Germany’s space defense strategy marks a turning point. Private investors must now respond

Readers of this magazine have known for years what we, as investors, have also known for years: that the space sector is not some marginal realm of human activity, to be left to a handful of specialists operating on the sidelines of normal life. Rather, space is the backbone of the world economy, a domain of critical infrastructure, a theatre of economic and geopolitical competition and a lucrative opportunity for private-sector actors. And that’s to say nothing of the disproportionate part that those working in space have played either in creating or forcing advances in technology that today, almost none of us could do without: real-time operating systems, GPS, smoke detectors, the personal computer. Until recently, the mystery was why this vast sector was not seen in the light of this, its critical role in enabling our way of life.