Sirotin Intelligence Briefing: November 17-21: Europe Accelerates Space Militarization as Blue Ring Preps 2026 Defense Mission, Germany Unveils Offensive Space Capabilities

This week's Sirotin Intelligence analysis tracks Europe's accelerating commitment to autonomous space warfare capabilities. Germany released its inaugural Space Security Strategy, committing to offensive space capabilities including patrol satellites and cyber countermeasures. France's €4.2B military space investment accelerates counter-space systems deployment by 2027. Blue Origin advances its Blue Ring platform toward 2026 national security missions, offering highly maneuverable payload hosting for aggressive orbital repositioning. The platform can carry multiple payloads and maneuver across GTO, GEO, and cislunar space. Russia's threats against German satellites prompted immediate European resilience investments; Poland launched its first military SAR satellite to strengthen NATO's northern flank. Defense contracts reflect strategic priorities: General Dynamics secured $2.3B for Columbia-class submarine advancement, Raytheon won $699M for Taiwan's NASAMS air defense, and specialized space acquisition security contracts totaling $43M support U.S. space facilities at Los Angeles AFB, Vandenberg, Peterson, and Schriever. Technical developments include Starship V3's first booster suffering structural failure during cryogenic testing at Starbase, while Redwire won $44M to build an air-breathing satellite for very low Earth orbit operations. Meanwhile, astronomers track Comet Bernardinelli-Bernstein, an 80-mile-wide behemoth from the Oort Cloud already outgassing beyond Saturn, offering a decade-long preview of our solar system's primordial architecture before its 2031 perihelion. German-Russian satellite tensions now feed directly into EU debates on space as a warfighting domain, with European officials acknowledging persistent gaps in launch vehicle capacity, critical components, and over-reliance on U.S. systems. Our next guest Mike Simmons has spent 50 years connecting astronomers across enemy nations, revealing how direct telescope observation creates diplomatic channels that government programs miss.

