“I’m really pleased to announce that eight allies are launching a project to explore the development of a mega-constellation called HALO, opening a new chapter in allied space operations,” said Radmila Šekerinska, the NATO deputy secretary-general.

HALO — Hybrid Alliance Layered Operations in Space — will focus on improving connectivity and integration of sovereign, nationally owned and controlled military satellites into a networked constellation.

Denmark, Canada, Finland, Germany, Norway, the Netherlands, Sweden and Turkey are part of the effort. It aims to improve alliance resilience and military advantage in space, enabling high-speed communications, intelligence and missile tracking.

Individual satellite constellations run independently by member countries are vulnerable to cyberattacks, jamming or physical destruction, while also being too slow to relay large amounts of data, Šekerinska said.

“So this new model will be particularly helpful for high-speed communications, intelligence and missile tracking, overcoming the cost, the time and coverage limitations of single-nation satellite fleets,” she added.

Meanwhile, at the NATO Summit Defence Industry Forum, several nations declared their contributions to the space domain. Canada became the 15th member of NATO’s STARLIFT multinational initiative, which explores ways to develop a network of launch capabilities that will help allies launch assets on short notice from spaceports across the alliance.

Spain became the 19th country to join NATO’s Alliance Persistent Surveillance from Space initiative. Madrid will contribute by increasing coastal surveillance through imagery from its “Atlantic Constellation” satellites.

Turkey announced plans for the development of two additional high-resolution satellites to complement space capabilities in the region.

ICEYE is currently manufacturing satellites at a pace of 50 per year, Modrzewski said at the European Defence & Security Summit in the Belgian capital, and the goal is to ramp up production to two satellites a week as the company responds to surging demand from European militaries.

The CEO said future constellations will be “in the hundreds of satellites,” pointing to the example of Elon Musk’s Starlink with its thousands of satellites. He said ICEYE’s planned manufacturing line for 100 satellites a year “is still too small, so we will keep on growing that production.”

European governments are trying to reduce their dependency on the United States for a number of critical defense enablers, including satellite intelligence, and ICEYE has benefited from efforts to close the gap. The company has said the U.S. halt of intelligence sharing in March 2025 really drove home the need in Europe for sovereign access to space-based intel.

The ICEYE CEO said Germany’s order for a 40-satellite constellation in December was “the first-ever European move to actually create a properly large tactical system in Europe.”

The company was founded in 2014 by Modrzewski and Pekka Laurila as a Finnish university spin-off, and it supplies Earth-observation data using synthetic aperture radar, or SAR for short, which ICEYE initially intended as a tool to help ships avoid sea ice.

ICEYE took less than 12 months from contract signature to deliver full radar-satellite systems to Poland, Greece and Portugal, according to Modrzewski, calling that a big change in an industry where one satellite used to take five years.

“Here we are talking about three different countries, each of which has received a constellation of five, six, seven within less than 12 months,” the CEO said. “Those are off-the-shelf satellites, that’s how crazy it got right now. And it is what we need in order to be responsive to the threats that are outside of our borders.”

Modrzewski said the cost of an ICEYE system is ten times lower than that of legacy systems, allowing the likes of Sweden, Finland and the Netherlands to own not just satellites but entire constellations.

He said ICEYE has delivered a four-satellite system to the Polish Armed Forces, adding that the country is continuing to grow its constellation, “and soon they will have high tactical capability which is fully sovereign to Poland.” The Finnish company signed an agreement in May 2025 to provide Poland with three SAR satellites, with an option for three more.

Modrzewski has been pushing a proposal for a system of 1,000 satellites called Constellation Europe that would combine space-based ground observation, space situational awareness and in-space defense capabilities. He said access to space-based surveillance to “know, react or act” has been a common thread in recent conflicts, and a capability that Europe is still missing.

“The war in Ukraine and the war in the Middle East, they differ in many ways, but they actually are extremely similar in the fact that the tactical access to satellite intelligence has proven to be critical for both sides,” Modrzewski said.

With a growing number of countries such as India, Japan and Australia trying to move away from a purely U.S.-based supply chain, there is “a massive opportunity for our European defense sector” as long as European firms can show credibility in their home markets, according to Modrzewski.

