DEFENSE DAY INSIGHTS #5:
Space Competitiveness Requires More Than Great Startups
How can Sweden strengthen its position in the global space economy?
This was the central question of Track 5 – Enabling the Development of Meaningful Space Capabilities.
One of the strongest conclusions was that Sweden’s challenge is not technological capability, but the lack of strategic direction, political prioritization, and demand creation.
Participants highlighted several priorities:
- Establish clear national priorities and a long-term commercial space strategy.
- Strengthen political leadership and coordination across the space sector.
- Adopt demand-driven procurement to enable commercial growth and capability development.
- Invest selectively in sovereign capabilities of strategic importance.
A recurring message throughout the discussions was that governments must take a more active role as anchor customers, creating demand, reducing risk, and enabling companies to scale innovative solutions.
While startups and SMEs play a vital role in driving innovation, participants emphasized that a competitive space economy cannot be built through bottom-up innovation alone. Long-term political commitment, strategic procurement, and coordinated national priorities are essential to translate innovation into operational and commercial success.
Want to help transform these discussions into ACTION?
If you are a policymaker, civil servant, space or defense industry professional, entrepreneur, or investor interested in addressing the systemic challenges identified during the Defense Day space track, there is an intersting opportunity to take the conversation further.
We will be participating in NextSpace 2026 in Gothenburg on 9 November, arranged by our close collaborator Space West, bringing together key actors needed to overcome the current structural obstacles, and focus on identifying how viable solutions can be implemented.
If you want to help shape that change, this is a conversation you should be part of.
