03/31/2026

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By Sandra Erwin

Welcome to this week's edition of SpaceNews' Military Space, your source for the latest developments at the intersection of space and national security. In this week's edition: Satellite imagery faces new scrutiny, in-orbit services industry seeks government support, shift underway in Europe's space sector.

If someone forwarded you this edition, sign up to receive it directly in your inbox every Tuesday. We welcome your feedback and suggestions. You can hit reply or DM me on Signal @SandraErwin.43

The U.S. Air Force, Northrop Grumman and Bechtel recently broke ground on the Sentinel intercontinental ballistic missile launch silo prototype in Promontory, Utah. This prototype will be used to validate a construction approach for 450 future silos that will support the modernization of the land-based leg of the nation's nuclear triad. The prototype will inform the final design before full-rate production. Credit: U.S. Air Force courtesy photo

Satellite imagery's battlefield role draws scrutiny on Capitol Hill

Commercial satellite imagery, long used in military operations, is becoming more consequential on the battlefield.

Recent weeks of U.S. military strikes against Iran have underscored how quickly that shift is happening. Publicly available imagery confirmed which targets were actually degraded versus still viable, allowing not only U.S. allies but also adversaries to independently assess strike effectiveness.

That kind of visibility would have been tightly controlled in past conflicts. Today, it is often available within hours.

Commercial GEOINT firms — many of which hold U.S. government contracts — have responded by pulling back. Several companies have limited publication of imagery without government approval amid concerns that high-resolution, time-sensitive data could expose troop positions or base layouts. Planet, for example, said it delayed imagery releases because of concerns it could be used by adversaries.

The dynamic reflects a broader change in how intelligence is generated and shared. In previous wars, near-real-time intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance was almost exclusively a government capability. Now, commercial firms can effectively provide battle damage assessment.

That shift is creating a tension that has been building for years but is now harder to ignore. Satellite imagery has been central to independent verification in Ukraine, Gaza and other conflicts, strengthening transparency and accountability. But the Iran conflict has sharpened the downside: the same imagery can degrade operational security and put forces at risk.

That debate spilled into public view last week during a House Armed Services Committee strategic forces subcommittee hearing, where lawmakers pressed the National Reconnaissance Office on its oversight of commercial providers.

"Over the past several years, whether it's in Ukraine or the Middle East, we've seen an incredible proliferation of commercially available satellite imagery, and it's pretty remarkable what's available," said Rep. Seth Moulton (D-Mass.), the panel's ranking member.

"There are certainly advantages to just the general transparency that it offers, but we've also seen, particularly with Iran, how it can be a real problem," Moulton said in an exchange with NRO Principal Deputy Director William Adkins.

"So what are the kind of safeguards that we should put in place?" he asked Adkins.

Coordination between government and industry

"We have a strong partnership with our commercial providers," said Adkins. "Their CEOs meet with our leadership quarterly. We have an ongoing dialog. It's a very strong partnership. And I think our commercial providers understand the power of their data, as you point out, they understand the grave consequences and potential implications."

He added that companies have agreed to restrict the release sensitive imagery.

"When the conflict in the Middle East began shortly after that, the commercial providers recognized that it was a potential national security issue of exposing sensitive military operations and voluntarily offered to limit dissemination of data in sensitive areas."

Adkins said companies are now "working with us to seek guidance from the government."

"We would like to see those guidelines," Moulton said. "We'd like to make sure that everybody has them available, because right now, you're just counting on goodwill to protect our troops."

Satellite servicing firms make case for government backing

Companies that perform in-orbit satellite services are still waiting for Washington to put money behind the rhetoric on space logistics. At last week's Satellite 2026 conference, executives made the case that, even with private investment, without significant government funding, the U.S. risks falling behind in orbital logistics.

They pointed to a recent speech by Gen. Stephen Whiting, head of U.S. Space Command, who outlined an ambitious architecture for orbital refueling, servicing and mobility. However, said executives said, the absence of dedicated budget authority is stalling the buildout of a logistics infrastructure that would support services like refueling, repairs and debris removal.

'We're ready' but procurement isn't

Robert Hauge, president of Northrop Grumman's SpaceLogistics, said industry has already moved ahead, on its own dime.

"We have developed two mission extension vehicles, three mission extension pods, a mission robotic vehicle, all on our internal funds, because Northrop Grumman had the vision to see this as a future market that has commercial value, but also value to the military," Hague said. "So we brought the capability to bear, and we're ready to respond to the government's needs. But, really, what it comes down to at this point is for the government in turn, to say 'we're ready to procure those capabilities.'"