He said Constellation Europe would be a way for the European space industry to show it produces “capabilities which are equal or better to our counterparts,” and is happy share those capabilities to contribute to a “bigger, safer world” of middle powers.

He said Europe was previously able to jointly procured a satellite-navigation system with Galileo, and now needs to do the same for Earth observation.

“if we really want to catch up to this massive gap that’s developing between us and the United States, when it comes to space, we’ve got to start moving fast and acting now,” the ICEYE CEO said.

ICEYE raised €450 million (US$510 million) in a Series F funding round earlier this month that valued the satellite company at more than €10 billion, with the firm saying it will use the proceeds to expand its global footprint.

While the latest funding round was led by a U.S. investment firm, Modrzewski said the majority of the ICEYE board is European, the company’s technology was developed in Europe and being a European firm “is critical.”

“Them choosing to put money into European company actually is a statement of the fact that they see something more unique over here,” Modrzewski said. “So I consider this a win.”

The astronaut will be part of a four-man crew that will tackle a host of difficult tests within Earth’s orbit in preparation for NASA’s 2028 Artemis IV flight, which will be the first crewed mission to the moon’s South Pole.

Rubio’s mission is slated to serve as a proving ground for future lunar landings, as the team will evaluate how the spacecraft navigates toward and docks with commercial landing systems developed by Blue Origin and SpaceX.

“My Army training has been an integral part of the experiences that have enabled me to be ready for this mission,” Rubio, a former Black Hawk pilot-turned-flight surgeon, said in a Tuesday statement released by the Army.

“Serving taught me to lead under pressure, how to stay calm when the stakes are highest, and how to put the mission and the people beside you above yourself,” he added.

Rubio’s selection as a mission specialist for Artemis III comes after a record-setting 371-day mission aboard the International Space Station from September 2022 to September 2023, where he set the American record for the longest single spaceflight. The unexpected yearlong mission saw Rubio complete 5,963 orbits around Earth, travel over 157 million miles and complete three spacewalks that amounted to 21 hours and 24 minutes in total.

His previous journey was only meant to last six months, but a spacecraft coolant leak prolonged the mission.

Before he began eschewing gravity in pursuit of outer space, Rubio served nearly 20 years as an aviator and then physician. He graduated from the United States Military Academy in 1998 and logged over flight 1,100 hours — more than 600 in combat during deployments to Bosnia, Afghanistan and Iraq — before beginning medical school and training as a family physician and flight surgeon.

At the time of Rubio’s NASA selection, he was a battalion surgeon for the 3rd Battalion of the 10th Special Forces Group (Airborne) in Colorado.

Rubio is one of three Artemis III crew members with military backgrounds. Andre Douglas, who will serve as a mission specialist during the flight, graduated from the Coast Guard Academy before serving as a guardsman. Randy Bresnik, the crew’s commander, retired as a colonel in the Marine Corps.

Bob Hines, who was selected as backup crew member, is a colonel in the Air Force.

Nineteen Army astronauts have taken part in NASA’s space missions, but Rubio and Col. Anne McClain are the Army’s only active duty astronauts, according to the service. Chief Warrant Officer 3 Joseph Bailey, also on active duty, is an astronaut candidate and began his initial training in September 2025.

Chief Master Sergeant of the Space Force John Bentivegna’s Instagram was compromised as the hackers posted multiple artworks and stories depicting anti-American messaging.

By 1 a.m. EST on Monday, the stories and posts were removed, according to Task & Purpose, which first reported on the hack.

A Space Force spokesperson confirmed to Military Times on Tuesday that Bentivegna’s account was compromised but denied to comment about how long the hackers had access to the account or who was responsible. All unauthorized content was removed with assistance from Meta, the owner of Instagram, the spokesperson said.

“This incident serves as a good reminder that online threats are constantly evolving, and users must remain alert to suspicious activity while exercising strong cybersecurity practices,” the spokesperson concluded.

Before they were taken down, the images and stories posted to Bentivegna’s account circulated unofficial U.S. military social media accounts, including the Reddit page r/AirForce and the Facebook page Air Force amn/nco/snco.

One post depicted a figure known as Imam Ali holding the Sword of Zulfiqar, which was given to Ali by the Prophet Muhammad and is a symbol of justice and knowledge in Islamic tradition. The hackers also posted a depiction of Husayn ibn Ali, a political and religious figure in Islam.