🛡️ Defense Highlights

• Blue Origin – Blue Ring Readies for 2026 National Security Mission: Blue Origin is advancing its Blue Ring in‑space transport and hosting platform toward a 2026 national security mission, pitching it as a highly maneuverable “workhorse” for DoW payloads that need aggressive orbital repositioning, hosting, and proximity ops. The multi‑mission bus can carry numerous payloads, support SDA sensors like Scout Space’s Owl, and maneuver across GTO, GEO, and cislunar space, positioning Blue Origin as a serious player in U.S. space domain awareness and in‑space infrastructure services.​
• Russia Threatens German Satellites, Driving European Space Defense Acceleration (Mezha): Following German warnings that Russian satellites have menaced German space assets, Berlin and EU partners are accelerating investments in resilient constellations, “guardian” satellites, and counter‑jamming/anti‑blinding tech. The episode has become a catalyst for a broader European space‑defense posture, including more funding for space commands, SDA sensors, and counter‑interference measures.
• Space Tech and Terrorism (TTP Use of Sat Imagery & GPS Drones): New GNET analysis shows TTP integrating commercial satellite imagery and GPS‑guided quadcopters into propaganda and operational planning, using EO maps and drone footage to showcase target surveillance and precision attacks. The report flags this as a troubling normalization of space‑enabled tools in terrorist IO and targeting cycles, raising questions about access controls on high‑resolution imagery and geospatial data.
• Kymeta and iRocket Collaborate on Multi-Orbit “Always Connected” Tech for Golden Dome Interceptors: Kymeta’s conformal metamaterial antennas—designed for all-orbit, low-profile, real-time links—will be integrated on iRocket’s next-gen missile interceptors as part of the U.S. “Golden Dome” layered missile defense initiative. This partnership seeks to ensure midcourse updates, resilient secure communications, and distributed situational awareness for interceptors operating in contested, multi-domain environments, leveraging commercial innovation and modular hardware to improve Pentagon agility and defense architecture.
• Department of War Executive Order Pushes for Immediate Space “Stalker” Readiness: A recent SpaceNews editorial calls on the Department of War (DoW) to prioritize deploying “counter-space stalker” countermeasures and readiness postures in response to rising threats from Russian and Chinese inspector/“stalker” satellites. The order—meant to accelerate experiments, budgeting, and CONOPS—seeks to ensure U.S. space assets are never left defenseless during “left of launch” competition or amid warning failures. This is seen as an urgent response to adversary proximity operations, uncrewed rendezvous, and the global proliferation of “killer satellites,” pushing U.S. defense policy toward real-time decision processes and persistent maneuver/reaction capability in GEO, MEO, and cislunar regimes.​
• Germany Unveils First Space Security Strategy, Targeting Independent Offensive/Defensive Systems: Germany released its inaugural national space security strategy committing to developed, sovereign, and if needed, “offensive” space capabilities—including “patrol” satellites, responsive launches, cyber/EM countermeasures, and dual-use sensors. The blueprint seeks to shed legacy dependence on U.S. and French capabilities, placing new budget priority on homegrown resilience, cross-domain deterrence, and integrating Bundeswehr space doctrine with evolving NATO/EU architectures. Key tenets include distributed constellations, rapid replacement, and offensive disruption of adversary assets if Germany’s infrastructure is threatened.​
• Türkiye’s Space Command Charts Path Toward National Space Defense: In a new strategic op-ed, Turkish defense officials lay out the rationale for a sovereign Space Command—building military doctrine, assembly/test capacity, and an indigenous space situational awareness systems for guaranteed national defense. Priorities include rapid-deploy smallsat constellations, anti-ASAT resilience, partnerships with friendly Islamic and Turkic states, and leveraging private sector “NewSpace” operators to boost military adaptability and civil-military integration for global contingencies.​
• RTX’s Collins Aerospace to Build Dutch Military Avionics Center for F-35 and CH-47F Fleets: Collins Aerospace (RTX) and the Royal Netherlands Air and Space Force have signed a multi-decade, government-owned, contractor-operated contract for a new military avionics service depot in the Netherlands. This center will provide repair, depot technology, and supply chain management for European F-35 and CH-47F fleets, complementing existing regional readiness nodes like Pratt & Whitney’s F135 engine depot. Initial depot capacity is expected in 2026. The deal expands RTX’s European presence and is engineered to shore up sovereign support, workforce skill-building, and sustainment for NATO critical platforms, boosting mission readiness in an increasingly contested logistics environment.​
• Maj. Gen. Douglas S. Bythewood Assumes Command of U.S. Space Force’s Space Delta 5 at Vandenberg: Maj. Gen. Bythewood—a career missileer, intelligence and operational commander—has officially taken charge of Space Delta 5, overseeing space domain awareness, operational command and control, and defense of U.S. and allied assets worldwide. His priorities will include increased operational tempo for space traffic management, warning for rapidly evolving threats, and integration with both Allied and commercial partners at a time of increased adversary proximity and “stalker” satellite activity.​
• Poland’s First Military SAR Satellite Launched, Secures National Space Intelligence: Poland has successfully placed its first military satellite in orbit, marking a milestone for national space autonomy. Built in partnership with ICEYE, the satellite brings persistent, all-weather synthetic aperture radar (SAR) capability—critical for defense intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance—to the Polish Armed Forces. With more Polish satellites planned, the program strengthens NATO’s northern flank, regional ISR, and disaster response capabilities.​
• Russia and China Hold Deep Talks on Missile Defense, Nuclear & Space Security, Reaffirming Anti-Arms Race Stance: Russian and Chinese defense officials have conducted extensive, in-depth talks focused on strengthening strategic cooperation on missile defense, nuclear deterrence, and the prevention of deploying weapons in space. Both sides publicly recommitted to resisting a “space arms race,” extending their traditional alignment in the UN against U.S.-led space weaponization initiatives. The meetings included technical exchanges on early warning architectures, missile shield interoperability, and coordination in international regulatory fora. Despite this rhetorical stance, analysts note both countries continue to develop counterspace/ASAT capabilities and advanced missile systems, intensifying the broader multipolar contest in space and strategic defense.​

Major Contract Awards This Week:

