Nuclear testing & Trump, Golden Dome, China’s & NATO’s strategic deterrence, Belarus, House of Dynamite & US missile defense in this week’s STAND newsletter, a project by @swp-intsecurity.bsky.social on recent news & analyses to better #underSTAND #nuclear #space #deterrence & #threats 1/10

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

US, Russia’s tests & subs, Euro deterrent, conventional forces, US space force & House of Dynamite in this week’s STAND newsletter, a project by @swp-intsecurity.bsky.social on recent news & analyses to better #underSTAND #nuclear #space #deterrence & #threats 1/10

"China argued that certain countries are “seeking dominance” by building spacebased weapon systems, including interceptors and initiatives such as the “Golden Dome,” which it said would upset the balance of power."

Join us in Berlin, Nov. 4, 5:30pm, when space & geopolitics converge for a screening of ASTROPOLITICS. Stick around for the post-film conversation with @julianasuess.bsky.social @swp-berlin.org. Free event, registration required: bertelsmann-stiftung.eventanizer.events/register/a00...

🛰️Als #AKJS-Alumna der @baks.bund.de freue ich mich, zwei Szenarien zur sicherheitspolitischen Rolle #Deutschlands im #Weltraum entworfen zu haben – als gefragter Akteur mit mehr Eigenständigkeit oder wehrlos dem Wettstreit anderer Staaten ausgeliefert. www.baks.bund.de/de/akjs/der-...

Come work with us @swp-berlin.org @swp-intsecurity.bsky.social! Still one more week to apply for a great project.

Unsere Abhängigkeit vom Weltraum wächst, während Signalstörungen und Cyberangriffe an der Tagesordnung sind. »Satelliten sind Computersysteme und können gehackt werden«, sagt @julianasuess.bsky.social. 👇 www.srf.ch/news/international/aufruestung-im-all-wird-der-weltraum-zum-naechsten-schlachtfeld

Europe's military, Dark Eagle, Iran’s nuclear program, AUKUS, South Korea’s new missile, Russian nukes in Belarus, New START & ASATs in this week’s STAND newsletter, a project by @swp-intsecurity.bsky.social, on recent news & analyses to better #underSTAND #nuclear #space #deterrence & #threats 1/10

With space becoming more mainstream within military operations, we can further see an evolution of space warfare capabilities, writes Leonard David @space.com. He further discusses different space actors’ motivations as well as the potential impact of Golden Dome on these dynamics 9/10

Three of Europe’s largest aerospace companies — Airbus, Leonardo & Thales — signed a Memorandum of Understanding to combine space activities to meet Europe’s satellite & space service goals, with the joint venture expected to begin operations in 2027, reports @spacenewsinc.bsky.social 3/10

As part of efforts to strengthen European military sovereignty, the European Commission unveiled the Preserving Peace – Defense Readiness Roadmap 2030, outlining 4 key pan-European initiatives – European Drone, Eastern Flank Watch, European Air & Space Shields, reports @SpaceNews 2/10

"Weapons in Space" by @aaronbateman.bsky.social is a must-read for those wanting to understand the origins of arms control in space - it's now open access! 🏃

Was bedeuten eigentlich Cyberangriffe, die sich die Software-Lieferkette zunutze machen, für die Bundeswehr? Diese Frage treibt mich seit Juni 2024 um. Ein gutes Jahr verbrachte ich also in einem ziemlichen Rabbithole. Das Ergebnis ist heute erschienen: www.swp-berlin.org/publikation/... 🧵⬇️

In excellent company with @bleddb.bsky.social and Clayton Swope in this article by Ray Furlong www.rferl.org/a/china-spy-...

Contrary to the popular belief that space is a uniquely peaceful domain, states have treated it as a strategic environment from the start—adopting treaties that never fully ruled out military use, planning contingencies & shaping policy accordingly, argues Clayton Swope @lawfaremedia.org 10/10

Using off-the-shelf gear, US researchers revealed that many communication satellites lack encryption — putting individuals, corporations & the military at risk as unencrypted signals exposed sensitive communications & infrastructure details, writes @wired.com 9/10

Ich hatte vor kurzem die Chance mit Marlen Oehler für den Podcast @nzz.ch Geopolitik zu sprechen: "Krieg der Satelliten? Wie die Machtspiele auf Erden den Weltraum erfassen" www.nzz.ch/podcast/krie...