A story posted by the hackers included audio of Trịnh Thị Ngọ, also known as “Hanoi Hannah,” a Vietnamese radio personality known for releasing English-language broadcasts during the Vietnam War. Ngọ delivered three broadcasts a day during the war, written by the North Vietnamese Defense Ministry’s propaganda department and aimed at American troops to demoralize and frighten them.

The audio was posted with a caption in Arabic that roughly translates to “This is your fate if you get close to the Middle East.”

Another story, which appeared to be directly after the “Hanoi Hannah” audio, was an edit of Ali Larijani, a prominent Iranian national security official, with a caption in Arabic that roughly translates to “I set foot in America.” Larijani died in mid-March 2026 in an Israeli military airstrike during the Iran war.

As well as the other two stories, the hackers posted a photo of Game of Thrones character Jon Snow during an episode titled Battle of the Bastards, with a graphic that included Arabic text reading “Abu Al-Ahmar Army,” or “Army of the Red One,” and text underneath that roughly translates to “ban the accounts of the haters.”

Bentivegna did not address the hack on Instagram but did post on his Facebook on Sunday around 8:30 p.m. EST, saying that “appropriate teams” were working to regain access to the account and resolve the issue.

“If you receive any direct messages, requests, links or unusual posts from that account, please do not engage with them,” Bentivegna wrote in the Facebook post.

“Experiences like this are a good reminder that cybersecurity isn’t just an issue for organizations, it’s something we all deal with in our daily lives,” Bentivegna added.

The hackers also targeted former President Barack Obama’s White House Instagram account, posting the same image of Imam Ali holding the Zulfiqar sword, as well as stories, with one being a photo of Qasem Soleimani, an Iranian military officer killed in January 2020 in a U.S. drone strike, with a caption in Arabic that roughly translates to “The White House is under Shiites’ control.”

The hacks follow the recent reports received by military officials of service members’ commercial location data being used by adversaries to target personnel deployed to war zones. U.S. lawmakers said in a letter to the Pentagon that the location data can be used to identify where troops are congregated and their patterns, which then can be used to target the troops for various attacks.

Both abroad and domestically, U.S. service members have also been receiving threats through email, social media and text messages that appear to have originated from individuals connected to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.

Boris Pistorius, Germany’s defense minister, announced at a press conference in Berlin that Germany is developing a European Space Component Command alongside a Weltraumakademie − a multilateral space training academy − and insisted that partner nations will be “embedded in the design phase” rather than presented with finished structures.

The meeting, billed as the first “DACH+L” format, expanding the traditional German-Austrian-Swiss defense dialogue to include Luxembourg, served as a platform for Pistorius to demonstrate traction on Germany’s €35 billion ($40.7 billion) military space investment pledged last fall. That program spans encrypted low-earth-orbit satellite constellations, military-grade launch capacity, and an expanded Space Command within the Bundeswehr.

Austria’s Defense Minister Claudia Tanner reaffirmed that Austria plans to put three operationally designated military satellites plus a test object into orbit next year, developed partly with Austrian startups. The program centers on two projects: LEO2VLEO, a joint initiative with the Netherlands covering imaging and navigation in very low Earth orbit, and BEACONSAT, an Austrian navigation satellite built for under €1 million ($1.16 million). Tanner said the satellites would be made available to partners and framed the push as essential for communications independence in a crisis.

Austria is neutral by constitution, though some have questioned how its deepening defense ties with European neighbors can be squared with this tradition and legal requirement.

Luxembourg’s Defense Minister Yuriko Backes, attending a DACH meeting for the first time, pointed to her country’s niche: established SATcom and Earth observation expertise that Luxembourg is “very willing to make available to allies and partners.” She and Tanner both referenced a forthcoming cooperation deal between the two countries on satellite use in July, without elaborating.

Swiss Federal Councilor Martin Pfister noted that there is no domain where Europe faces a greater dependency on non-European technology providers than in the space domain. “It is not possible for one country to solve this alone,” he said, though he called out Swiss state-owned company Beyond Gravity as a potential industrial contributor to a European solution.

Switzerland, too, has bent the limits of its longstanding neutrality to deepen its integration into European defense projects since the war in Ukraine. The joint accession of both Austria and Switzerland to the German-led European Sky Shield Initiative in 2023 was a prime example of this new thinking.

