https://spacewatch.global/space-economy-1/space-economy-featuring-articles/ AN INDEPENDENT PERSPECTIVE ON SPACE Thu, 12 Nov 2026 11:03:52 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=7.1.4 https://spacewatch.global/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/SpaceWatchGlobal-Sign-90x90.png https://spacewatch.global/space-economy-1/space-economy-featuring-articles/ 32 32 https://spacewatch.global/2026/11/spacewatchgl-opinion-sweden-doesnt-have-a-space-problem-it-has-a-buyer-problem/ Thu, 12 Nov 2026 10:00:00 +0000 https://spacewatch.global/?p=80149 At NextSpace in Gothenburg, speakers from the Nordics, Germany, Japan and the US agreed on one thing: Sweden’s space bottleneck is not technology or talent, but the way the state buys. Torsten Kriening analyses why trials rarely become orders, and why a government still in formation may be exactly the moment for a cross-party space pact.]]> https://spacewatch.global/2026/11/spacewatchgl-opinion-europes-next-sputnik-moment-wont-be-a-launch/ Tue, 10 Nov 2026 09:00:00 +0000 https://spacewatch.global/?p=80051
Written by Gilles Rabin.
Europe's space industry is entering a new era, driven by defence spending, industrial consolidation and the pressure to scale. From the relocation of Space Tech Expo to shifting power between ESA, the EU and national governments, Gilles Rabin examines whether Europe is ready for its next Sputnik moment.]]> https://spacewatch.global/2026/11/spacewatchgl-opinion-from-space-law-to-space-markets-what-unoosas-kenya-mission-could-change/ Thu, 05 Nov 2026 09:00:00 +0000 https://spacewatch.global/?p=79855
Written by Joshua Faleti
As Africa's space sector grows, national legislation is becoming more than a matter of treaty compliance. Ahead of UNOOSA's Regional Space Law Technical Advisory Mission in Kenya, Andrew Marchetti discusses how legal certainty, investment-friendly regulation and tailored governance frameworks can help African countries build sustainable domestic space economies.]]> https://spacewatch.global/2026/11/we-tell-children-they-can-become-astronauts-but-who-shows-them-everything-else/ Wed, 04 Nov 2026 09:00:00 +0000 https://spacewatch.global/?p=79832
Written by Judith Delany
We tell children they can become astronauts, but rarely show them the many other ways to work in space. Research shows that career aspirations take shape surprisingly early, influenced by stereotypes, social backgrounds and the role models children encounter. So why are we still presenting such a narrow picture of an industry that needs so many different talents?]]> https://spacewatch.global/2026/10/spacewatchgl-space-unromanced-closeted-in-the-cosmos/ Wed, 21 Oct 2026 08:00:00 +0000 https://spacewatch.global/?p=79188
Written by Raoul Cardellini Leipertz
The space sector likes to imagine itself as a glimpse of humanity's future. Some of the people building that future are still deciding how much of themselves the room can handle.]]> https://spacewatch.global/2026/10/spacewatchgl-review-the-risk-you-cannot-inspect-meidad-parientes-the-art-of-robust-design/ Fri, 16 Oct 2026 08:00:00 +0000 https://spacewatch.global/?p=79080 Meidad Pariente spent 31 years building satellites before he started insuring them. His new book, The Art of Robust Design: A Guide to Resilient Spacecraft Engineering in the New Space Era, is a practical field manual for New Space engineers, and it makes a case that reaches well beyond the cleanroom: the risk insurers often misjudge is the culture of the team that built the satellite.]]> https://spacewatch.global/2026/10/spacewatchgl-recap-riyadh-day-two-allocation-is-not-authorisation/ Wed, 14 Oct 2026 07:30:00 +0000 https://spacewatch.global/?p=78979 Day two in Riyadh moved from principles to plumbing: licences, spectrum, filings and the countdown to WRC-27. Egypt’s regulator delivered the line of the day, “allocation is not authorisation”. STC and AST SpaceMobile put a date on D2D, ANFR flagged Europe’s looming 2 GHz MSS decision, and a new report priced business-as-usual debris losses at up to $42 billion over a decade.]]> https://spacewatch.global/2026/10/spacewatchgl-recap-iac-2026-day-two-who-takes-over-when-the-iss-goes/ Wed, 07 Oct 2026 07:30:00 +0000 https://spacewatch.global/?p=78688 On the second day of IAC 2026's Global Networking Forum, commercial station CEOs, the Orion industrial team, Aselsan and Italy's space leaders laid bare the dependencies of the post-ISS era. Torsten Kriening on the end of Crew Dragon, Artemis II lessons, Leonardo's constellation and Türkiye's AstraLink.]]> https://spacewatch.global/2026/10/spacewatchgl-space-unromanced-its-not-what-you-know-its-who-you-orbit/ Mon, 05 Oct 2026 08:00:00 +0000 https://spacewatch.global/?p=78492
Written by Raoul Cardellini Leipertz
Merit matters, but merit rarely becomes visible on its own. In Space, Unromanced, Raoul Cardellini Leipertz examines the hidden curriculum, professional networks, institutional prestige and sheer luck that shape who gets noticed, supported and ultimately welcomed into the space sector.]]> https://spacewatch.global/2026/10/spacewatchgl-opinion-a-satellite-is-only-the-beginning-tanzanias-kibocube-path-to-lasting-space-capability/ Fri, 02 Oct 2026 08:00:00 +0000 https://spacewatch.global/?p=78445
