Military use of space

Our armed forces also make extensive use of satellites. Prolonged downtime can lead to chaos. More and more countries are focusing on the (military) use of space. Therefore, governments, businesses and society should be aware of our dependence on satellites.

White paper 'How escalation in space can lead to disruption on earth'

How do we do this? In this paper, TNO makes four recommendations to make us less vulnerable at civilian and military levels to satellite failure or misuse. In the event of a failure, for example, (air) traffic may be severely disrupted because GPS functionalities can no longer be used.

Such risks are so serious that NATO has announced its intention to add space to the traditional war arenas. Besides land, sea, air and cyber, space will be the fifth arena. "Space is no longer a benign environment", said a NATO spokesman.

These recommendations are important primarily to prevent disruption, but they also offer the Netherlands a scientific and economic opportunity, for example in the field of ‘space situational awareness’.

By cooperating with companies and knowledge institutions to focus on innovations on earth and in space, the Netherlands can become a global leader in protecting against escalations in space.