The latest moves signal a further deepening of these Central European defense ties. The conference alone was a remarkable signal, expanding the more established German-Austrian-Swsiss DACH format to Luxembourg as a fourth member.

What Monday’s meeting produced in concrete terms was modest: a reaffirmation of existing cooperation threads, a cyber exercise result − Luxembourg, together with the three other German-speaking countries, placed second at NATO’s Locked Shields event under German leadership in April − and political momentum behind space initiatives that remain largely conceptual. But the message was still clear: German-speaking Europe is serious about wanting to become a player in space, and the push for independence from the U.S. has gained additional momentum.

A global outage across Elon Musk’s satellite network affecting millions of Starlink users had left two dozen unmanned surface vessels bobbing off the California coast, disrupting communications and halting operations for almost an hour.

The incident, which involved drones intended to bolster U.S. military options in a conflict with China, was one of several Navy test disruptions linked to SpaceX’s Starlink that left operators unable to connect with autonomous boats, according to internal Navy documents reviewed by Reuters and a person familiar with the matter.

As SpaceX rockets toward a $2 trillion public offering this summer – expected to be the largest ever – the company has secured its position as the world’s most valuable space company in part by being indispensable to the U.S. government with an array of technologies spanning satellite communications to space launches and military AI.

Starlink, in particular, has proved key to crucial programs – from drones to missile tracking – with a low-earth orbit constellation of close to 10,000 satellites, a scale that provides the military with a network resilient against potential adversary attacks.

But the Navy’s mishaps with Starlink for its autonomous drone program, which have not been previously reported, highlight the challenges of the U.S. military’s growing reliance on SpaceX and the risks it brings to the Pentagon.

“If there was no Starlink, the U.S. government wouldn’t have access to a global constellation of low earth orbit communications,” said Clayton Swope, a deputy director of the Aerospace Security Project at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.

The Pentagon did not respond to questions about the drone test or SpaceX’s work with the Navy. The Pentagon’s chief information officer, Kirsten Davies, said the “Department leverages multiple, robust, resilient systems for its broad network.”

The Navy and SpaceX did not respond to requests for comment.

Despite facing growing competition from Amazon.com, which announced an $11.6 billion agreement this week to acquire satellite maker Globalstar, SpaceX remains far ahead in low-earth orbit communications.

Beyond drones, SpaceX has cemented a near-monopoly for space launches and provides satellite communications with Starlink and its national security-focused constellation, Starshield, generating billions of dollars for the company.

Last month, U.S. Space Force said it had reassigned its upcoming GPS launch to a SpaceX rocket for the fourth time, due to a glitch in the Vulcan rocket made by the Boeing and Lockheed Martin joint venture United Launch Alliance.

WARNINGS ABOUT RELYING ON SPACEX

Democratic lawmakers have warned the Pentagon about the risks of its reliance on a single company led by the world’s richest man to deliver crucial national security capabilities. More recently, the Defense Department’s disagreements and blacklisting of AI startup Anthropic quickly revealed how an over-reliance on one AI vendor could create problems should that vendor be dropped.

Reuters reported last year that Musk unexpectedly switched off Starlink access to Ukrainian troops as they sought to retake territory from Russia, denting allies’ trust in the billionaire.

In Taiwan, SpaceX faced criticism over concerns it was withholding satellite communications to U.S. service members based there, “possibly in breach of SpaceX’s contractual obligations with the U.S. government,” according to a 2024 letter sent by then-U.S. Representative Mike Gallagher to Musk, reported by Forbes at the time. SpaceX disputed the claim in a post on X.

Reuters could not determine whether SpaceX has since provided Starlink service in Taiwan to U.S. service members. The Pentagon and SpaceX did not respond to questions about Taiwan.

“As a matter of operational security, we do not comment on or discuss plans, operations capabilities or effects,” an official said in a statement.

STARLINK ‘EXPOSED LIMITATIONS’

SpaceX’s Starlink broadband has been crucial to the Pentagon’s drone program, providing connection to small unmanned maritime vessels that look like speedboats without seats, and include those made by Maryland-based BlackSea and Austin, Texas-based Saronic.

