The surge in military budgets can help Europe's entrepreneurial space sector — if spending speeds up

NeuraSpace CEO Chiara Manfletti, is the former head of policy and program coordination for the European Space Agency and former Portugal Space Agency president. Manfletti also is the Technical University of Munich space propulsion and mobility chair. Credit: Neuraspace

AMSTERDAM – The recent surge in European defense spending could bolster Europe’s entrepreneurial space sector, but only if bureaucratic roadblocks are cleared, panelists said at the SmallSat Europe conference.

While the increase in available capital can provide funding for space-related products and services, government defense agencies tend to operate at a deliberative pace. Startups, meanwhile, often have a 12-month cash runway.

“Traditionally, defense is not being known for speed, so I don’t think that they’re going to necessarily help as much as they could or should,” Chiara Manfletti, CEO of Portuguese space domain awareness startup Neuraspace, said in an interview. “You either feed innovation quickly, or innovation will perish.”

In July, the European Commission proposed a 2028–2034 budget that would increase defense and space spending fivefold to roughly $150 billion over seven years.