By Stephanie Dwilson | 2026-05-19

As Europe seeks to reduce its reliance on foreign military infrastructure amid growing geopolitical tensions, a new Polish-French satellite alliance could mark a major step forward.

The new agreement, together with other cross-border industrial alliances, reflects Europe’s accelerating push to develop resilient and independent space defense capabilities.

Signed in late April, the agreement marks a joint effort by three European companies to develop a telecommunications satellite for Poland’s military.

Thales Alenia Space, Airbus Defense and Space, and the Polish company RADMOR will work together to develop a satellite system that can provide end-to-end encrypted communications and secure payloads for the Polish military.

The system will have a heavy focus on jamming resistance and cyber defense.

Push for space resilience

France’s President Emmanual Macron announced the alliance during a meeting with Poland’s Prime Minister Donald Tusk.

Once completed, the telecommunications system will help reduce Europe’s reliance on other countries and privately controlled foreign systems, such as Starlink.

European policymakers have increasingly emphasized the need for sovereign systems, pointing to world events like Russia’s invasion of Ukraine as a stark example of the risk of relying on outside providers.

The Poland-France agreement marks "a new chapter in European space cooperation on a scale that will enable the delivery of a reliable system for the Polish Armed Forces," RADMOR CEO Bartłomiej Zając said in a statement.

"This geostationary satellite project will embody the highest standards of resilience, cybersecurity, and anti-jamming technologies," said Thales Alenia Space president and CEO Hervé Derrey.

The project reflects "our commitment to strengthening European defense sovereignty," he said.

The telecommunications initiative is just one component of an overall push by Poland to expand its space defense and satellite communications infrastructure.

Other recent milestones for the nation include:

• Launching two new military satellites in March
• Begining work in March on a Sentinel Space Layer that uses artificial intelligence and radar sensors to track potential targets for a high-power microwave weapon
• Acquiring four microsatellites from Creotech Instruments in December 2024

European defense autonomy

The Poland-France initiative is part of the European Commission’s Readiness 2030 defense plan (formerly known as ReArm Europe) launched in March 2025.

Its overall goal is to help the European continent achieve defense autonomy by 2030, which includes developing a European Space Shield as one of its four flagship projects.

The framework will encourage European Union (EU) member states to join together in collaborative projects that boost the European defense industry’s production capacity.

This is expected to ultimately lead to greater autonomy and less reliance on systems outside the EU.

The goal, according to the EU, is "ensuring that Europe has the full range of capabilities needed to deter aggression and defend its territory across all domains, including land, air and sea, cyber and outer space."

"This partnership is what Europe working together is all about," Airbus Defence and Space head of space systems said in a statement.

"Partnering across borders for innovation and industrial competitiveness for a better-connected and safer world."