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Aalborg, Denmark
October 20, 2025
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Commissioner Kubilius —
Ministers —
Ladies and gentlemen — thank you for the chance to join you today.
It has been fifty-six years since Man stepped foot on the moon at the height of the Cold War and captured the imagination of the world.
Yet for too long, Europe’s ambition in space has lagged behind.
But I am glad — with my friend, Commissioner Kubilius, our first Space Commissioner — that is finally beginning to change.
And that is important. Because investments in space are no longer simply about exploration and imagination.
Today, space is essential to European security.
But Europe faces three fundamental challenges that are threatening our access to space.
First, we are being challenged from a technological standpoint: we lack competitive launchers.
Second, we are being challenged by companies like SpaceX, which are consuming scarce orbital resources like spectrum.
And third, we face a massive investment gap.
Europe’s per capita space spending is eight times less than the United States, and half that of Japan.
In the private sector, we are lagging far, far behind the United States.
Our private sector investment is one-fourth that of America’s.
Our startups are being starved of funding.
And Elon Musk is crowding us out of Low Earth Orbit.
Let me be clear: This. Is. A problem.
Yet despite these very real problems, I remain an optimist.
Because, as Churchill said: it is no use being anything else.
But also because Europe — including Denmark — have formidable strengths to build upon.
Galileo provides world-class satellite navigation.
Copernicus provides the world’s most comprehensive Earth observation data.
The European space sector employs over 60,000 skilled workers — and it generates more than 78 billion euros of value to the wider, global economy.
We have world-class institutions and we are home to some of the world’s best researchers.
Our challenge now is to capitalise on Europe’s advantages.
I see three immediate priorities.
First — which is timely, given the presence of our Defence and Space Commissioner — is to break Europe’s taboo on defence investment.
The inclusion of a Space Shield in Defence Readiness 2030 was a welcome step — and I want to commend Commissioner Kubilius on that.
Space, like drones or AI, is dual-use. It is also expensive.
In the United States, defence accounts for roughly 60 per cent of space spending.
If we are to develop our space capabilities, we need to tap into our defence and security budgets.
The EU and ESA are making important progress — but together, we must move faster.
Denmark and the Nordics can lead the way.
We should create a joint Nordic satellite constellation for surveillance and secure communications.
Doing so would spread costs, strengthen our collective defence, and boost our regional space industries at a moment when we are on the geopolitical frontlines.
And it could serve as a key pillar of the Space Shield proposed in Defence Readiness 2030.
We have world-class companies — like GomSpace here in Aalborg — and we have the expertise. What we need now is the will.
Second, we must cut through the bureaucracy and political infighting.
Progress is being made — on IRIS-Squared, for example — but national governments are choosing to go their own way.
If we all spend more money on the same things that our neighbours are spending it on, we’ll end up with weaker results at a higher cost.
Third, the EU Space Act should become the standard for space regulation.
We unfortunately live in a world where multilateral agreements — at places like the UN — are nearly impossible.
And the rules governing the use of space date back to the early days of the Cold War.
But when it comes to the safety and sustainability of our orbits, time is of the essence.
And with a small number of private companies driving the overcrowding of our orbits and the overconsumption of spectrum, relying on the goodwill of American billionaires is not a strategy.
Doing so would mean…
More space debris. More service disruption. And an unacceptable loss of sovereignty in space.
The EU Space Act can lead the way in driving national action — to set new rules and ensure space remains accessible to us all.
And I very much hope that Denmark can use its Council presidency to push this forward.
In recent years, we here in Denmark have not given space the attention it deserves.
As a geopolitical frontline.
And as a driver of economic growth.
We are too often reliant on our allies and on foreign companies — rather than on our own.
But let me be clear: Denmark is home to many of Europe’s leading space companies. Many of them are here today.
And it is essential that they be able to live up to their full potential.
If we get the Space Act right, I know that they can.
***
Ladies and gentlemen:
Just as we must increase our defence spending on Earth, we must rapidly increase our investments in space.
We must develop the technologies we need to defend Europe’s sovereignty — working with partners who share our values.
We must create more opportunities for Europe’s brightest minds here on Earth — to enhance our security and create greater prosperity for us all.
Putin’s invasion of Ukraine has reminded us that we must never take our security for granted.
And that we must never again be reliant on those who do not share our values — be they erratic Russian autocrats or erratic American billionaires.
We must be able to act independently in space, just as we must on land, in the air, and at sea.
But if we fail to act — and act decisively — we will be left behind as our friends and adversaries lay claim to outer space.
We cannot let that happen.
As Kennedy once said of America’s moonshot: we do these things “not because they are easy, but because they are hard.”
I hope that Europe can harness that same spirit.
Thank you very much.