Global fracturing is pushing countries to build their own orbital infrastructure. From Europe to Asia and the Middle East, governments are spending billions to secure exclusive satellite access, fearing reliance on private players like SpaceX could become a wartime liability. Since Ukraine’s reliance on Starlink exposed the risks, countries are ramping up investment — with Germany pledging ~$41B by 2030.

• Taiwan’s Chunghwa Telecom bought satellites from Astranis after Chinese-linked ships cut undersea internet cables, per WSJ.
• Europe’s planned 290-satellite constellation aims to provide sovereign communications while eliminating connectivity dead zones.

Orbital arms race: Global space spending is accelerating, opening a bigger runway for satellite firms. In the US, the Pentagon remains one of the biggest customers, so rising defense budgets could benefit L3Harris TechnologiesLHX

, ViasatVSAT

, and Lockheed MartinLMT

. Similarly, Planet LabsPL

CEO Will Marshall told investors he’s “seeing very strong demand signals” for satellite services, driven by today’s geopolitical tensions and the push for sovereign access to space. Wars are unpredictable, so owning orbit might be the closest thing to certainty.