Let’s face it folks, 2025 in general was a pretty wild year. I mean, Taylor Swift got engaged, for heaven’s sake!
And that unsettling zeitgeist seems to have permeated all the way up the heavens — bringing with it a lot of churn in the military space domain, including some potentially paradigm-shifting changes. Find below a compendium of space stories that this reporter, for one, did not have on her bingo card back in January.
[This article is one of many in a series in which Breaking Defense reporters look back on the most significant (and entertaining) news stories of 2025 and look forward to what 2026 may hold.]
1. In historic shift, ESA poised to take on defense role
While European Space Agency Director Josef Aschbacher had been talking up his plans for about six months prior to the Nov. 26-27 ESA ministerial meeting, it was still somewhat of a shock for us old-timers that the agency’s 23 member states would really, truly vote to explicitly take on a defense-support role. And with a billion-euro funding package to boot! A decade ago — hell, even five years ago — if a reporter even suggested that an ESA program might have dual-use military capabilities, agency officials would have blanched pale green and quietly but quickly disappeared from the room.
2. EXCLUSIVE: US loosens some rules for offensive counterspace ops, wargaming
There are a few (OK, very few but …) advantages to being older than dirt, and one of them is personal knowledge of the past that can’t be retconned by current politicians. So trust me on this one: The push by the Space Force and US Space Command (SPACECOM) to gain more decision-making control over the use of anti-satellite (ASAT) weapons — authority that historically has been closely held by the president and/or secretary of defense — is a big deal, even if the details are sparse. IMHO, it actually is likely that the true extent of the changes, which remain shrouded by secrecy, are even more far-reaching.
3. EXCLUSIVE: DoD envisions prize competition for boost-phase SBI prototypes
Honestly, pretty much everything happening with regard to space-based interceptors (SBIs) for President Donald Trump’s Golden Dome initiative is a bit weird — if only for the déjà vu-vibe for those us who remember Ronald Reagan’s “Star Wars” era. But an SBI development strategy that relies largely on self-funding by industry, with no real promise of contractual reward, kinda takes the cake, even by 2025 standards. Coupled with what seems to be pretty fast and loose implementation plan, SBI development (or lack thereof in the case of boost-phase systems) is going to be an issue to watch next year, with plenty of popcorn on hand.
4. Space Force ponders shakeup to LEO satellite strategy, potentially hiring SpaceX for data relay
The fact that SpaceX has turned its sights from dominating the global space launch market to dominating the global satellite operator market — across mission areas from communications to Earth observation — probably shouldn’t be a surprise to anyone. But the willingness of the Defense Department and Intelligence Community to rely on sole-source contracts with a firm that is famous for not wanting to share its toys is still an eyebrow raiser. This is especially so after all the time and words spent over the last few years by the Space Force about the need to move to a more competitive acquisition strategy to help expand the space industrial base.
5. NGA suspends Ukraine’s access to commercial satellite imagery
While the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency’s (NGA) move to cut off of Ukraine’s access to its database of unclassified commercial imagery lasted barely longer than a week, it was in many respects a veritable shot heard ’round the world. The move — which came in the wake of Trump’s decision to “pause” the flow of US intelligence and military aid to Kyiv to push peace talks with Russia — arguably has had widespread ramifications in Europe. These include new initiatives by the European Union, ESA (see above) and pushing key NATO allies to pursue “strategic autonomy” in space, backed by real money. This is another key space to watch next year as programs solidify.