Overview
- France will invest an extra €4.2 billion in military space through 2030, alongside more than €16 billion for civil and dual‑use programs.
- Macron urged the European Space Agency to drop its geographic return rule to boost competitiveness and pressed for reusable European launchers and a modernized Kourou spaceport.
- The roadmap schedules new capabilities, including the Orbit Guard surveillance system by 2027 and the TOUTATIS and YODA patrol satellites in 2027–2028, with expanded jamming and laser defenses.
- Framing space as a conflict domain, Macron cited Russian satellite stalking, GPS interference, cyberattacks, antisatellite missile tests and a reported nuclear‑in‑space threat.
- France set these moves against recent milestones and near‑term tests, from Ariane 6’s November 4 launch to the ESA ministerial in Bremen on November 26–27 and a European space summit in Paris in April 2026, as Germany touts €35 billion for defense space.