• Innovative Defense Technologies LLC, Arlington, VA: Awarded $48,990,984 for engineering labor and automated test and analysis support—primarily for the Navy (99%) and Australia (1%). Work includes critical test systems for Navy platforms and foreign military sales support. The contract addresses key RDT&E and procurement needs for advanced naval fleet capabilities.
• Lockheed Martin Corp., Owego, NY: Received $15,118,807 for twelve receiver processors for H60 aircraft (including Foreign Military Sales to Australia). This supports international helicopter fleet readiness—a crucial element of allied joint operations.
• Defense Maritime Solutions Inc., Chesapeake, VA: Exercised a $13,132,833 option year for original equipment support of Littoral Combat Ships (Independence-variant waterjets, shafts,seals). Contract supports the sustainment of high-mobility naval surface combatants.
• Raytheon Technologies (Raytheon Missiles and Defense), Tucson, AZ: Awarded $44,588,201 to procure tactical Tomahawk missile parts (fin actuators, harnesses) for U.S. Navy recertification and for foreign military sales customers. The contract sustains long-range strike capability and supports allied/partner integration.
• General Dynamics Electric Boat Corp., Groton, CT: Awarded $2,283,291,317 for additional advance procurement of Columbia-class ballistic missile submarine hulls (SSBN 828–832) and advanced construction/execution planning. This is a major pillar of the U.S. Navy’s strategic deterrence modernization, supporting submarine manufacturing through 2031.
• Raytheon Co., Tewksbury, MA: $698,948,760 for National Advanced Surface to Air Missile System (NASAMS) fire units for Taiwan, fully funded by Foreign Military Sales. NASAMS provide critical multi-layered air and missile defense, boosting a key Indo-Pacific partner’s deterrence posture.
• Mantech Advanced Systems International Inc., Herndon, VA: $42,990,248 for specialized acquisition and operations security services—supporting Space Force and Air Force space facilities at Los Angeles AFB, Vandenberg SFB, Peterson SFB, and Schriever SFB. This contract sustains mission assurance and acquisition security for critical U.S. space assets.
• The Boeing Co., Ridley Park, PA (USSOCOM – MH‑47G): Awarded a corrected $271,733,232 firm‑fixed‑price delivery order for additional MH‑47G special operations Chinooks, extending heavy‑lift, long‑range aviation capacity for U.S. Special Operations Command through 2030. The aircraft provide critical infiltration, exfiltration, and aerial refueling support in high‑risk theaters, reinforcing USSOCOM’s global reach and resilience against contested logistics environments.​
• Applied Physics Laboratory, University of Washington, Seattle, WA (Navy / DoW‑wide RDT&E): Received a $474,319,378 cost‑plus‑fixed‑fee modification to continue multi‑year research and engineering in experimental oceanography, acoustic propagation, underwater systems, and advanced signal processing across Navy and other DoW programs. The work underpins core antisubmarine warfare, undersea sensing, and quick‑reaction prototypes that feed directly into future maritime and undersea warfighting capabilities.​
• Walsh Federal LLC, Chicago, IL (Naval Ordnance Facility – Cape Canaveral SFS): Awarded a $165,770,097 fixed‑price‑award‑fee contract to build a naval ordnance engineering test facility at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, FL. The new complex will support advanced weapons testing on a joint Navy–Space Force range, strengthening integration between sea‑based strike systems and space‑domain test infrastructure.
• Programs Management Analytics & Technologies Inc., Norfolk, VA (Tactical Edge Nodes – PEO IWS): Secured an $89,000,000 mixed‑type IDIQ for production, repair, engineering, installation, and integration of Tactical Edge Nodes (TEN) systems—servers, cross‑domain solutions, workstations, and switches—for Maritime Targeting Cell‑Afloat/Expeditionary. The contract enhances distributed maritime kill‑chains and afloat/expeditionary C2 by pushing secure compute and data fusion to the tactical edge.
• Lockheed Martin Rotary & Mission Systems, Manassas, VA (Submarine SE&I): Awarded a $68,711,261 cost‑plus‑fixed‑fee modification for systems engineering and integration across U.S. Navy submarines. The work covers combat system integration, sonar/C2 alignment, and modernization planning, ensuring next‑generation undersea platforms remain interoperable and mission‑ready across the fleet.
• Raytheon Southeast Asia Systems Co., Tewksbury, MA (PATRIOT / Phased Array Radar – Qatar): Received a $57,700,859 modification to support PATRIOT Phased Array Tracking Radar depot operations, technical assistance, and new equipment training for Qatar. The award sustains one of the most advanced regional air and missile defense networks in the Gulf and deepens U.S.–Qatari defense ties.
• Vectrus Systems LLC, Colorado Springs, CO (Iraq F‑16 Base Support): Awarded a $252,050,925 cost‑plus‑fixed‑fee contract to provide base operating support, life support, and security at Iraq’s F‑16 base (Martyr BG Ali Flaih Air Base). This FMS‑funded effort maintains Iraqi fighter readiness and underpins U.S. and coalition air operations and training in the region.
• Vectrus Systems LLC, Colorado Springs, CO (Isa Air Base, Bahrain): Received a $33,634,728 firm‑fixed‑price IDIQ modification exercising option year five for base operations support at Isa Air Base. The work supports Navy and joint operations in a strategic Gulf location central to maritime security and regional air operations.
• Raytheon Company, Largo/Saint Petersburg, FL (Cooperative Engagement Capability – CEC): Awarded a $22,062,022 mixed‑type modification to continue design, development, integration, testing, and maintenance of Cooperative Engagement Capability for the U.S. Navy and FMS partners (Australia, Japan, Canada). CEC is a core fire‑control and sensor‑fusion backbone for integrated air and missile defense across allied fleets.
• General Atomics Aeronautical Systems Inc., Poway, CA (MQ‑9A Support – Spain): Awarded a ceiling of $9,687,497 for logistics support (depot repair, engineering, field teams, software maintenance) for Spain’s MQ‑9A remotely piloted aircraft under FMS. The contract sustains European ISR and strike capability frequently tied into NATO and coalition space‑enabled targeting and communications.