Bis 2030 will das Verteidigungsministerium 35 Milliarden Euro in eine neue Sicherheitsarchitektur im All investieren. Im SWP-Podcast erklärt @julianasuess.bsky.social, warum der Weltraum für die Sicherheit & Verteidigung auf der Erde relevant ist. www.swp-berlin.org/publikation/...

📣 Wir @swp-intsecurity.bsky.social suchen Verstärkung! Forschungsprojekt: „Die Rückkehr des militärischen Wettbewerbs - Deutschlands Sicherheit angesichts der russischen Bedrohung und transatlantischer Ungewissheit“ Alle Details hier:

With the U.S. Space Force, Golden Dome, and Germany’s new investments in military space capabilities, many warn of growing space militarization. Yet, the belief that outer space is reserved only for peaceful purposes “has been neither a reality nor stipulated in any binding international agreement.”

UK Space Command said Russia is targeting British military communications satellites on a weekly basis with earth-based jammers - this comes after Germany's defense minister said Russian satellites are shadowing Bundeswehr communications satellites, reports @bbcnews-world-rss.bsky.social 4/10

Nice info graph of #hybrid attacks on Europe by The Economist. www.economist.com/briefing/202...

Before engaging with Pyongyang, the US should consider DPRK’s past focus on allied diplomacy, argues Choong-Koo Lee @warontherocks.bsky.social t.ly/xPdyG, while Chang-young Lee suggests South Korea decreases its dependency on the US by expanding its ISR capabilities t.ly/eJ5eh 7/10

Plummeting ballistic missile interception rates & DIA’s report earlier this summer suggest Russia upgraded Iskander-M mobile systems & Kinzhal air-launched ballistic missiles to evade Patriot systems by tweaking software for a steeper terminal trajectory, reports @financialtimes.com 3/10

Arianespace signed a contract with Airbus Defence and Space to launch two Airbus-built SATCOMBw Stage 3 satellites, a system for secure military communication for the German Bundeswehr, reports @hartpunkt.bsky.social 2/10

A new @unidir.org report by Tamara Patton & @russianforces.org proposes the concept of ‘demonstrable verification’ to show compliance in the absence of agreed verification measures for nuclear arms control and space security 7/10

German Defense Minister Pistorius announced a 35 billion Euro investment plan into space security capabilities - satellite constellations, ground stations, launch & offensive capabilities such as jamming. Germany also aims to become ESA's top contributor, reports #Handelsblatt 2/10

France’s military & private sector are developing a maneuverable VORTEX spaceplane capable of delivering payload; deploying satellites, sensors within hours or days; recovering critical assets; conducting reconnaissance & acting against threats in orbit, reports @spacenewsinc.bsky.social 5/10

One more week, one more round of news & analysis from us at #STAND. Did you pick up German in the meantime? It's no Star Wars, so I know you have. Listen to @julianasuess.bsky.social & me unpack Trump’s “Golden Dome” for @swp-berlin.org podcast: ambitions, risks & why it's likely wishful thinking.

🎧Ein paar Gedanken von @liviuhorovitz.bsky.social und mir zu Trumps "Golden Dome" im @swp-berlin.org Podcast Was genau die Ambitionen und Hürden sind, welche Risiken/Gefahren das Projekt birgt und warum das Ganze momentan nach strategischem Wunschdenken aussieht, gibt es hier zu hören:

The UN open-ended working group on the prevention of an arms race in outer space is continuing with a two-track structure focusing on legally binding obligations & voluntary measures, a compromise keeping all at the table, write @vsamsondc.bsky.social & @jessicawestphd.bsky.social for CIGI 9/10

Thanks to BBC World Service for the invitation to talk about space warfare, and join Raji Rajagopalan, Saadia Pekkanen, and @julianasuess.bsky.social www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/w...