In April 2025, during a series of Navy tests in California involving unmanned boats and flying drones, officials reported that Starlink struggled to provide a solid network connection due to the high data usage needed to control multiple systems, according to a Navy safety report of the tests reviewed by Reuters.

“Starlink reliance exposed limitations under multiple-vehicle load,” the report stated. The report also faulted issues linked to radios provided by Silvus and a network system provided by Viasat.

In the weeks leading up to the global Starlink outage in August, another series of Navy tests was disrupted by intermittent connection issues with the Starlink network, Navy documents reviewed by Reuters show. The causes of the network losses were not immediately clear.

Despite the setbacks, the upside of Starlink – a cheap and commercially available service – outweighs the risk of a potential outage disrupting future military operations, said Bryan Clark, an autonomous warfare expert at the Hudson Institute.

“You accept those vulnerabilities because of the benefits you get from the ubiquity it provides,” he said.

Within weeks of each other, the two largest U.S. commercial space companies abruptly shifted their priorities toward lunar development. The moves came as the Department of Defense accelerates plans for a next-generation missile shield known as the Golden Dome, raising questions about whether America’s return to the moon is as much about defense as it is exploration.

In early February, SpaceX announced it would redirect plans for a future city on Mars to establishing one on the moon. The reversal was striking, as Musk previously insisted Mars was the only meaningful destination.

Just days prior to this announcement, Blue Origin quietly paused its New Shepard tourism program for at least two years to increase focus on lunar development, framing the move as part of the nation’s goal of returning to the moon.

However, the timing may suggest a more strategic approach.

In December 2025, the White House issued an executive order calling for a missile shield prototype by 2028, critical for the Golden Dome initiative.

This order also set a timeline for an American lunar return by 2028, with elements of a permanent moon presence targeted for 2030.

Defense officials, such as Space Force Vice Chief of Operations Gen. Shawn Bratton, have emphasized that commercial partnerships will be essential to achieving these goals.

SpaceX is reportedly in line for a $2 billion Pentagon contract to build a 600-satellite constellation supporting Golden Dome tracking and targeting, though the award has not been formally confirmed.

The project would rely on low Earth orbit satellites capable of rapid, near-real-time missile detection. Such systems improve coverage, but remain vulnerable to anti-satellite attacks from adversaries.

The company’s shift to the moon could change that equation. Lunar-based infrastructure would sit far beyond the reach of most anti-satellite capabilities, offering more resilient communications and sensing layers.

In this scenario, the moon could become a strategic “high ground,” which could offer the Pentagon a more durable and far-reaching view for missile detection and surveillance.

Just 15 days before Blue Origin announced its shift toward the moon, the Missile Defense Agency added the company to its $151 billion SHIELD contract, a Pentagon program allowing firms to compete for Golden Dome-related work.

While no specific awards are guaranteed, the timing is noteworthy. Blue Origin is now putting lunar logistics front and center, pausing the New Shepard program to focus resources on that effort.

The company’s Blue Ring vehicle is designed for orbital maneuvering and refueling, capabilities that could one day support sensor deployment and flexible positioning beyond Earth’s orbit, where they are less vulnerable to attack and can provide broader global coverage.

Meanwhile, its Blue Moon MK1 and MK2 landers can deliver multi-ton payloads to the lunar surface, which could be enough to deploy communications systems, sensors or other infrastructure to remote locations, potentially supporting Golden Dome-like operations.

Taken together, these developments could suggest a broader transformation in the strategic landscape of space, one that increasingly intersects with homeland defense and global security.

The plan is to deploy a satellite fleet with interconnected communications for defense use by 2029, with Germany’s Hensoldt providing sensor technology and German startup Isar Aerospace the preferred launch parter. Kongsberg and Helsing signed their teaming agreement to speed up the roll out of critical European space capabilities, the companies said.

European leaders increasingly see their dependency on American space-based intelligence as a strategic liability, with the U.S. halt on data sharing with Ukraine earlier this year setting off alarm bells across the continent. Finland’s ICEYE has been one of the most visible beneficiaries, selling at least eight radar satellites this year to European countries seeking a sovereign space capability.

“Sovereign monitoring, intelligence, and targeting are fundamental to credible deterrence,” Kongsberg Defence & Aerospace President Eirik Lie said in the statement. “Communication, oversight and connectivity are key to operate defense assets effectively, and Europe needs full control over these capabilities.”

