The EU money will incentivise joint purchases of military equipment by member states and help SMEs get to market. But the fund runs out in mid-2025 and plans for a longer term strategy are held up

More investment will ensure Europe takes a share of the future space economy, Josef Aschbacher, told MEPs. The ambition is to see ‘European astronauts, on a European capsule, on a European rocket’

Moves to police the afterlife of satellites will open up the market for in-orbit servicing and removal. Meanwhile, the increasing risk of collisions is inspiring development of new space debris monitoring technologies

Following the Russian invasion, the latest grants awarded by the European Defence Fund back technologies to improve the security of Europe. That is in contrast to earlier awards when the emphasis was on expeditionary capabilities

The race is on to be the first to launch a satellite from a base in Europe, but private space start-ups are finding it hard to get the investment they need for lift off -  and to build a competitive EU sector

The step up in funding is an opportunity to take a bigger role in ESA’s projects and grow Poland’s space sector. But the industry says without a national Polish space programme it will lack a sense of direction

Move comes after revelation that EU cash was flowing to Chinese telecoms giant’s European subsidiaries despite it recently being labelled 'high risk' by Brussels

The country’s new China strategy warns that Beijing now views even basic research through a military lens. But details on how the new policy will be implemented are lacking, and ministries appear confused over who has responsibility

Romanian MEPs on the research and industry committee say the European Defence Fund should allocate grants more evenly across member states

It’s not in Europe’s interest to decouple from China and given this, the emphasis now is on de-risking, Commission president Ursula von der Leyen tells MEPs.  The Commission will set out guidelines to help EU companies maintain ties - while protecting their technologies