Dear Readers, The main thematic chapter of this issue deals with the use of space, which has symbolic power like no other field of technology. Space is a global common good and all states are free to explore and use it. Civilian space technologies and services have become essential to our daily lives for communication…
Interview with Chua Jin Kiat, Executive Vice President, International Defence Business, ST Engineering, Singapore With our magazine, we have been following European and international efforts in civil protection and disaster management for years. For this edition, we asked a Singapore-based company about collaboration projects and the company’s contribution to protecting people in south-east Asia and…
by Hartmut Bühl, Paris On 10th April 2024, the European Defence Agency (EDA) took a big step forward in the early detection and reconnaissance of chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear (CBRN) incidents. EDA and the five nations (Austria, France, Hungary, Croatia and Slovenia) participating in the PESCO project, Chemical, Biological, Radiological, Nuclear Surveillance as Service…
by Dennis-P. Merklinghaus, Spokesperson for Aerospace, Defense, Security at Rohde & Schwarz, Munich Space is globally recognised as being critical to economic success, national security and societal well-being. It is also a domain where confrontation with adversaries is more and more important, as an extension of the classical dimensions of warfare. This confrontation in space…
by Luke Hally, Founding Director of Terra Nova Consultancy, Brussels The security landscape of the 21st century is evolving rapidly, bringing new challenges that policymakers must swiftly address to adapt to the changing dynamics of the post-unipolar world. Key factors driving this change include the emergence of artificial intelligence, cyber defence, drone technology, and, notably,…
by Hideshi Tokuchi, President of the Research Institute for Peace and Security (RIPS) and Asia correspondent of this magazine, Tokyo Space is important not only for scientific research and economy but also for international security. Historically, space was regulated by international arms control agreements earlier than nuclear weapons or cyberspace. It only took ten years…
by Hartmut Bühl, Paris The European Space Operations Centre (ESOC) is the European Space Agency’s (ESA) control centre and Europe’s centre of excellence for satellite operations. ESOC has been responsible for the operation of all ESA satellites and the necessary global network of ground stations since 1967. To date, the centre has operationally supported over…
by Dr Antje Nötzold, Senior Research Associate, Department of International Politics, Chemnitz University of Technology, Germany After land, sea and air, space has become the fourth dimension of human civilisation and a day without space is virtually impossible. Space-based systems are not only militarily essential, of considerable economic value and therefore of strategic importance for…
by Dr Stefan Selke, Professor of Societal Change and Founder of the Public Science Lab, University of Furtwangen, Germany Imaginations about the new space age are increasingly finding a ready-to-receive audience. Corresponding future narratives exist in the form of visions, progress stories, meta-analyses, political-normative models, media reports but also fictional representations. These narratives are associated…
Interview with Margit Mischkulnig, Head of Department for Space Affairs, Federal Ministry for Climate Action, Environment, Energy, Mobility, Innovation and Technology, Vienna The European: Ms Mischkulnig, you are the Head of the “Space and Aviation Technologies” department in the Austrian Federal Ministry for Climate Protection, Energy, Environment, Mobility, Innovation and Technology (BMK). An impressive variety…