🌐 Policy, Geopolitical & Legal Developments

• Russia–Germany Satellite Tensions & Europe’s Space Security Debate: Germany’s response to Russian “stalker” behavior in orbit is feeding directly into EU and NATO debates around space as a warfighting domain and the need for formalized deterrence and response frameworks. European officials are using these incidents to argue for faster movement toward shared SDA, defensive capabilities, and industrial policies that reduce dependence on non‑European launch and space infrastructure.
• European Commission Defence & Mobility Package (Contextual link from earlier set): The EC’s recent defence and mobility measures—heavily reliant on GNSS, secure satcom, and EO—provide the policy scaffolding that Germany and others can plug their new space‑defence initiatives into. Together with Russia’s threats, this is pushing space squarely into the core of EU security and industrial strategy.
• Lunar Seed Vault—Scientists Call for Urgent Backup of Earth’s Biodiversity on the Moon: Momentum is growing among planetary scientists and resilience experts for the creation of a lunar analog to the Svalbard Global Seed Vault, to store seeds, cells, and genetic samples in the lunar regolith as an ultimate insurance policy against global catastrophe. The Moon offers extreme environmental stability, radiation shielding, and remoteness, which could one day enable preservation of species, crops, and even human genetic material against existential risks, solar threats, or Earth-bound disasters.
• European Officials Emphasize Space Autonomy but Warn Dependencies Remain: At recent policy forums, ESA, NATO, and member state officials unanimously declared European “space sovereignty” a vital objective, particularly in an era of U.S.–China competition and disrupted Russian supply chains. Yet, speakers acknowledged persistent gaps: launch vehicle bottlenecks, critical component vulnerability, slow-moving industrial programs, and the risk of over-reliance on commercial suppliers or U.S. launchers. The region is redoubling efforts to launch IRIS², expand radar/EO constellations, and reinforce “dual-use” partnerships—but the path to true autonomy will require faster procurement, common standards, and urgent investment in continental launch and cyber-protection.​
• ICEYE Positions as Europe’s Space Intelligence Linchpin: Finnish-based ICEYE sees its SAR constellation and rapid-delivery analytics as central to the continent’s “space defense intelligence” fabric. ICEYE data has proven its value to Ukraine and member state forces for targeting, change detection, and early warning—and is now being woven into multilateral defense architecture efforts including NATO, Norway, Germany, and the U.K. The company’s flexible, scalable approach reflects a wider European pivot toward commercial/military “hybrid” networks, open data policies, and end-to-end in-theater asset control for real-time action.​
• What’s Happening in Space Policy (Nov. 16–22, 2025): U.S. government reboots from historic shutdown; Blue Origin approaches critical NSSL certification flight; NASA/DoW continue Artemis, Golden Dome, and lunar/planetary procurements under ongoing CR. Policy events focus on space interceptors, Artemis/Ax-4 schedules, LEO comms legal frameworks, and multinational debris mitigation.
• France Charts Ambitious Course for Space Power With New 2040 Strategy: France has set out a strategic agenda through 2040 emphasizing autonomous military launch, constellation resilience, early warning, “patrol” satellites, and a greater share of national defense procurement for French and European firms. The roadmap highlights dual-use investments, space situational awareness, and rapid response to threats as central to retaining strategic relevance and ensuring national sovereignty. French officials are particularly focused on integrating space power with European and NATO security structures, ensuring that space superiority remains a top tier defense priority even as commercial and civilian space sectors expand.​
• Canada Announces Unprecedented Jump in Funding to European Space Agency: Canada unveiled a major increase in commitment to ESA, supporting Earth observation, planetary science, lunar infrastructure, and next-gen robotic exploration. The announcement is seen as formalizing Canada's “gateway” partnership status with Europe and diversifying its alignment beyond U.S. space programs. The funding will underwrite Canadian tech and instrument development for European missions, ensuring a multilateral platform for future participation in science, climate tracking, space situational awareness, and lunar/cislunar operations.​
• HydroGNSS, IRIDE, and Greek Satellite Missions Successfully Launched in ESA Earth Observation Push: ESA has overseen the launch of several next-generation climate-focused satellites, including the HydroGNSS pathfinder (mapping soil water, snow, and biomass), IRIDE (Italian constellation for national EO), and a major Greek mission. These platforms will deliver high-cadence, customizable environmental measurements supporting disaster response, water management, and climate science, and are central to Europe’s strategy for autonomous, multi-mission, public-private EO constellations.

