Technology and Science · 10 September, 2026 · 3 min read
Von der Leyen Warns Security Depends on Space, Pushes European Space Shield and 2 Billion Euros
Von der Leyen urged creation of a European space shield to boost continental security. Propose 131 billion euros for defense, security, and space in EU long-term budget.
Whether US pressure and pull-outs are reported.
2 of 3 outlets skipped it: ta Lâm proposes a Southeast Asia contact point for cooperation.
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Euronews
“Before the summit, reports said several American companies pulled out of the event due to Washington pressures related to European policy stances.”
Translated from the original.
Read the original ↗El Mundo
“But Europe remains fragile in the global context and we must accelerate”
Translated from the original.
Read the original ↗Euronews foregrounds US company pull-outs over Washington pressure. El Mundo omits the US-pressure angle, keeping attention on European milestones.
Space security and funding
Ursula von der Leyen warned at the Paris Grand Palais space summit that "Our security depends on security in space," as she championed the creation of "a European space shield" to strengthen vigilance and protection of Europe from the skies.
“"Our security depends on security in space," warned the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen”
Von der Leyen said the Commission would allocate 2 billion euros in venture capital for European space companies and intended to quintuple the amount allocated to space in the European Competitiveness Fund to reach 130 billion euros.
Emmanuel Macron, host of the summit that gathered 90 countries, said "Europe must fly with its own luggage" and called for Europe to assert its ambition with its own manned flights.
Macron said he wanted to see within two years the first European cargo spacecraft, Nyx, docked at the International Space Station, and in ten years the first 100% European crewed spacecraft taking off from the Kourou spaceport in French Guiana.
The summit also featured French astronaut Sophie Adenot, after completing her third spacewalk at the International Space Station, as Macron concluded that "France will be a natural partner of the new space era."
Rules, jamming, and satellites
In Paris, von der Leyen linked space and defense by stressing that the European Space Shield plan is meant for a joint response to navigation jamming, cyberattacks, and satellite-related threats, while also announcing the expansion of the IRIS² secure communications satellite constellation to more than 350 satellites with deployment to begin in 2029.
The Vietnamese delegation, through Secretary-General and President Ta Lâm, framed space governance around avoiding threats or the use of force and placing people and Earth at the center, while also calling for readiness to serve as a contact point for Southeast Asia in international space cooperation.
Ta Lâm and the Secretary-General said the rapid evolution of space activities presents challenges including space debris, collisions, orbits, frequencies, militarization, appropriation, technological gaps, and the growing role of the private sector.
Von der Leyen also urged international cooperation by saying "maximizing outer space benefits depends on international cooperation," and she said the global space economy is expected to triple by 2035.
The summit’s political discussions included directions of international cooperation to advance the space economy, ensure space security through dialogue and partnerships, and advance science and technology in space exploration for the future of humanity.
Milestones and strategic stakes
Macron and von der Leyen tied the next phase of European space policy to security and sovereignty, with Macron describing the European space sector as “fragile” and calling for “shared governance” of the industry.
““Security on Earth increasingly depends on our security in space,””
Euronews reported that Macron said, “Outer space remains the only great common global arena not governed by regulations commensurate with the scale of the stakes,” and he reiterated that more than 51 deals would be signed during the summit with investments approaching 20 billion euros.E
Von der Leyen emphasized that “Security on Earth increasingly depends on our security in space,” and she highlighted the European Union’s IRIS² program as its upcoming major project, adding that last month the system was accelerated by expanding it to include more than 350 satellites.
The stakes described by the summit coverage included Europe’s effort to reduce reliance on the United States, with a French higher education and research ministry spokesperson telling Agence France-Presse that SpaceX, Blue Origin, Stoke Space, and Starcloud withdrew from the event.
The same coverage also pointed to a broader funding shift, noting that 2025 marked a turning point when the European Space Agency approved a record 22.3 billion euro budget for a three-year funding cycle (2026–2028), allocating 35 billion euros to space in security and defense.