Andrius Kubilius, EU Commissioner for Defence and Space

Ten key observations from my first year as Commissioner.

About a year ago I was appointed first ever European Commissioner for Defence and Space. Such a post never existed before. Of course, there have been Commissioners responsible, among others, for defence industry and space policy. But never with a singular focus on defence and space. And that is, first and foremost, because the geopolitical situation demands a massive defence ramp up, and the space revolution demands a massive space ramp up. And second, because space and defence can mutually benefit from each other. We need space for our defence and must defend our space assets. That is why any initiative to further advance Europe’s role on space for security and defence matters. By way of introduction to this collection of viewpoints, I here want to give my ten key observations from my first year as Commissioner.

1. We’re at the start of a space revolution

What rail was for the 19th century, cars and planes for the 20th century, space will be for the 21st century. The 21st century will be the age of space. The space economy is expected to triple in size. Space is already part of our daily lives on Earth in several sectors of our economy: from connectivity to positioning and navigation for different transport modes; from agriculture to climate action; from bank transactions to energy grid management to mention only a few. And soon we will also be using space directly to boost benefits on Earth: A booming orbital economy. The Moon, Mars and beyond.

The book “Space Security – Extending European Defence into Space” continues with EU Commissioner Andrius Kubilius presenting and elaborating in detail on his ten key theses: https://www.amazon.de/Space-Security-Extending-European-Defence/dp/3986741933/