🛰️ Technology & Commercial Developments

• SpaceX – First Next‑Gen Starship V3 Booster Damaged in Testing: Starship V3’s first Super Heavy (Booster 18) suffered a major structural failure during cryogenic proof testing at Starbase, with the lower section of the LOX tank crumpling and debris scattered around the stand. While likely a total loss for B18, SpaceX and outside analysts view the event as part of its test‑to‑failure paradigm, feeding rapid design iterations for higher‑performance, high‑cadence Starship operations.
• Blackwave – Race‑Car Carbon Tech Enables 420‑Bar Rocket Tanks: German startup Blackwave has adapted motorsport carbon‑fiber techniques to create ultralight, liner‑less composite pressure vessels for launch vehicles that can withstand up to 420‑bar internal pressure. These tanks promise significant upper‑stage mass savings, higher propellant pressures, and better performance–cost tradeoffs for small and medium launchers, while maintaining compatibility with demanding thermal and cryogenic environments.
• IAC / IACTEC‑Space – Optical & SmallSat Innovations at Space Tech Expo Europe:The Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias highlighted its IACTEC‑Space and CELESTE laboratories, including the IACSAT‑DUNE microsatellite observatory and advanced optical/quantum technologies. These projects aim to deliver precision exoplanet photometry and potentially dual‑use optical communications and SSA capabilities, positioning the Canary Islands as a niche European hub for space‑optics innovation.
• Impulse Space – Eric Romo on In‑Space Transport’s “Hidden Grip” on Daily Life:Impulse Space’s Eric Romo emphasized how in‑space transportation and hosting services—orbital tugs, drop‑off buses, and last‑mile deployment—are becoming invisible infrastructure underpinning everything from broadband and IoT to climate data and financial timing. By making it cheaper to move satellites to optimal orbits and manage debris, Impulse aims to quietly increase the reliability and reach of the space‑enabled services people already depend on.
• DLR – Big Showing at Space Tech Expo 2025: DLR returned as one of the largest exhibitors, showcasing reusable flight demonstrators (like ReFEx), advanced EO missions, secure satcom concepts, and green propulsion research. The German space agency used the event to stress technology transfer from lab to industry and to highlight how reusability, autonomy, and dual‑use space systems will underpin Europe’s civil and defence ambitions.
• NASA Releases New Images of Interstellar Comet 3I/ATLAS, Unveiling Fresh Clues About Origins: NASA has published the highest-resolution images yet of interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS, taken by space-based observatories and ground telescopes as the object swept through the inner solar system. The images show unusual compositional signatures and active surface dynamics, helping researchers probe questions about the origins of water, exoplanetary processes, and how comets from outside our solar system evolve. Analysis continues on the tail’s chemistry, movement, and how such objects may seed planetary systems with prebiotic material.​
• NASA Monitors Expanding Anomaly in Earth’s Magnetic Field: NASA has intensified tracking of the South Atlantic Anomaly, a vast, weakening region in Earth's magnetic field that exposes satellites and astronauts to heightened radiation. The anomaly—centered off South America—has grown measurably in both intensity and area in recent years. This is driving greater concern for spacecraft safety, as onboard electronics are more vulnerable to energetic particle strikes, and has implications for both low Earth orbit asset planning and studies of Earth’s evolving core/magnetosphere.
