Technology Supply Chain Security for Space and Defense

GMF and Swedish aerospace company ECAPS are partnering to hosting a closed-door roundtable in Brussels which will discuss strengthening secure and resilient technology supply chains for space and defense.

Sustained geopolitical competition, accelerating defense innovation cycles, and renewed attention to industrial resilience are increasing the strategic importance of secure access to enabling technologies. Advanced capabilities in space, at high altitudes, and under water depend on critical inputs such asspecialty fuels, batteries and semiconductors. Yet the supply and value chains supporting these technologies remain exposed to geopolitical disruption, concentrated dependencies, and suppliers in adversarial states.

This Brussels-based discussion will provide an opportunity for candid exchanges on pressing policy questions such as:

• Where do the US and Europe stand on supply chain security for the technologies that support forspace domain defense capabilities, such as batteries, fuels, and specialty semiconductors for satellites? 
• How can Europe and the United States identify and reduce strategic technological dependencies across space and defense supply chains without undermining innovation, interoperability, or operational readiness?
• What forms of cooperation between government and private industry are needed to address these dependencies effectively and at scale?
• As Europe pursues defense modernization and its own sovereign military capabilities, how should the United States and Europe decide what to build together versus what Europe should build for itself?

The event will begin with introductory remarks and a moderated panel discussion featuring ECAPS CEO Odysseas Christofi and additional experts and stakeholders. GMF China Technology Analyst Dylan Welch will moderate the conversation. The panel will be followed by an off-the-record exchange with all participants under the Chatham House Rule. The event will conclude with an informal networking lunch.

For further information and next steps, please contact:

• Dylan Welch ([email protected]), China Technology Analyst, GMF Technology Program
• Astrid Ziebarth ([email protected]), Deputy Managing Director & Senior Fellow, GMF Technology Program