Germany unveils lasers plan to counter Russia and China threats

Major General Michael Traut wants to disrupt adversary spacecraft

Germany is poised to invest €35 billion (£30 billion) in its military space capabilities, encompassing spy satellites, space planes, and offensive lasers.

This ambitious spending plan is designed to counter escalating orbital threats from Russia and China, according to the head of the country's space command.

Michael Traut, who leads the German Space Command, revealed to Reuters that Germany intends to construct an encrypted military constellation of over 100 satellites, known as SATCOM Stage 4, in the coming years.

Speaking on the fringes of a space event ahead of the Singapore Airshow, Mr Traut indicated that this network would emulate the model employed by the US Space Development Agency, a Pentagon unit focused on deploying low-Earth-orbit satellites for communications and missile tracking.

The potential investment follows recent reports of Rheinmetall engaging in discussions with German satellite manufacturer OHB regarding a joint bid for an undisclosed German military satellite initiative.

This development also aligns with a broader European effort, as leading space firms Airbus, Thales, and Leonardo seek to establish a European satellite communications alternative to Elon Musk's Starlink.

Mr Traut underscored that Germany's significant investment in military space architecture directly reflects a considerably more contested space environment since Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

Major General Michael Traut, Commander of German Space Command (REUTERS)

Berlin and its European allies, he said, needed to bolster their deterrence posture by investing not only in secure communications but also in capabilities that could hinder or disable hostile space systems.

"(We need to) improve our deterrence posture in space, since space has become an operational or even warfighting domain, and we are perfectly aware that our systems, our space capabilities, need to be protected and defended,” Traut said.

Germany will channel funding into intelligence‑gathering satellites, sensors and systems designed to disrupt adversary spacecraft, including lasers and equipment capable of targeting ground-based infrastructure, Traut said.

He added that Germany would prioritise small and large domestic and European suppliers for the programme.

Traut emphasised Germany would not field destructive weapons in orbit that could generate debris, but said a range of non-kinetic options existed to disrupt hostile satellites, including jamming, lasers and actions against ground control stations.

Major General Michael Traut said Berlin and its European allies needed to bolster their deterrence posture by investing not only in secure communications but also in capabilities that could hinder or disable hostile space systems (AFP via Getty Images)

He also pointed to so-called inspector satellites — small spacecraft capable of maneuvering close to other satellites — which he said Russia and China had already deployed.

"There is a broad range of possible effects in the electromagnetic spectrum, in the optical, in the laser spectrum, and even some active physical things like inspector satellites," he said.

"You could even go after ground segments of a space system in order to deny that system to your adversary or to tell him, 'If you do something to us in space, we might do something to you in other domains as well.'”