German Space Strategy in Times of Geopolitical Turbulence

The author examines a field that has received little attention to date: the geopolitical and security policy turning point resulting from Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine, and its implications for Germany’s space strategy. Drawing on the concepts of hedging and balancing, and based on qualitative expert interviews, the author demonstrates that the war acts more as a catalyst than a genuine turning point. Chronic underfunding and bureaucratic inertia prevent a fundamental shift in strategy, and the growing unreliability of the United States intensifies Germany’s security dilemma in space. The intersection of geopolitics and space strategy offers valuable insights for astropolitics and political science research.