🇵🇱🚀 Today @swp-berlin.org published @spacenukesam.bsky.social and my assessment on Poland as an emerging space actor. This is the German version, placed in the context of wider European capabilities.

Trump announced that US Space Command would be relocated from Colorado to Alabama, stating that Colorado’s use of mail-in voting—which he called “dishonest elections”—played a role in the decision-making process, reports @politico.com 7/10

The plane bringing EC President von der Leyen earlier this week to Bulgaria was not specifically jammed by Russia, but rather fell victim to routine interference linked to the broader fallout from the war in Ukraine, state the Bulgarian authorities, reports @politico.com 4/10

Andøya Space & Rheinmetall Nordic will cooperate to expand civilian & military space operations. The aim is to close gaps in the launch value chain by providing Tactical Responsive Launch capabilities and rapid commercial satellite deployment for Europe, writes @hartpunkt.bsky.social 3/10

A great interview with @planet4589.bsky.social is currently available to all (but apparently not for long) @thebulletin.org "So far, we’ve just been exporting the same panoply of issues that we have on Earth to space. And it’s time that we deal with them, while we have this window of opportunity."

We've known for some time that the Russian space industry is declining and wrestling with corruption, sanctions, etc. Now this statement coming out of Energia: they are having difficulty paying wages + delivering the spacecraft. Saying it'll "take a miracle" to save the corp.

Arms control; long-range fires & Ukraine; Iran’s nuclear program; Starship, Soyuz-5 & China's rockets; DPRK's secret base & more in this week’s STAND newsletter, a project by @swp-intsecurity.bsky.social, on recent news & analyses to better #underSTAND #nuclear #space #deterrence & #threats 1/10

Russia plans to launch its new Soyuz-5 rocket, cutting reliance on Ukraine by replacing the Zenit-2 booster with a domestic copy, writes @arstechnica.com t.ly/1GQw4, while China is prepping its first attempt to land & reuse rocket stages after launch, says @spacenewsinc.bsky.social t.ly/bqIQ3 7/10

SpaceX’s huge Super Heavy-Starship launched Tuesday, marking success for the most powerful rocket ever built after 3 prior failures. NASA counts on a Starship variant for its planned 2027 moon landing, while SpaceX already has its sights set on Mars, reports @cbsnews.com.web.brid.gy 6/10

It looks like Poland will cut its Starlink funding for Ukraine from October 1st. POL is said to have funded about half of all Starlink terminals in UKR and the subscription fees are stated to be $50 million/year kyivindependent.com/polish-presi...

🚀 Praktikum in Brüssel! Das SWP-Büro bietet Studierenden (m/w/d) ein 12-wöchiges Pflichtpraktikum ab Mitte September 2025. ➡️Einblicke in EU-Politik und Veranstaltungen 💶 450€ / Monat 🗓️ Bewerbungsfrist: 31.08.2025 👉 Mehr Infos: https://swp-berlin.pulse.ly/sijxsglktz

As space operations become more integrated, the US Army introduced the 40 Delta Space Operations Specialist military occupational specialty to understand space-based assets and translate satellite data without the need for external support, writes @spacenewsinc.bsky.social 3/10

Golden Dome will likely have 4 integrated layers: a space-based sensing & targeting layer for missile warning, tracking & missile defense + 3 land-based layers with missile interceptors, radar arrays & potentially lasers, says the Trump Admin, reports @reuters.com 2/10

Forte, an Estonian technology & science news website, says it has received detailed information about Russia’s Tobol system, which would be used as part of its strategic electronic warfare network and was suspected to be in Kaliningrad for some time 3/10

First UK-based private rocket firm Skyrora received a space launch license, allowing it to use the domestic SaxaVord Spaceport. Skyrora plans to launch its suborbital rocket Skylark L up to 16 times by 2030, reports BBC News 2/10

Ein Interview mit mir zu Anti-Satelliten Waffen und Maßnahmen - inklusive der Rolle Russlands und welche Wirkung eine Nuklerarexplosion im Weltraum hätte: www.rnd.de/politik/hybr...