• Rocket Lab Launches DARPA Hypersonic Test, Demonstrates Responsive Space Access for U.S. Military: Rocket Lab’s Electron rocket has launched a hypersonic test vehicle under the Pentagon’s Hypersonic and Ballistic Tracking Space Sensor (HBTSS) and experimental programs. The rapid-response campaign demonstrates Electron’s versatility for deploying defense payloads to tailored orbits on tight timelines, further validating small launch as a bedrock for agile, on-demand U.S. military needs—including for missile defense, responsive ISR, and technology demonstration in contested space environments.​
• Katalyst Selects Pegasus for NASA Swift Reboost Mission, Aims for Rare Use of Air-Launched Rocket: Katalyst Space Technologies, under NASA contract, will use Northrop Grumman’s air-launched Pegasus XL rocket to lift their Swift Reboost spacecraft, designed to raise the decaying orbit of a NASA astronomy satellite. The mission marks a rare U.S. Pegasus flight and highlights renewed commercial interest in in-orbit logistics, satellite servicing, and life extension as the LEO population ages and agencies seek ways to get more value from existing space assets.​
• Voyager Technologies Acquires Estes Energetics to Secure U.S. Propulsion and Energetics Production: Voyager Technologies has acquired Estes Energetics, a critical U.S. supplier of energetics materials, small rocket motors, and solid propulsion components for missile defense and space launch. This move ensures U.S. domestic control over key energetic chemicals and solid propulsion systems, scaling up surge capacity and supply chain control for both commercial and defense programs at a time of increased global competition and supply chain risks.​
• Redwire Wins $44M DARPA Award to Build World’s First Air-Breathing Satellite for VLEO: Redwire has secured a $44 million phase-2 DARPA contract to manufacture and launch an “Otter” spacecraft, designed to survive in very low Earth orbit (VLEO) by using air-breathing electric propulsion. The platform (built on Redwire’s SabreSat bus) aims to demonstrate persistent, low-altitude operations—where orbital drag is high but observation capabilities and revisit rates are unmatched—offering new mission architectures for surveillance, debris mitigation, and tactical edge communications.​
• Italian-Dutch Firm Revolv Space Launches Larger, Autonomous Solar Array Drive Assembly: Revolv Space has completed integration and pre-flight testing of its new SARA (Solar Array Drive Assembly) on DPhi Space's Clustergate-1 platform. The innovative drive enables up to 500W per unit for small satellites, with autonomous orientation to maximize solar generation across all orbits, aimed at expanding both power and revenue per space asset for smallsat operators.​
• Quindar Raises $18M to Scale Unified Satellite Ops Software, Establish Classified Mission Center: Startup Quindar, founded by ex-OneWeb engineers, raised $18 million to scale its modular, open-architecture mission management software, used to integrate and control diverse fleets of satellites from a single system. Quindar will also establish a classified mission operations center in Denver to accelerate deployment for both government and commercial customers, competing in the rapidly expanding, automation-first satellite ground operations market.​
• Comet C/2014 UN271 (Bernardinelli-Bernstein) Reveals Unprecedented Activity as Largest Known Oort Cloud Object: Comet C/2014 UN271, discovered through Dark Energy Survey archival data, continues to astound astronomers as the largest comet nucleus ever observed at approximately 80-100 miles in diameter. The massive object, currently beyond Saturn's orbit, is already displaying significant coma development and outgassing activity despite its extreme distance from the Sun, suggesting a pristine composition rich in volatile ices. This behemoth from the Oort Cloud won't reach perihelion until 2031 at roughly Saturn's distance, offering researchers an unprecedented decade-long opportunity to study a near-pristine relic from the solar system's formation that challenges existing models of cometary evolution and activity at extreme heliocentric distances.