Written by Joshua Faleti
TanzaniteSat-1 is more than a first satellite mission. Tanzania and Côte d'Ivoire are using KiboCUBE to build skills, infrastructure, commercial opportunities and regional partnerships that could support lasting national space capabilities.]]> https://spacewatch.global/2026/09/spacewatchgl-opinion-achievement-is-not-capability-spaces-next-industrial-test-is-repeatability/ Thu, 24 Sep 2026 08:00:00 +0000 https://spacewatch.global/?p=78046
Written by Alexandru Marian
Technical success does not automatically create industrial capability. Alexandru Marian examines why repeatability, from supply chains and production to governance and security, is becoming the next competitive test for the space sector.]]> https://spacewatch.global/2026/09/spacewatchgl-space-unromanced-no-passport-no-moonshot/ Wed, 23 Sep 2026 08:00:00 +0000 https://spacewatch.global/?p=78032
Written by Raoul Cardellini Leipertz
The space sector calls itself international, but passports, visas, sponsorship rules and nationality restrictions still determine who can study, travel and work within it. In Space, Unromanced, Raoul Cardellini Leipertz asks what the global competition for talent looks like when not everyone is allowed to enter the race.]]> https://spacewatch.global/2026/09/spacewatchgl-orbital-venturing-chapter-6-endgame/ Tue, 22 Sep 2026 08:00:00 +0000 https://spacewatch.global/?p=77974
Written by Jascha Langenberg
Reaching maturity is not the end of a space start-up’s journey. Chapter 6 explores how companies shift from R&D to financial discipline, the realities of IPOs and M&A, and what a successful exit can look like in Europe’s space sector.]]> https://spacewatch.global/2026/09/spacewatchgl-gray-space-pixxel-from-students-dream-to-winning-bet-hyperspectral-opportunities-for-europe/ Mon, 21 Sep 2026 08:00:00 +0000 https://spacewatch.global/?p=77911
Written by Christophe Bosquillon
From a Bengaluru student dormitory to US government contracts and a $100 million Series C, Pixxel bet early on hyperspectral Earth observation. Christophe Bosquillon asks what its trajectory can teach Europe as the hyperspectral market approaches a potential inflection point.]]> https://spacewatch.global/2026/09/spacewatchgl-recap-europe-signs-the-blueprint-then-someone-asked-who-was-missing/ Fri, 18 Sep 2026 09:00:00 +0000 https://spacewatch.global/?p=77840 ESA signed two competing architecture studies for the EU's future Earth Observation Governmental Service - one led by Leonardo, one by ICEYE. Two hours later, a question from the floor exposed who wasn't in either consortium. From the final day of World Space Business Week and the Summit on Earth Observation Business.]]> https://spacewatch.global/2026/09/spacewatchgl-opinion-europe-doesnt-need-more-projects-it-needs-a-market/ Thu, 17 Sep 2026 08:00:00 +0000 https://spacewatch.global/?p=77507
Written by Niels Buus
Europe knows how to fund projects. Building markets is harder. If its space companies are to compete globally, standards, procurement, infrastructure and strategic continuity may matter as much as another funding programme.]]> https://spacewatch.global/2026/09/spacewatchgl-opinion-europe-keeps-talking-about-a-funding-gap-is-that-really-the-problem/ Tue, 15 Sep 2026 08:00:00 +0000 https://spacewatch.global/?p=77483
Written by Niels Buus
Europe’s space sector wants investors to take more risk. But not every company struggling to raise capital is evidence of a funding gap. Sometimes the harder question is whether the opportunity is investable at all.]]> https://spacewatch.global/2026/09/spacewatchgl-recap-wsbw-day-one-the-money-is-here-the-business-models-arent-finished/ Tue, 15 Sep 2026 07:00:00 +0000 https://spacewatch.global/?p=77692
Written by Torsten Kriening
Five days after the International Space Summit set Europe's ambition, WSBW spent Monday asking who pays for it. Aschbacher confirmed ESA will put a crew transportation decision to ministers in Rome. The financing panel confirmed many listed space companies trade well below IPO. And from Riyadh to Luanda, two very different answers to what sovereignty actually means. Torsten Kriening's day one recap from Paris.]]> https://spacewatch.global/2026/09/spacewatchgl-opinion-leo-economics-are-decided-in-the-chipset-not-the-launch-bay/ Mon, 14 Sep 2026 08:00:00 +0000 https://spacewatch.global/?p=77515
Written by Ian Lankshear
Launch cadence may dominate the headlines, but the economics of LEO connectivity are increasingly decided on the ground. Ian Lankshear argues that custom silicon, common terminal architectures and scale will determine which networks can reach mass-market adoption.]]> https://spacewatch.global/2026/09/spacewatchgl-opinion-everyone-uses-space-so-why-does-space-still-struggle-to-make-its-case/ Wed, 09 Sep 2026 08:00:00 +0000 https://spacewatch.global/?p=77369
Written by Walter Peeters
Space infrastructure underpins everyday life, yet its benefits and economic returns often remain invisible to the public. An ISU-led study proposes a three-phase roadmap to build awareness, understanding and long-term support for space exploration.]]>