Marc (@himarc.bsky.social)

⚔️Marc C Lange👨‍💻 (@techwars) Me in December 2025, warning that Germany's Space Security Strategy could turn a great chance into a missed opportunity if the chips are contentrated too much. I've been fortunate to witness the birth of two private space industries, and to work with some of the legends who built them. One went well, the other is in my home country. When I speak with colleagues who invest into European and German space companies, the consensus is always the same: The market forces conservative investment strategies. When I first heard about Germany's intentions of investing 35 billion Euros into space defense and resilience, I saw the chance that this could spur a similar development as did the COTS program, or the many great initiatives the Defense Innovation Unit has led, some of which I was lucky to be involved in on the commercial side, including at a company contributing to the US Hybrid Space Architecture; the core target infrastructure paradigm Germany is aspiring as well (and must have if it wants to become Europe's strongest conventional military power). But whenever I speak with EU and German space entrepreneurs, the canon is the same: Get started and get out. The incumbents are too strong, and procurement is too encrusted. The defense of existing industry and government represenatatives is always the same, and I've heard it before, in the US: We need reliable producers with strong track recordss. But rapid technological innovation and scaled production by SMEs are not contradictions anymore, and whoever thinks that is turning a blind eye to the healthy space industry - not just in the United States, but also in the EU, and in Germany. It's not 2000 anymore, and the commercial-technology-, software-, and AI revolutions have long reached space. Fellow students of mine have gone from zero to sizeable satellite production in a mere handful of years. Many of the founders I know in the EU and German ecosystem had to fight ten times as hard as their US counterparts to make it into funding and contracts. These are quite literally battle-hardened entrepreneurs, which will, not may, WILL, deliver price-performance at scale and pace. I wholeheartedly support the Brandbrief initiative/open letter started by Max Gulde and signed by German space founders. As I wrote back in 2025, the level of resilience of the space architectures our societies and militaries need will not be built by monolithic structures - that's simpliy impossible. Resilient space architectures can only be built by healthy, competitive ecosystems. This might be Germany's last chance to create a true space market for decades to come, and I hope that our administration applies the best practices which enable it. I'll link both the great article in the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung and my 30-page breakdown how the US rebuilt its space security around healthy commercial activity and how Germany compares in the comments. https://substack.com/@techwars/note/c-240585592?r=5h5nw7&utm_medium=ios&utm_source=notes-share-action