💭 A Word From Christophe Bosquillon

While inaugurating a fully operational Space Command in the city of Toulouse, French President Emmanuel Macron presented the country's new comprehensive National Space Strategy. The President appointed Philippe Baptiste, Minister for Advanced Education, Research, and Space, to implement this strategy. 

Sovereign access to space, competitiveness and skills, defence capabilities, science and exploration, and cooperation, form the five pillars of the new French and European strategy. The country and most of the region acknowledge space as a war-fighting domain, that is essential to national independence. Key civilian and defense activities all rely on orbital assets, in a worsen security environment marked by multi-domain attacks. Further, space is for France an opportunity toward industrial revitalization and mastering a domain already subject to active conflict dynamics.

With a space defense strategy centred on resilience of national space assets, France will focus on reactivity to threats and crises, and its capacity to act in and toward space when confronted by adversaries. To achieve these outcomes, key hard defense commitments include €4.2B additional investment (2026–2030), deployment of Orbit Guard patrol satellites from 2027, development of laser and electronic warfare capabilities for defensive action, enhanced space surveillance via Radar Aurore, and allied cooperation, notably with Germany on early warning. 

Next budgetary steps include the European Space Agency Ministerial Council at the end of November 2025, and negotiations on the Multiannual Financial Framework for 2028-2034. With expanded space defense funding and further €16+B in civil/dual space investments by 2030, France will host an International Space Summit in April 2026 to craft a “shared European vision” - that won't occur without alignment with the German Federal Government’s Space Strategy.   

As France endeavors to unite a fragmented Europe around shared space capabilities and sovereign procurement, both Franc and NATO will have to contend with the just released German Space Safety and Security Strategy. To unify Europe in space means consolidating partnerships with Germany, Italy, and some more. Next, France must deepen its space cooperations with the U.S.. Leveraging space diplomacy from the UAE to India and Japan will also include maintaining focused scientific and payload cooperation with China.  

 Have a great space week ahead!

🎤 Our Next Guest: Mike Simmons

Mike Simmons connects Iranian and American astronomers while their governments maintain hostile relations, having discovered that Iran's astronomy departments are almost 100% female and get telescopes directly from China to bypass sanctions. Standing outside Mount Wilson Observatory in the 1970s, photons from Andromeda that had traveled 2.5 million years reached his naked eye directly; that unmediated encounter with cosmic scale has driven five decades of work distributing eclipse glasses for pennies while space tourism charges $500,000 per seat. Through Astronomers Without Borders and Astronomy for Equity, he's delivered telescopes to Ukrainian schools where students track fathers on front lines between Jupiter observations, finding that shared passion for the cosmos consistently overcomes political boundaries.

Key topics:

• Why seven million people looking through Griffith Observatory's telescope since 1935 matters more than James Webb images on phones
• How Mount Wilson, where Hubble discovered the expanding universe, now struggles against LA's light pollution that blocks the Milky Way for 80% of humanity
• What Iranian astronomers using China as their telescope pipeline reveals about scientific networks circumventing geopolitics
• Why creating parallel structures works better than reforming diplomatic channels for science cooperation
• How amateur astronomers in hostile nations share data while their leaders exchange threats

Watch Mike’s YouTube preview this Tuesday on the Sirotin Intelligence YouTube channel, and stay tuned for when the full interview drops this Thursday!

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