ABSTRACT
In this chapter, the author observes that space has become a cornerstone of the European Union’s security and defence policies, which have grown extensively over the past 20 years. This has been partly driven by technological progress which has generally enabled space assets to become part of our everyday lives, but also because of a new focus on space as a specific, stand-alone domain in military doctrine. In fact, the two developments are interrelated since technological progress is a civilian-military two-way street. However, with more and more countries setting up specific space forces, and with warfare in general becoming increasingly dependent on space assets (navigation, communication, observation), the notion of space for peaceful purposes has gradually eroded, not least after the collapse of the Soviet Union. Moreover, with current developments in the area of emerging technologies (hypersonic missiles, autonomous weapons, and increasingly integrated and automated command architectures) relevant to the space domain as well, renewed rivalry among the USA, China and Russia in particular is affecting the peaceful use of space. While the European Union (EU) is clearly taking a less assertive approach, it is also afraid to get left behind. This chapter looks into the recent history of the EU’s endeavours in the military use of space and analyses policies that are currently guiding it. It, among others, looks into the roles that the European Space Agency, European Defence Agency, PESCO (Permanent Structured Cooperation) and the newly created European Defence Fund play.
