An expensive target catalogue
The SpaceWatcher Today
Good morning SpaceWatchers,
The Berlin Security Conference opens today, and the gap between spending and capability is the conversation in every corridor - which makes today’s lead almost too well timed.
K.-P. Ludwig looks at the billions now flowing into European space security and asks the question nobody at a podium wants put to them: is Europe building defence capability, or assembling an increasingly expensive target catalogue? National programmes, industrial interests and fragmented architectures still pull in different directions. Money does not fix direction.
Read today’s news as the counter-argument, or at least the texture.
Northwood Space raises $375 million at a $2 billion valuation, co-led by a16z and DFJ Growth, to build out its multi-orbit ground network. Note what that money is for: not satellites, but the ground segment - the part nobody puts in a press release and everybody needs. Last week’s Weekly argued that the satellite is not the capability. Here is $375 million agreeing.
Greece’s ERMIS-3 CubeSat establishes the country’s first optical link with a satellite in low Earth orbit, demonstrating a 1 Gbps laser downlink from a small spacecraft. A genuine national first, and a reminder that capability gets built by small teams proving one hard thing at a time.
And Switzerland’s Stellar Alpina moves beyond propulsion with two spacecraft concepts - the Monarch orbital vehicle and the Morpho lunar lander - stepping from engines into whole spacecraft.
Two reminders. The Space Café ‘Law Breakfast with Dr. Ingo Baumann’ opens its new season this Thursday, and this one will not be streamed. Be in the room or miss it. Professor Steven Freeland hands the series over to Ingo and takes stock of the twelve months that changed space law most. Registration is free - I would do it today.
And Daniela Jovic is in Prague for Czech Space Week, so expect videos from there shortly.
Finally, a reminder that our WhatsApp channel is live if you'd like the news as we publish it.
A reminder as ever: news to [email protected], features and editorials to [email protected], both handled by the team.
- Director of Commercial Business Development / Berlin, Germany
- Senior Technical Program Manager, Lake Forest, CA
- Managing Director, Ireland
#SpaceWatchGL Opinion: Bailouts, Billions and Satellites: Europe’s Space Defence Illusion
Written by K.-P. Ludwig. Europe is spending billions on space security, yet national programmes, industrial interests and fragmented architectures continue to pull in different directions. K.-P. asks whether Europe is building genuine defence capability – or an increasingly expensive target catalogue.
Stellar Alpina Expands Beyond Rocket Engines with New Orbital and Lunar Spacecraft
Swiss startup Stellar Alpina has unveiled two spacecraft concepts, the Monarch orbital vehicle and Morpho lunar lander, marking an expansion from propulsion technology development into spacecraft manufacturing and operations.ERMIS-3 Demonstrates 1 Gbps Optical Downlink in Milestone for Greek Space Program
Greece's ERMIS-3 CubeSat has successfully established an optical communications link with a ground station in the country, demonstrating laser-based data transmission between a small satellite in low Earth orbit and Earth. The achievement marks Greece's first successful optical link with a LEO satellite and represents a step toward validating high-capacity laser communications on smaller spacecraft.Northwood Space Lands $375 Million Series C to Expand Multi-Orbit Ground Network
Northwood Space has raised $375 million in a Series C funding round to expand its network of ground stations supporting communications between satellites and Earth. The financing, co-led by Andreessen Horowitz (a16z) and DFJ Growth, brings the California-based company's reported valuation to $2 billion.#SpaceWatchGL Opinion: Europe’s Window on the World Is Wide Open. That’s the Problem.
Written by Torsten Kriening . At IABG’s 3rd Space Symposium in Ottobrunn, Nicolaus Hanowski, ESA’s incoming Director of Space Operations, nailed ten theses to the church door: ten on the strengths of Europe’s Earth observation, ten on its vulnerabilities. Torsten Kriening was in the room. The diagnosis is right; the cure is too gentle.
ispace Strengthens Saudi Arabia Operations With Anas Al-Shuwayer Appointment
Japanese lunar exploration company ispace has appointed Anas Al-Shuwayer as General Manager and Managing Director of its Saudi Arabian subsidiary, ispace S A, as it develops its operations in the Kingdom.NASA’s Upcoming UVEX Space Telescope Advances toward New Era of Ultraviolet Astronomy
NASA has confirmed its $590 million UltraViolet EXplorer (UVEX) space telescope for further development after the mission successfully completed Key Decision Point C, a major review of its technical and programmatic readiness. The decision commits NASA to launching the observatory by January 2031 and allows the mission to proceed into its next development phase, bringing it closer to delivering a new ultraviolet observatory for studying the universe.EIB and Deutsche Bank Launch €560 Million Financing Initiative for European Space Companies
The European Investment Bank and Deutsche Bank have agreed a new financing partnership to back €560 million in investment across Europe's space industry. The initiative aims to help European space businesses expand their operations, bring new technologies to market and strengthen the continent's independent space capabilities by improving access to affordable, long-term capital.SDSC 2026 – Clémence Poirier on Tracking Cyber Attacks Against Space Systems
From the Software-Defined Space Conference in Tallinn, ETH Zurich’s Clémence Poirier joins Daniela Jovic to explain how she tracks claims of cyber attacks against space companies through open sources, what the threat landscape really looks like, and why the sector may need fewer frameworks and better implementation.SDSC 2026 – A Sandbox for Space Threats: Mari Allik of Spaceit on Testing Before You Launch
From the Software-Defined Space Conference in Tallinn, Spaceit COO Mari Allik joins Daniela Jovic to explain the ESA-backed Space Cyber Range for testing attack scenarios before launch, and a 16U CubeSat with a quarter of its mission open to anyone wanting to fly code in orbit.Kristiina Omri of CybExer on Cyber Ranges, Space, and Why Europe Should Skip a Generation
From CybExer’s office in Tallinn, VP of Special Programs Kristiina Omri joins Daniela Jovic to explain how cyber ranges let organisations test attacks against a digital twin of their own technology, why preparedness is like going to the gym, and how Europe could leapfrog rather than copy.Where Cyber Meets Space: Dr. Adrian Venables on Training the Next Generation at TalTech
From TalTech in Tallinn, Dr. Adrian Venables, Head of the Space Centre, joins Daniela Jovic to explain how Europe’s first cyber security masters now trains students in space cyber security - working with real student satellites and a university ground station to secure smallsats as few have done before.3 - 4 Nov 2026 - 25th Berlin Security Conference - Berlin, Germany
5 Nov 2026 - Space Cafe "Law Breakfast with Dr. Ingo Baumann" - online
6 - 9 Nov 2026 - Falling Walls Science Summit 2026 - Berlin, Germany
9 Nov 2026 - NextSpace - Gothenburg, Sweden
17 - 19 Nov 2026 - Space Tech Expo Europe - Bremen, Germany
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