As governments accelerate investment in military space capabilities, the challenge is shifting from developing individual systems to building resilient, interoperable architectures that can operate at scale.
Space defense is entering a new phase. Growing geopolitical tensions, the increasing reliance on satellite-enabled services in military operations, and the rapid expansion of orbital infrastructure are fundamentally reshaping national security priorities.
At the Space Defense & Security Summit (SDSS) 2026 in Paris, Pacôme Révillon, CEO of Novaspace, presented the market and technological developments driving this transformation, highlighting a sector facing unprecedented investment, expanding operational requirements and increasingly compressed timelines.
Government investment is accelerating
According to Novaspace Market Intelligence, global government space defense budgets have increased from $53 billion in 2022 to $74 billion in 2025, and are projected to reach $121 billion by 2028.
Today, 55 countries have dedicated space defense budgets, while 30 have established space commands.
This expansion reflects a broader shift in how nations approach space security. Space is no longer simply a supporting capability for terrestrial operations. It is becoming an increasingly contested operational domain, requiring dedicated strategies, organizations, infrastructure and resources.
Sovereignty is reshaping space architectures
Governments are reconsidering how they secure access to critical capabilities, from intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) to secure connectivity, positioning, navigation and timing, and space domain awareness.
Sovereign constellation programs are expanding across multiple regions, while defense architectures increasingly combine national, allied and commercial assets.
Resilience is also becoming a defining design principle. Distributed constellations, multi-orbit architectures, redundancy and rapid reconstitution are gaining importance as governments seek to maintain operational continuity in contested environments.
The challenge is no longer simply to own space assets, but to ensure freedom of action, continuity of service and interoperability across increasingly complex systems.
New capabilities, new operational demands
The scale of the transformation is significant.
Novaspace forecasts more than 6,500 Earth observation satellites to be launched by 2035, with defense-owned systems accounting for a growing share of activity.
Military satellite communications are undergoing an equally profound change. Commercial non-geostationary orbit (NGSO) capacity is becoming increasingly important, with commercial NGSO usage for defense expected to exceed 5.6 Tbps by 2035.
Meanwhile, space surveillance is evolving toward more comprehensive space domain awareness, supported by increasingly multilayered ground- and space-based architectures.
These developments create new opportunities, but also greater demands for integration, coordination and operational readiness.
From procurement to operations: the next challenge
For governments and industry, the central challenge is increasingly one of execution.
Accelerating capability delivery requires more than technological innovation. It demands closer alignment between operational requirements, procurement processes, industrial capacity and international cooperation.
Speed and scale, interoperability, the orchestration of assets and resources, and sustained dialogue between defense organizations and industry will be critical.
The next phase of space defense will be defined not only by how much nations invest, but by how effectively they transform those investments into capabilities that remain operational under pressure.
This was the central perspective shared by Pacôme Révillon at SDSS 2026, where military, government, institutional and industry leaders gathered to examine the strategic and operational future of space defense and security.