The war in Ukraine plays a clear role in the tensions between the current geopolitical power blocs. As a result, the world feels less safe than it did before the invasion by Russia. As an ally of NATO, this also requires the Netherlands to contribute to jointly taking appropriate measures. This also applies to the Dutch space sector, which has drawn up a proposal for this.

The proposition ‘Military use of Space’ was presented to Gijs Tuinman, the State Secretary for Defence, in The Hague today. “It is great that the sector is coming up with this proposal for its own Dutch Defence satellite constellation”, he says. “The urgency is great and we all realise that. Money, knowledge and resources go hand in hand. We must come up with appropriate and adequate answers as soon as possible to undesirable situations that may come our way in the near future.”

Mark van Venrooij, Vice President Aerospace Systems at NLR (Netherlands Aerospace Centre): “With government support, the Netherlands is able to launch high-quality satellite systems more quickly and to continue developing them with state-of-the-art innovations. These are essential elements to stay ahead of the threat in the future”.

Hendrik-Jan van Veen, Managing Director Defence and Security at TNO, adds: “The situation in Ukraine teaches us once again that the space domain is of great importance to guarantee security and information dominance. Strategic autonomy is also an important element in this”.

“The Netherlands is one of the leading European countries in the field of high-tech and reliable space solutions”, continues the chairman of the space industry association SpaceNed, Jeroen Rotteveel, who presented the proposition to the State Secretary. “It is therefore only logical that we respond to this together as a sector. SpaceNed forms a connecting link between all parties involved to stimulate the Dutch space sector, create opportunities for growth, and tackle these types of challenges for the Netherlands by means of space solutions”.

The network of satellites will be developed by various companies from the Dutch space industry, in collaboration with knowledge partners NLR and TNO. First of all FSO Instruments, which specialises in laser satellite communication. Then VDL-ETG. This works on the serial production of satellites. In addition, satellite developer ISISPACE and finally S[&]T, a technical company specialising in antennas, data processing and positioning, navigation and timing.

With a financial boost, the parties want to accelerate and intensify the existing plans of the Netherlands in the field of military space travel, by having the space system operational within a few years. In this way, the national industry can play a crucial role in preventing the Netherlands or Ukraine from becoming blind and deaf to current and future threats. State Secretary Tuinman emphasized the importance of this development and indicated that he will remain actively involved in the implementation of these plans in the coming weeks.