EU sovereignty is ‘a need’ in the space, Sateliot CEO says

Now let's reach for the stars. As competition in space intensifies, Europe is looking to secure its own sovereignty, less dependent on American technology and private players like Elon Musk's Starlink. Earlier this year, the US doubled down on its IRIS satellite project, while French President Emmanuel Macron went a step further, calling for Europe to become a global space power by 2035. But with Europe still trailing the U.S. and China, can it close the gap? Joining me now in the studio is Jaime Sanz Peira, the CEO of Spanish tech specialist Satelliot. Welcome to the show and thanks for being here. Thank you very much, Stefan. So your company describes its mission as advancing Europe's technological independence through sovereign satellite infrastructure. So is Europe finally waking up to the fact that dependence on foreign technology can become a security risk? We have not to see it as it can become. It's already happening today in Europe. We are full dependent on third parties, on third countries, and this is something that we have to solve. It is a square, it's one of the solutions, but we intend to complement it as a square with 5G communications around the world. But isn't there a danger that technological sovereignty can become protectionism? Can Europe be sovereign without becoming technologically isolated? Sovereignty is a need. And the standards, it's an open way to work on that. Then we believe that Europe needs to wake up, needs to have their own solution, and need to offer this solution to the rest of the world, you know, not to become dependent on just two blocks. And do you see this happening? Yes, this is happening. The European industry is waking up. The European industry is advanced. We have the standards. We have the technology. We have the capability, the industrial base. Why not could we build up here European champions for the global solution? And the EU Space Act is supposed to create a single European framework for space activity. From an industry's perspective, will this reduce fragmentation or just create another layer of regulation? This will reduce fragmentation with no doubt. The intention of the European Commission is to have just one framework, that you don't have to go country by country, having their own permissions, their own rules. And Starlink, the company of Elon Musk, has demonstrated the strategic power of satellite connectivity in Ukraine. Does Europe need its own equivalent, not just for commercial reasons, but also for security and defense? Critical infrastructures of Europe today depend already on space communications, financial transactions, logistics, defense, security. Then Europe needs to have their own sovereignty on space. And this is something that we don't have to say no. We have to go ahead. And with this, we are going to have power, not just in Europe, but in the rest of the world. And on AI, a much debated issue these days everywhere. Europe has built one of the strongest regulatory framework, but there is now a growing fear that regulation could make Europe less competitive. Now, has Europe regulated too much too early? Europe has their own values, and those values have to be present on AI as well as they are on the technologies. We believe that these values, it's the one that has to be adopted, not just in Europe, but also in the rest of the world. And if there is one task that policymakers, industry, the public administrations need to do most urgently, what is that, in your opinion? We need to push the European industry in order to become global champions. This is something that we must, and this is exactly the same that is doing China, it's exactly the same that is doing the United States, China, and we were still behind China and the United States, is this a gap that we can ever catch up? For sure we have all the elements to be there, I'm absolutely optimist