The German Government's Space Safety and Security Strategy
In November 2025, the German Federal Ministry of Defense and the Federal Foreign Office presented the first national Space Safety and Security Strategy. The Strategy aims to cover all security-relevant areas, describe challenges, improve the ability to act in space and rapidly expand defence capabilities. It is intended to ensure security and resilience in space.
Brief Overview: Key aspects of the Space Safety and Security Strategy
The Strategy lists three strategic action areas.
- Action area 1 – Identifying risks and threats and developing options for action: The Strategy recognises the importance of space‑based and space‑supported data and highlights risks to society, emergency procedures, security, information, communication, navigation and logistics in the event of a failure of underlying space technology. It also notes complex threat scenarios such as cyberattacks.
- Action area 2 – Promoting international cooperation and sustainable order: The Strategy emphasises Germany’s commitment to the peaceful and rules‑based use of space and to strengthening a rules‑based world order. Germany intends to take a key role in shaping a European space security architecture and in implementing the EU Space Strategy for Security and Defence and the EU White Paper for European Defence Readiness.
- Action area 3: Building deterrence and strengthening defence capabilities and resilience: According to the Strategy the Bundeswehr must at all times be ready for deployment in space to ensure a credible defence capability that supports deterrence.
Furthermore, the space and cyber security capabilities of the Bundeswehr and the Federal Office for Information Security (BSI) are to be expanded. The military use of heavy and micro launchers and reusable spacecraft shall be pursued. In connection with developing a space security architecture the government aims to increase cooperation and technical implementation in AI‑supported data analysis.
In addition to other measures such as targeted support for the German space industry several legislative initiatives are planned. The Federal Government also aims to create a legal framework and contracts to ensure the provision of services by industry in the event of a conflict or defence scenario and to reduce dependency on imports for key technologies through increased national development.
The Strategy must be seen in the context of the Federal Minister of Defence's commitment to provide a total of EUR 35 billion for space travel and space security from the defense budget by 2030. The three strategic action areas result in concrete tasks for the respective federal ministries.
Check for further information: Germany’s Space Safety & Security Strategy: Legal and Tech Priorities