What servicing vehicles actually do

Satellite servicing vehicles are spacecraft designed to rendezvous with, dock and physically interact with other satellites already in orbit — extending their lives, moving them or even updating their hardware. They are equipped with arms, sensors and software that allow them to perform delicate operations hundreds or thousands of miles above Earth.

The technology hinges on rendezvous and proximity operations (RPO), or precision maneuvers that allow one spacecraft to safely approach and attach to another.

SpaceLogistics' servicing vehicles were designed to service geostationary satellites, which are high-value assets and operators can justify the cost of servicing if the life of a satellite can be extended for several years. In low Earth orbit, the economics are different because satellites are less costly, easier to deploy and are viewed as disposable assets. However, the congestion in LEO is expected to drive a demand for removal services.

The physics reinforce that divide

In GEO, satellites operate in a near-zero inclination plane, allowing servicing vehicles to move between targets with relatively low fuel use. In LEO, satellites are spread across multiple orbital planes. Changing inclination is fuel-intensive, making cross-plane servicing costly and often impractical — one reason companies have focused on GEO first.

Still, Hauge said that could shift with government demand, particularly for debris removal: "I think the most promising capabilities for low Earth orbit are going to be more on the deorbit side."

There are signs of movement. The Space Development Agency recently awarded a contract to Starfish Space for satellite deorbiting, suggesting the Pentagon could emerge as a key customer.

"At the end of the day, we have the technology to be able to do it," said Hauge. "We just need that program of record to say, 'we actually want to fund that going forward.'"

Clare Martin, executive vice president of Astroscale U.S. echoed that point, citing demand signals like Space Systems Command's request for information on refueling architectures.

"But what we're not really seeing yet is a budgetary commitment," Martin said. "We're not seeing that budget line for sustainment, in order to move from one offs where we are now into a truly operational infrastructure. That's the piece that is missing."

China factor raises stakes

Lawmakers are increasingly tying the issue to strategic competition.

During a March 26 Senate Armed Services Committee hearing, Sen. Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.) pointed to China's on-orbit refueling demonstrations as a potential inflection point, warning it could enable sustained maneuver and new operational concepts in space.

Whiting agreed the U.S. is watching closely, and suggested logistics could reshape military space operations.

"My belief is that we need to deliver our own maneuver warfare capability in space as we have in other domains," he said.

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European space: Brussels flexes in orbit

A new report points to a shift underway in Europe's space sector that could reshape who sets priorities for billions in defense-related satellite programs.

The European Union is ramping up spending and tilting its space agenda toward military and security uses — a move that could put Brussels at the center of decision-making in European space.

The report, by Michael Gleason of The Aerospace Corporation, argues the EU is on track to become a "central political and financial driver" of the sector, even as the European Space Agency continues to handle the engineering and member states retain control of military capabilities.

Shift driven in part by money

The European Commission has proposed a long-term budget that would increase defense and space spending fivefold to roughly $150 billion over seven years. If approved, EU funding for space could double or triple — accelerating Europe's push for "strategic autonomy."

That funding comes with influence. The EU already supplies about a quarter of the European Space Agency (ESA) budget, and Gleason projects that share could climb above 50% within a few years — a change that would give Brussels far more sway over priorities.

Europe's space ecosystem is split across three layers — EU institutions, intergovernmental organizations like ESA and national programs. That balance is starting to tilt toward the EU, but it's not a clean handoff.

ESA remains the technical backbone, and national governments are still driving their own military space agendas.

What the EU controls

Brussels already owns a suite of space systems, including the Galileo navigation constellation, the Copernicus Earth observation program and EGNOS. It's also building out secure communications and broadband networks and running systems for space tracking and satellite-based intelligence.

A growing share of new spending is expected to go toward protecting those assets from threats like anti-satellite weapons and electronic interference.

As Brussels pushes for collective capability-building, national governments are moving in parallel.

Germany, for example, is planning a roughly $12 billion satellite communications constellation that would operate alongside the EU's own system. Some officials worry that kind of duplication could fragment Europe's defense space architecture and dilute the EU's effort to pool resources.

In short, Brussels is gaining influence in space but not full control. The result is a more complex, and potentially more competitive, landscape as Europe tries to balance centralized ambitions with national sovereignty.

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