If you want to understand just how important space has become, there are few better people to listen to than Major General Paul Tedman CBE. He is the commander of UK Space Command. Your author was privileged to hear him speak last week. UK Space Command was established in 2021 and has three functions: space operations, space workforce generation and space capability.
Space is becoming increasingly contested, congested and competitive. This was the thesis of our June 2025 note on the topic. Major General Paul reinforced this point, describing space as “a domain of strategic importance.” Astro-politics is the new geopolitics. As the Major General highlighted, whoever controls space, effectively controls air, land and naval capabilities too.
Science fiction is fast becoming science fact. The cost of launching anything into space has fallen by a factor of at least 10 in the last 20 years and will fall much further in the next 20 years. As a result, expect more satellites to be launched into space and use cases to grow. Crucially, everything that gets launched into space will be inherently dual use, serving both military and commercial purposes. Think not just data insights (on climate, location and more) but also manufacturing and mining for new mineral sources. Habitable space colonies may follow in time.
The global space economy may be worth $600bn today but could triple in value over the next decade. Even at today’s size space is “fundamentally important to our prosperity,” according to the Major General. We were told that around 20% of the UK economy is reliant on the information provided by satellite services. Use this figure as a proxy for other large, developed economies. Have no doubt, the race for space is on, and will only accelerate.
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Originally Posted on December 3, 2025 – Astro-politics
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