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Governments’ New Must-Have: Their Own Satellites
A desire for greater sovereign control over satellite services has boosted demand for satellite fleets across the globe.
A fracturing global order has more governments shopping for satellites.
Countries in Europe, the Middle East and Asia are investing in their own satellites or paying for exclusive access to private satellites. Their goal: ensuring steady communications, data and intelligence, critical for national security as conflict and geopolitical tensions spread.
“Satellite networks are the hidden hands behind our daily lives,” German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius said in a speech last September, when he announced plans to invest 35 billion euros, or roughly $41 billion, on space projects including satellites by 2030. “We all rely on data that is sent [through] orbit.”
MB Group, a conglomerate in Oman, on Monday said it struck a deal with San Francisco-based Astranis for an internet satellite. The nine-figure agreement will provide the Sultanate of Oman with sovereign control over its digital infrastructure and help MB support the country’s development goals, executives said.
Chunghwa Telecom, a Taiwanese provider partially owned by the government, last year acquired the same satellite design from Astranis, which develops smaller devices that provide internet links from an orbit more than 22,000 miles from Earth, where a single satellite can easily reach targeted coverage areas.
Taiwan has been looking to secure its internet access. Chinese-flagged vessels have cut undersea internet cables serving the island, The Wall Street Journal has reported.
“Countries want dedicated, resilient infrastructure they control,” Astranis Chief Executive John Gedmark said. “The world is a more complicated place and a more dangerous place than a few years ago.”
Playing defense
The push by nations to set up their own satellite assets is often part of broader efforts to increase defense spending. Satellites have long been strategic assets for governments, and their importance for national security has been driven home by their central role in Ukraine’s fight against Russia.
About a year ago, the Pentagon’s National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency temporarily stopped sharing satellite imagery with Ukraine at a moment of heightened tensions between the White House and the country. The sharing resumed, but the pause alarmed government leaders in Ukraine and elsewhere.
Ukraine has relied on SpaceX’s Starlink satellite fleet to keep it connected during the war. SpaceX CEO Elon Musk’s decisions about how the system could be used at times upset Ukrainian officials.
Many leaders want control over satellites because they worry private companies could limit access, according to space-industry executives.
Ukraine’s experience with Starlink has influenced European planning for a 290-satellite network. The constellation is designed to provide secure communications for governments, while also addressing problems such as internet-connectivity dead zones.
National interest
Spending on space-related projects is expected to rise in many countries, giving companies new opportunities to sell their wares and services. In the U.S., the Pentagon is a prized client for satellite operators, given its sizable budget.
Jeff Bezos’ space company Blue Origin said last week that it would develop a new satellite-internet network for government and corporate customers. Planet Labs, a company specializing in Earth imagery satellites, in 2025 disclosed national security-focused agreements with a Japanese company, as well as with the German government.
This month Planet Labs said it signed a new deal with the Swedish Armed Forces that involves providing the country’s military with satellites and data.
“We’re seeing very strong demand signals for satellite services driven by our current geopolitical landscape and the demand for sovereign access to space,” Planet Labs CEO Will Marshall told investors in December.
Governments have looked to support local companies, seeing them as strategic for security objectives or other goals.
In 2024, Canada’s government provided a roughly $1.6 billion loan (reported as $2.1 billion Canadian dollars) to Ottawa-based Telesat for its planned Lightspeed satellite-communications network. Satellite company Eutelsat, based near Paris, raised funds from the British and French governments last year.
“It’s just become evident that as much as you may want, and obviously you also should cooperate and partner with your allies, it is a wise thing to also have your own resources in case of contingencies or in case of complications in geopolitical spheres,” said Hermann Ludwig Moeller, director of the European Space Policy Institute.
Write to Micah Maidenberg at micah.maidenberg@wsj.com
