Space is becoming a critical infrastructure, on par with energy and networks, and major programs (Artemis, Orion, European dual-use constellations) are creating structured demand for dual-use product portfolios focused on resilience, surveillance, and secure communications. For B2B/B2G industrial players, the challenge is no longer to “sell satellites,” but to position themselves as providers of architectural building blocks within space shields, ISR constellations, and sovereign telecommunications networks. But caution is required: the race is full of pitfalls, and technical excellence alone no longer guarantees success.
Why space is becoming strategic again: from vision to vital infrastructure
Artemis II and Orion symbolize the return of deep-space crewed missions, but also the ambition to structure an entire industrial base around transportation, support, and long-term orbital infrastructure. In Europe, “Space Shield,” IRIS², Galileo, Copernicus, EOGS, and the “Resilience from Space” programs explicitly position space as a pillar of sovereignty, security, and business continuity for states and critical operators.
It is no longer a matter of exploration or prestige, but of national and economic security. The failure of a space service can have consequences as severe as the outage of an electrical grid or a terrestrial communications link.
Three structuring needs: resilience, surveillance, secure communications
These programs are crystallizing around three essential pillars:
- Resilience: the ability to guarantee service continuity despite growing threats (debris, jamming, cyber attacks, anti-satellite weapons), through redundancy, proliferated constellations, distributed architectures, and rapid recovery capabilities.
- Surveillance: the rise of dual-use radar and optical observation constellations (e.g., second-generation COSMO-SkyMed) for crisis management, defense, infrastructure security, and maritime and environmental monitoring.
- Secure communications: GEO/MEO/LEO networks combining advanced encryption, cyber resilience, Zero Trust architectures, and post-quantum cryptography, becoming the standard for government and critical communications links by 2026.
The illusions and pitfalls of industrial space: why some players will miss the turn
Enthusiasm for space must not obscure the harsh realities of the market. Many players, despite proven technical expertise, risk failing to convert opportunity into success. The most common trajectory errors include:
- The misunderstood “dual-use” paradox: believing that dual-use products sell themselves, or that a single product can meet both military hardening requirements and civilian cost constraints without deep adaptation. The result is often a product that is too expensive for civilian markets and not robust enough for military use.
- Underestimating space cybersecurity: assuming that terrestrial cybersecurity standards are sufficient for orbit. Threats such as jamming, spoofing, and attacks on ground and space segments are specific and require a native Zero Trust approach, often sacrificed in favor of pure performance.
- Dependence on a single institutional program: aligning an entire roadmap with one major (European or national) program without diversification. The risk of delays, cancellation, or redirection is systemic and can wipe out years of investment.
- The forgotten ground segment: underestimating the complexity of data and the ground segment. Value does not lie in the satellite itself, but in the ability to deliver usable, near-real-time services to very different stakeholders—defense, civil protection, infrastructure operators—with distinct governance requirements.
Mini-scenario: Several dual-use constellation projects have shown that value does not lie in the satellite itself, but in the ability to deliver usable, near-real-time services to very different stakeholders—defense, civil protection, and infrastructure operators—with distinct governance requirements. Without a robust, secure, and interoperable ground processing chain, even the best sensor in orbit remains little more than a prototype.
Structuring a dual-use portfolio: from product to critical infrastructure
To succeed, companies must think in terms of “critical services” rather than a simple “civil vs. military” split. The same technological building blocks support government continuity, armed forces, civil crisis management, and energy or transport operators. The key is to design products around three cross-cutting axes:
- Robustness: hardening, cyber resilience, redundancy, autonomous operations. Non-negotiable for state customers.
- Integrability: standards, open APIs, NATO/EU interoperability, compatibility with third-party constellations. An isolated product is a dead product.
- Governance: data control, export compliance (ITAR/EAR), sovereignty options. Trust is the currency.
Dual-use “surveillance & ISR” line
- Space segment: dual-use radar and optical ISR platforms and payloads—such as COSMO-SkyMed—serving defense, civil protection, agriculture, coastal management, and infrastructure monitoring.
- Ground & services: processing and analytics chains capable of generating value-added products for ministries of defense, internal security agencies, as well as ministries of the environment, infrastructure operators, or insurers.
- Packaged “surveillance-as-a-service” offerings (maritime zones, energy corridors, borders) combining space sensors, in-situ sensors, and geospatial intelligence.
“Secure communications & resilient connectivity” line
- Leverage major secure constellation programs (IRIS² in Europe, secured commercial LEO constellations) to develop terminals, modems, payloads, and network functions natively designed for dual-use.
- Product differentiators: hybrid cryptography (classical + post-quantum), embedded Zero Trust, fine-grained traffic segmentation (government, defense, critical operators, NGOs).
- Crisis mode capability: automatic prioritization, rerouting, and robust degraded modes to ensure continuity of operations for governments and private operators.
“Resilience & Space Situational Awareness” line
- “Space Shield” and “Resilience from Space” initiatives create demand for SSA sensors (in orbit and on the ground), cataloging software, and risk management services for both civilian and military satellites.
- Potential products: dedicated SSA sensors and payloads, orbital data fusion solutions, decision-support tools for collision avoidance maneuvers, and threat analysis (jamming, rendezvous, ASAT), usable by space commands and commercial operators alike.
- “Resilience audit” services for commercial constellations and critical infrastructures, based on models and datasets initially developed for defense.
Strategic roadmap for a B2B/B2G industrial player: from technology to critical service
- Align roadmaps with major program milestones: Artemis/Orion windows for transport and deep-space infrastructure support; “Space Shield / Resilience from Space / IRIS² / EOGS” windows for European ISR and telecom building blocks—while diversifying to avoid dependence on a single program.
- Build reusable product families: the same platform base, crypto chain, or analytics engine should serve multiple vertical offerings (defense, civil protection, energy, transport, environment). Military variants add hardening, higher security levels, and NATO/EU integration; civilian variants emphasize compliance, cost, and scalability.
- Structure go-to-market around alliances: participation in ESA/EU consortia, co-development with constellation operators, integrated offerings with terrestrial system integrators and sovereign cloud/IT players. The era of going it alone is over.
- Move from “product” to “contracted critical service”: buyers expect offerings defensible through simulation and wargaming, with short time-to-integration and the ability to evolve without heavy redevelopment. The CAPEX vs. managed service trade-off sits at the heart of decision-making.
Conclusion: Is your space portfolio a collection of technologies or vital infrastructure?
Space has entered a new era—that of critical infrastructure. The opportunities are immense, but the requirements are unforgiving. The players who will succeed are those able to move beyond pure technological excellence and embrace a vision of integrated, resilient critical services.
The blunt question to ask is this: is your space portfolio today perceived as a collection of technologies… or as critical infrastructure whose failure would be unacceptable for a state or a vital operator?
If the answer is not clear, it is time to rethink your strategy. The era of consensus is over. The time for strategic action has come. Your place in tomorrow’s space ecosystem is being decided today.
