses space as a tool of raw power; and a nationalist-protectionist reflex where every Member State tries to have “its” launcher, “its” constellation, and “its” investment screen.
Neither fits liberal values or Europe’s long-term interests. Instead, liberals can offer a coherent alternative: strategic autonomy through openness; security through rules and resilience, and innovation driven by competition and entrepreneurship. In short: a liberal orbital economy that is European by sovereignty, global by design, open by default, and governed by clear rules.
The good news is that the EU Space Programme, the planned Space Act, a renewed competitiveness agenda, and growing attention to space security and sustainability put that vision within reach.
Yet this is still mostly infrastructure; we are not yet seeing a vibrant, liberal downstream ecosystem at the scale Europe deserves – particularly around IRIS²- enabled services in secure comms, logistics, and industrial IoT.
Make the Space Act the backbone of an orbital single market
Done right, EU Space Act can deliver proportionate safety and resilience rules, risk-based cybersecurity for critical systems, clear liability and insurance provisions, and EU-wide passporting (one licence across the Union). Combined with common procurement, where it cuts costs and speeds delivery, this creates economies of scale, lowers marginal costs, and accelerates time-to-market.
Finance what we regulate: a Capital Markets Union for space
Regulation alone won’t birth champions. We also need risk capital at scale. Space ventures are capital-intensive and cash-flow negative early on; they need deep equity, patient debt, and procurement that de-risks first customers.
This is exactly why a real Capital Markets Union matters – to pool savings, standardise listing rules, and unlock institutional investors for late-stage growth. Mario Draghi’s competitiveness report flagged space as a trillion-euro opportunity by the 2030s.
How the space domain works (and why rules matter)
Think of space in three linked layers: upstream (launchers, spacecraft manufacture), in-orbit operations (satellites and constellations providing PNT, EO, telecoms), and downstream services (apps and analytics in agriculture, mobility, finance, security).
Today’s risks span all three: debris collisions and re-entries (SST/STM), jamming and spoofing (electronic warfare), cyber intrusions, and deliberate hostile acts in orbit. The EU’s Space Strategy for Security and Defence treats space as a strategic domain and calls for shared threat analysis, resilient systems, credible response options, and partnerships (EU-NATO, allies) – exactly the “rules and resilience” approach liberals should back.
On the safety side, Europe’s EU-SST partnership already provides collision avoidance, fragmentation analysis, and re-entry forecasting – vital building blocks the Space Act can codify and scale Union-wide for all operators.
Security, yes – but liberal
A liberal space power isn’t a militarised one; it’s a rules-first power that deters sabotage by making it costly and visible, protects open societies’ connective tissue, and insists on responsible behaviour in orbit. SatCen’s growing GEOINT role and the Space Threat Response Architecture (STRA) improve attribution and decision-making without sliding into secrecy or cronyism. Pair that with transparent norms (EU approach to Space Traffic Management, UN work on responsible behaviours), and Europe can defend its interests while keeping orbit open.
Fix the launcher gap to end dependency
No single market works if you can’t reach it. Europe’s launcher troubles forced ad-hoc reliance on foreign launch providers, undercutting strategic autonomy and raising costs for EU missions and start-ups alike. Even as Ariane-6 and Vega-C return, we must diversify access to space with a portfolio: heavy-lift, responsive micro-launch, rideshare, and in-orbit logistics; procured competitively on performance and price. This is not about protectionism: it’s about ensuring reliable, affordable access so European innovators aren’t queuing for overseas rockets.
Europe can be more than a space funder. With a genuine orbital single market, finance that scales, and liberal rules that make space safer and more competitive, the EU can become a space power – one that defends freedom, fuels growth, and keeps the heavens open.