The cooperation is a response to Europe’s greater need for deterrence and addresses the strategic issue of space-based intelligence, Kongsberg and Helsing said, with the companies citing “key lessons from recent geopolitical events.”

Kongsberg wasn’t immediately able to answer questions on the required investment or how many satellites are planned for the constellation, which countries the partnership is targeting, or who would own the satellites.

The teaming agreement combines Kongsberg’s satellites with Helsing’s artificial-intelligence capabilities, pulling together synthetic aperture radar, electro-optical and radio-frequency data for satellite-image analysis, they said. The companies said they have operational experience in Ukraine, with Helsing AI algorithms used there as well as deployed in orbit for data analysis.

“The war in Ukraine demonstrates that most reliable targeting begins in space,” Helsing co-Chief Executive Officer and co-founder Gundbert Scherf said. “Together with Kongsberg, we will provide crucial integrated space defense systems to ensure Europe wins the fight for sovereignty.”

Hensoldt will provide SAR, electro-optical/infrared and electronic warfare sensors, while Kongsberg Satellite Services will contribute with its ground network to communicate with satellites.

The cooperation will include setting up local satellite production in Germany to create “a self-reliant European defense capability,” the companies said.

With Norway’s satellite expertise and Hensoldt’s sensors, “we can build a resilient space architecture that gives Europe the information advantage it needs,” Hensoldt Chief Executive Officer Oliver Dörre said. “Europe’s security depends on sovereign sensing and intelligence.”

European interest in ICEYE rose after Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022. But it was the U.S. halting intelligence sharing with Ukraine in March 2025 that really underscored the need for sovereign access to space-based intel, Elstak told Defense News.

“The key thing it proved is that you need independent capabilities, and you need a strong alliance,” he said. “You can’t rely on just one node, whoever that node may be.”

Space-based intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance, or ISR, was seen as the toughest area for Europe to achieve self-sufficiency, according to a Defense News survey in February. Most of the surveyed defense experts estimated Europe would need five to 10 years to build sufficient capacity to no longer rely on U.S. space intel.

Since then, and following the U.S. data-sharing pause, ICEYE has signed contracts with the armed forces of Poland, Portugal, the Netherlands and Finland. All four will have their own deployed capabilities within the next 12 months, with multiple satellites in orbit before 2028, Elstak said.

Europe can achieve “resilience” in space-based ISR, he argued, citing the Dutch example. ICEYE launched the first satellite for the Royal Netherlands Air Force within four months of the June contract, and all four ordered spacecraft are expected to be operational within 24 months.

“So it is within reach, right?” said Elstak.

ICEYE has provided radar-satellite data to Ukraine since 2022, including during the U.S. intel-sharing halt. Experience supplying Ukraine helped the company refine its offering for defense users, said Elstak, who joined the Finnish company in 2023 from Airbus.

As ICEYE adds military customers and becomes more integrated into Europe’s defense-information flows, “we’re becoming more and more of a defense-intelligence company,” Elstak said.

He said ICEYE’s ability to deliver everything from satellites to ground stations, data analysis and training positions it closer to a large space integrator such as Airbus than SAR-data providers Capella Space and Umbra.

Founded in 2014 as a Finnish university spin-off, ICEYE supplies Earth-observation data using synthetic aperture radar, or SAR for short. Because SAR can collect imagery regardless of cloud cover or time of day, any space-based ISR solution is bound to have a “SAR backbone,” Elstak said.

The firm operates what it describes as the world’s largest SAR constellation, with 20 to 30 active satellites, according to Elstak. This allows ICEYE to provide a radar image from any location roughly every 30 to 60 minutes, unrestricted by U.S. export regulations, which the executive called “quite a unique proposition” for the price.

Through its Missions business, governments can buy ICEYE radar satellites and operate them independently. Between five and 10 sovereign satellites are currently in orbit, with at least another 10 to 15 to be launched in the next two years, according to Elstak.

Almost all sovereign customers are also data clients, according to Elstak. He said military customers want their own minimum national capability, but are then happy to procure additional commercial data from ICEYE through credits or leased capacity.

