Search on Ifri.org

About Ifri

Frequent searches

Suggestions

Space

Description

Satellite constellations, new launchers, lunar programs... Innovations in the space sector are shaking up global political, industrial and strategic dynamics.

Related Subjects

Image Taxonomie
The new Ship Rocket flies to another planet. A spaceship flies into starry airspace. The rocket begins its mission into space. Concept. Journey to the cosmos.
See all
Publications
Image principale

China's Ambitions in Space: The Sky's the Limit

Date de publication
20 January 2021
Accroche

From the dawn of China’s space program in the mid-1950s to the ability to build, launch and operate satellites in low Earth and geosynchronous orbits from the 1980s, the People’s Republic of China (PRC) is in 2021 a complete space power with autonomous access to outer space and to deep-space exploration.

Image principale

Russia’s Space Policy: The Path of Decline?

Date de publication
07 January 2021
Accroche

With the advent of New Space, Russia is engaged in a race against time to preserve one of its major industrial assets.

Image principale

Space as a Key Element of Europe's Digital Sovereignty

Date de publication
15 December 2020
Accroche

At the end of year 2020, the European space sector finds itself at a crossroads between challenges and opportunities. While the 2019 European Space Agency (ESA) Ministerial Conference marked a progression in terms of budgets, a sign of renewed space ambitions, the technological and financial acceleration from the United States represents a disruptive scenario that poses threats to the continuity of European space capabilities. 

Image principale

Revolutionary by Design: The US National Security State and Commercialization in the US Space Sector

Date de publication
03 December 2020
Accroche

The US space sector, comprised of its government organizations and its commercial industry, is leading the revolution in space, often called "new space". 

Image principale

Current and Future Trends in Chinese Counterspace Capabilities

Date de publication
27 November 2020
Accroche

China is in the midst of a long-term effort to develop a world-class space program with a strong military and national security component. 

Image principale

Japan’s Space Program: Shifting Away from “Non-Offensive” Purposes?

Date de publication
15 July 2020
Accroche

Japan’s space program has evolved greatly since the end of the Cold War, driven by a rapidly changing geopolitical environment and tailored by the emergence of an “intra-alliance hedging strategy”.

Image principale

India’s Space Program - International Competition and Evolution

Date de publication
16 December 2019
Accroche

India’s space program has grown and evolved significantly in the last five decades. The program originally focused on developing space assets that provided direct developmental benefits, for example telecommunications and remote sensing satellites that helped both in improving communication facilities and giving direct assistance to India’s farmers. But over time, India has shifted a part of its focus towards space exploration and other high-profile missions that do not have as clear a developmental purpose as earlier. This includes, for example, India’s Mars and Moon exploratory missions. Overall, India has been fairly successful in these efforts and its space program has become a comprehensive one that includes not only a robust launch capacity and very large remote sensing satellite systems, but also a very well rounded scientific and deep space exploratory program.

Image principale

Assessing Europe's Space Dependency and Its Implications

Date de publication
21 June 2019
Accroche

It is a classic exercise to imagine what today’s world would be like if all satellites were shut down. The exact consequences of such a scenario, which is not unlikely given the inherent vulnerability of space systems to natural, accidental and deliberate interferences, are however difficult to appreciate, even for specialists. 

Image principale

European Space Programs and the Digital Challenge

Date de publication
24 November 2017
Accroche

The exploration of space and the use of digital tools and systems have in common to be quite recent in human history but to have changed the world, society and economy by connecting people and things, breaking down borders, and redistributing knowledge, power and control. 

Image principale

New Space: The Impact of the Digital Revolution on Space Actors and Policies in Europe

Date de publication
17 January 2017
Accroche

Like most “traditional” industries, for several years the space industry has been faced with the challenges of digital technology. So, the European space industry is dealing with new actors from digital technology, which are mainly American start-ups or Silicon Valley giants such as GAFA (Google, Amazon, Facebook and Apple)

Support independent French research

Ifri, a foundation recognized as being of public utility, relies largely on private donors – companies and individuals – to guarantee its sustainability and intellectual independence. Through their funding, donors help maintain the Institute's position among the world's leading think tanks. By benefiting from an internationally recognized network and expertise, donors refine their understanding of geopolitical risk and its consequences on global politics and the economy. In 2024, Ifri will support more than 70 French and foreign companies and organizations.

Ramses Conference, 2024
Related centers and programs
Image principale
Russian spaceship in orbit of planet Earth, View from the ISS station
Space Program
Accroche centre

Space has become a crucial theme in the main international think tanks’ research activities as it entails important strategic, economic, and technological issues.

Since 2001, Ifri has integrated space in its research, notably by ensuring that the political dimension of scientific and human exploration programs is emphasized, and by supporting reflections on the Code of Conduct for Outter Space Activities.

Today, as part of its research agenda, Ifri mobilizes several of its centers and programs to transversally tackle the theme of space, through three main inputs:

  • the competition of powers, driven by the Sino-American rivalry;
  • critical points related to mastery of space, such as the issue of autonomous access to space or the mega-constellations necessary for the digital revolution;
  • these developments’ challenges for Europe and its status as a space power.

Since the Summer 2020, Ifri has been coordinating a tripartite European Space Governance Initiative, together with two other renowned European think tanks: the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Auswärtige Politik (DGAP) in Germany and the Istituto Affari Internazionali (IAI) in Italy.

View more
Page image credits
Ship Rocket
© Alones/Shutterstock