The Golden Dome initiative to shield the US territory from air attacks with large satellite constellations is unlikely to be realized given tech, cost & timeline hurdles. Yet the attempt will spur missile-defense progress, argue STAND’s @liviuhorovitz.bsky.social & @julianasuess.bsky.social 8/10

The Space Force’s new instruction 16-403 establishes mandatory naming and designation rules for all new space weapon systems, allowing a fresh start separate from outdated Air Force nomenclature, reports @arstechnica.com 6/10

A new CGSR edited by @kimberlypeh.bsky.social & Michael Albertson argues that the 21st-century tech race talk oversimplifies reality. Bottom line: Tech competition isn’t solved by simply doing more - it’s tied to strategy, alliances, industry & limited resources 10/10

Germany’s first space security strategy sets the new priorities around resilience, deterrence, and cooperation, writes our own #STAND @julianasuess.bsky.social @swp-intsecurity.bsky.social 2/10

Significant challenges remain, including (but not limited to) historically low investments in the European industry, limited production capacity (esp satellite manufacturing), supply chains (especially EEE components are sourced outside the region) and critical dependencies (mostly on the US)

Bottom line: the strategy needs to be viewed in the context of the new investments - Germany is putting its money where its mouth is. With a vision and money in place, it remains to be seen how cooperation with industry and partners enables Germany to pursue its ambitions.

Posture: Still defensive, but leaving options open. Germany names its ambition to be able to "counter attacks and limit an adversary’s capabilities to act in space", while highlighting the need for responsible behaviour and transparency

Also it's clear that Germany is ready to take the role of a regional leader on space - this is also due to the 35 billion € announcement made by Defence Minister Pistorius a few weeks ago. The money is to be spent over the next 5 years

Partners - Germany has always been a country that acts primarily through and within multilateral forums. Space is no different. Especially European partners are highlighted for procurement and interoperability - it's about creating a “European space infrastructure.”

Resilience - this strategy has been marked by the past 3 years and it's a document that has learned from the lessons learned from the war in Ukraine - such as making clear that the electromagnetic spectrum will not always be available. It thus talks about redundancies and preparedness

During the Cold War, US space power depended on infrastructures in Australia & the UK for tracking & comms, but political upheaval in both countries threatened access. Managing these risks became a top US foreign policy priority, finds Aaron Bateman @intsecurity.bsky.social 8/10