Elstak declined to discuss pricing but referred to ICEYE’s contract with Poland for a reference. In May, the company agreed to provide Poland with an initial batch of three SAR satellites, with an option for three more, under an agreement worth around €200 million.

Elstak said an ICEYE constellation is far cheaper than previous generations of SAR systems, such as Germany’s SARah constellation, which cost around €1 billion for three satellites.

The company in September introduced ISR Cell, a containerized system that gives ground forces tactical access to space-based ISR, aiming to get satellite intel to the battlefield within minutes. First customer deliveries are expected in early 2026.

ICEYE also announced commercial availability of its fourth generation of SAR satellites, with a larger radar antenna for higher-resolution imagery.

A major focus is cutting the time from sensor to shooter. That means getting more satellites in orbit, improving algorithms to compress and transmit data, and using AI-based analytics “to make sure the user actually gets the data that they want,” Elstak said. “Maybe an uglier image in half an hour is more valuable than a pretty image in an hour.”

ICEYE has agreements with SATIM and SafranAI, which provide AI-based analysis of the radar-satellite data to identify objects including vessels and vehicles.

The company is developing concepts including a constellation of more than 100 satellites, which would enable “a look anywhere in the world in like 10 or 15 minutes,” Elstak said. “It becomes very tactical.”

Experience from Ukraine and ICEYE’s expanding fleet shows users want as much information as possible from hot spots, he added. The firm is improving its ability to deliver detail in congested areas through new image-processing techniques and the larger radar on the Gen4 satellites.

ICEYE currently has capacity to build 25 radar satellites per year and plans to scale up “quite fast” to around 40 satellites annually by late 2026, and probably 50 spacecraft a year in a next step, Elstak said. The company set up a manufacturing joint venture with Rheinmetall in Germany earlier this month that will manufacture its first satellite locally in 2026.

ICEYE has been using SpaceX for launches but is exploring alternatives, with slots booked on the Vega launcher operated by ArianeGroup, and is “very interested” in European small-launcher startups as part of a fully sovereign solution, according to Elstak.

For now, however, the urgency among sovereign customers to acquire capacity means they will “typically take whatever is available” to get satellites into orbit, the executive said.

Most of ICEYE’s defense customers previously lacked space-intelligence capabilities, but countries now understand what they need to own and what they can rely on from commercial providers during a crisis, according to Elstak.

“Even if the war were to stop, there’s a general realization of what type of capabilities you must have at a national level. This is not going to go away in the military doctrine.”

“The combination is expected to generate mid triple-digit million-euro of total annual synergies on operating income five years after closing,” the firms added.

The new company, which has been in the pipeline for months, aims at boosting “Europe’s strategic autonomy in space, a major sector that underpins critical infrastructure and services related to telecommunications, global navigation, earth observation, science, exploration and national security,” the firms stated.

“This new company also intends to serve as the trusted partner for developing and implementing national sovereign space programs,” they added.

The firm should be operational by 2027, they said.

Airbus will take a 35% stake with Leonardo and Thales each taking a 32.5% stake, while the firm will operate “under joint control, with a balanced governance structure among shareholders,” the firms said.

Executives including Leonardo CEO Roberto Cingolani have spoken of the need for Europe’s space businesses to come together in the same way Airbus, Leonardo and BAE Systems have merged their missile activities in MBDA.

Airbus will insert its Space Systems and Space Digital businesses into the new firm, while Leonardo will contribute its Space Division, including its shares in Telespazio and Thales Alenia Space. Thales will contribute with stakes in Thales Alenia Space, Telespazio and Thales SESO.

Europe’s space businesses have long planned to ally after struggling to keep up with fierce competition from Elon Musk’s Starlink. But industry mergers have also faced opposition from European Union anti-trust officials who fear a concentration of power in the industry could stifle competition on the continent.

In their statement the firms said it was time for Europe to bulk up to take on competition from overseas. The new company, they said, would “Increase competitiveness facing global players, reaching critical mass and ensuring Europe secures its role as a major player in the international space market.”

Leonardo’s Cingolani, Airbus CEO Guillaume Faury and Thales CEO Patrice Caine, added, “This partnership aligns with the ambitions of European governments to strengthen their industrial and technological assets, ensuring Europe’s autonomy across the strategic space domain and its many applications.”