Speaking at the Space FEST conference in Bucharest on Monday, Deputy Secretary General Mircea Geoana said that "competition in space is fierce and is becoming fiercer" and that "this has implications for our economy, but also for our security".
In his virtual address Mr. Geoana said that space is "becoming more crowded, more promising, and also more dangerous, and indeed more unpredictable", noting that hundreds of new satellites are launched every year.
He highlighted that space assets are essential for military operations "to navigate, track forces, gather intelligence, and detect missile launches".
He said that "we must make our space assets more resilient" and noted that individual Allies are setting up national space commands and that NATO has established a dedicated Space Centre at Allied Air Command in Ramstein.
Stressing that NATO Allies are still home to the "largest space technology ecosystem in the world", Mr. Geoana said that "competitors are investing heavily in advanced space technologies" and that to "maintain our lead and keep space safe, we have to accelerate innovation and sharpen our technological edge".
Space FEST is an event dedicated to the exploration of outer space and the opportunities it offers, organised by the Politehnica University in Bucharest and the Aim Higher Consortium in Romania.
