'Space Is Now a Battlefield': Macron Unveils €4.3B Defense Plan And Appeals To Startups

In a sobering address at France's new military space command center in Toulouse this week, President Emmanuel Macron warned that the era of peaceful space exploration has ended and that hostile nations have transformed Earth's orbit into a new theater of war requiring unprecedented defensive measures.

"Space is no longer a sanctuary; it has become a battlefield," Macron told military officials at the Space Command facility in Toulouse, detailing a litany of aggressive acts by what he termed "powers of aggression" that have brought terrestrial conflicts into the cosmos.

To counter these threats, France is expanding its military space capabilities with an additional €4.2 billion investment through 2030, bringing total military space spending to over €10 billion. The funding will accelerate development of what Macron described as "active defense" systems designed to protect French satellites and, if necessary, neutralize threats in orbit.

During his speech, Macron spoke of lasers, patrol satellites, and the growing menace of Russia from above. But for France's space entrepreneurs, he delivered a succinct message:

We want you.

"The domestic market for startups must natively be the European market," Macron declared, signaling a fundamental shift in how France views its space entrepreneurs.

In other words, he is signalling that the government would stop viewing them as scrappy outsiders, but essential partners in a new space race where commercial innovation and military capability are increasingly intertwined.

Will that happen?

A Five-Pillar Strategy with Startups at Its Core

Space and defense are major industries in France. France's space sector encompasses 1,700 companies generating €10.8 billion in annual revenue and supporting 70,000 jobs. Companies like Airbus, Safran, Dassault, and Thales have long dominated while entrepreneurs and VCs have long complained that the government has been slow to embrace outsiders following the commercial model of the U.S., NASA, and SpaceX.

Macron sought to shift that conversation in somewhat dramatic fashion this week by painting the nation as effectively under siege from above.

The French president singled out Russia for particular criticism. "We are witnessing espionage by Russia of our satellites through patrol vessels, massive jamming of GPS signals, cyber attacks against our space infrastructure," Macron said, including: "the particularly shocking Russian threat of nuclear weapons in space, whose effects would be disastrous for the entire world."

According to the Élysée Palace, recent intelligence indicates Russia has deployed a program called "Sputnik S" specifically designed to position nuclear weapons in orbit, a development that would violate the 1967 Outer Space Treaty and fundamentally alter the strategic balance in space.

To counter these threats, the additional funding announced by Macron is intended to accelerate development of "active defense" systems designed to protect French satellites and, if necessary, neutralize threats in orbit.

Starting in 2027, France will deploy its first "patrol-inspector" satellites—Orbit Guard and Toutatis—capable of approaching hostile spacecraft to conduct surveillance, jamming, or other defensive actions. These satellites will function like "little fighter jets," according to presidential advisors, maneuvering close to suspicious objects in space to assess threats and potentially disable enemy systems.

Perhaps more dramatically, France is developing ground-based directed-energy weapons, including various types of lasers and electromagnetic jammers operating across different frequency ranges. These systems are designed to blind enemy observation satellites or disrupt their communications without creating the dangerous debris field that would result from kinetic weapons.

"We invest in means of action from the ground and space while respecting international law, but without any naivety," Macron stated. "Today's war is already being played out in space, and tomorrow's war will begin in space."

The militarization of space that Macron described extends beyond theoretical threats. French officials cited examples of satellites conducting "irresponsible, illegal, and even hostile actions," including close approaches to French military satellites, attempts to intercept communications, and the development of ground-based anti-satellite weapons by multiple nations.

"Our competitors are not waiting for us and now have the capacity to act in and toward space," the president warned.

These capabilities threaten not just military satellites but the entire space infrastructure modern society depends upon, from GPS navigation to weather forecasting to global communications.

A New Civil & Dual-Use Space Strategy

But from the perspective of startups, entrepreneurs, and VCs, there was a message every bit as important as the money.

Macron unveiled a sweeping upgrade of France’s civilian and dual-use space ambitions alongside its defense posture. His message is clear: If France wants to reclaim leadership in the global New Space race, entrepreneurs are central to the plan.

Among the plans to facilitate that:

Launch sector overhaul: France will accelerate Ariane 6, develop reusable low-cost launchers, and modernize Kourou to host small launchers and commercial partners, opening the door for agile New Space players.
Industrial reboot: A full redesign of the space industrial model aims to integrate startups with heritage primes, backed by a long-term national skills plan and state-supported scale-up pathways.
Climate & science missions expansion: France will deepen Earth-observation programs and scientific missions, creating fresh demand for EO analytics, sensors, micro-payloads, and climate-tech services.
In-orbit services & manufacturing: Macron called for a more “offensive” exploration strategy, including orbital cargo, in-orbit production, and long-term resource utilization, an emerging frontier tailor-made for startups.
European preference & scale: France will push for EU-wide “buy European” rules in institutional space procurement and support IRIS² and major industrial consolidation, giving startups a larger and more predictable home market.

For French space entrepreneurs who have long struggled to compete with better-funded American rivals, this represents a potential game-changer.

To drive home the message, Toulouse-based U-Space announced a €24 million Series A funding round coinciding with Macron's visit.

The company's plans for an 850-square-meter "U-Zine" production facility capable of churning out one satellite per day by 2027 exemplifies the kind of industrial-scale ambition France wants to cultivate. With three satellites already in orbit, U-Space represents the new breed of French space companies moving beyond PowerPoint presentations to actual hardware in space.

Certainly a positive sign. Still, France has a ways to go before it will close the New Space startup gap.

According to the French government, more than 100 French "NewSpace" startups have raised more than €650 million since 2013, creating a critical mass of entrepreneurial energy that the government is now determined to harness.

But as the latest Dealroom figures show, that funding has been volatile over the years, and it lags even many other European nations. And Europe in general is barely in the rearview mirror of the U.S. Likewise, Defense Tech has also lagged.

But the concept of "dual-use" has become the framing of choice to attract both more entrepreneurs and VCs who otherwise might be reluctant to get involved in anything related to defense.

Companies like Unseenlabs, which raised €85 million in 2024 for maritime surveillance satellites, exemplify this dual-use potential.

Their technology serves both commercial shipping companies tracking vessels and naval forces monitoring potential threats. Similarly, the planned Orbit Guard and Toutatis patrol satellites, set to launch in 2027, will likely rely heavily on technologies developed by France's commercial space sector.

This military investment creates what venture capitalists call "patient capital," long-term, stable funding that allows companies to develop complex technologies without the pressure of quarterly earnings reports. For deep-tech space startups that often require years to reach profitability, military contracts can provide the runway needed to achieve commercial viability.

Protectionism or Pragmatism?

Macron's most controversial declaration may prove his most important for French startups: the insistence on "European preference" for all institutional space contracts "without exception." Critics will undoubtedly cry protectionism, but Macron frames it as simple reciprocity.

"Would we be so naive to think that the Chinese can have Chinese exclusivity, the Americans an assumed American preference, and Europe should be the only player with the naivety to sometimes prefer others?" he asked, taking direct aim at European space agencies that have occasionally purchased American launch services.

For startups, this preference policy could be transformative.

It guarantees a substantial addressable market. The European Space Agency alone has an annual budget exceeding €7 billion. It would also provide the stable customer base needed to attract private investment.

When government contracts provide the foundation, venture capitalists become more willing to fund the commercial expansion.

The transformation of France's Space Command, inaugurated during Macron's visit, symbolizes this new reality. Once focused primarily on satellite communications and observation, the facility now serves as the nerve center for what amounts to France's fourth military domain, alongside land, sea, and air forces.