João Lupi highlights Europe’s autonomy in Space as a strategic priority

João Lupi, associated partner at Abreu Advogados, has published today, in ECO, the opinion piece “A landmark week for the future of Space,” in which he highlights three developments he considers decisive for the future of European space policy.

The recent launch of the Spectrum rocket, by Germany’s Isar Aerospace, which marked the first time a private European company put a launcher into orbit from continental European soil, stands out as one of the signs of Europe’s growing capability in this sector. Alongside this, he draws attention to the scale of the investment announced by SpaceX in the United States and to the new European vision for access to Space presented by the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen.

For João Lupi, these developments share a common thread: European autonomy in access to Space. The lawyer stresses that this is now a matter of strategic security, with implications for areas as significant as telecommunications, defence and Earth observation.

“Europe has the ingredients it needs to succeed,” he argues, noting, however, that the scale of the international space race calls for a more ambitious and coordinated response from the old continent.

Faced with this new landscape, João Lupi concludes that Europe is at a decisive moment, warning: “this is the moment to decide whether we want to run the race or just watch it.”

Read the full article here.