The European Competitiveness Fund and the Reframing of Europe’s Security-Relevant Space Financing
EUSPA’s post-2027 role as an early signal of a shift from defence R&D to industrial-scale competitiveness
17 pages · PDF · 09 April 2026 · Licensed single-user copy, watermarked to the buyer
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About this report
Europe has already built a dense and operational space architecture with direct relevance to security and defence, spanning secure connectivity, Earth observation, navigation, and space surveillance. The issue is no longer the existence of these capabilities, but the logic through which they are financed, scaled, and governed.
Until now, the Union has largely approached defence-relevant space through programme-specific instruments and capability-oriented funding models, particularly in the form of topic-based calls and collaborative R&D consortia.
Key questions this report answers
- How does the European Competitiveness Fund reframe the financing of Europe's security-relevant space capabilities?
- What is the empirical perimeter of dual-use space (secure connectivity, Earth observation, navigation, space surveillance) and EUSPA's current role?
- How does IRIS2 serve as a case study in infrastructure-scale dual-use space?
- What are the implications for governance, capital access and industrial hierarchy across the European space-industrial base?
Inside this report
- Opening
- Empirical perimeter of security-relevant and dual-use space
- Baseline architecture and the current EUSPA role
- The 7 April 2026 EUSPA proposal as institutional signal
- European Competitiveness Fund architecture and its space–defence interfaces
- IRIS² as a case study in infrastructure-scale dual-use space
- Industrial mapping and positioning across the European space-industrial base
- From EDF calls to competitiveness-platform financing
- Implications for governance, capital access, and industrial hierarchy
Who it's for
Strategy, corporate-development and investment teams that need an ecosystem-level view — budgets, industrial capacity and technology landscapes — before committing capital or capacity.
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Methodology, format & delivery
DFM reports are built from primary and official sources — TED procurement notices, CORDIS and the EU Funding & Tenders Portal, EIB operations, the NATO Innovation Fund portfolio, SIPRI data, official budget documents and company disclosures — read together with the underlying legal texts. Sources are cited in the document; it reflects them as of its publication date (09 April 2026). You receive a 17-page PDF, watermarked to you on every page, delivered on the confirmation page and by e-mail immediately after checkout (personal link valid 72 hours, up to 5 downloads). Guest checkout, single-user licence — Terms of Sale.
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