Transatlantic Space Cooperation: Building Resilience Through Strategic Partnership

In a time marked by technological disruption, economic uncertainty, and the shifting tides of global power, space has emerged as a vital strategic domain that demands transatlantic unity, public-private coordination, and forward-looking policy. On April 15, 2025, at the British High Commission in Ottawa, this urgent imperative brought together over fifty leaders from across Canada, the United Kingdom, Europe, and the defence and technology sectors for a dialogue on “Transatlantic Space Cooperation."

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Co-organized and hosted by the British High Commission and Samuel Associates and sponsored by Eutelsat OneWeb, the conference explored the practical steps and shared principles necessary to advance resilient, secure, and inclusive space systems across the Atlantic alliance.

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The discussion enabling participants to speak freely and engage in honest assessments of current challenges and opportunities. Yet, the clarity of the moment was unmistakable: space has become a strategic terrain not just for exploration, but for sovereignty, connectivity, innovation, and security. From low-Earth orbit satellite networks to quantum-secure communications, the infrastructure being developed today will shape tomorrow’s capabilities, alliances, and vulnerabilities.

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The event’s opening remarks set the strategic context. As co-host, Goran Samuel Pesic, President and CEO of Samuel Associates, framed the conversation around three interlinked goals: building resilient space-enabled supply chains, promoting public-private innovation in telecommunications and defence, and shaping sustainable growth in a period of economic transformation. These pillars formed the architecture of a dialogue that stretched across technical, geopolitical, and ethical dimensions.

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From a diplomatic perspective, David Prodger, Deputy High Commissioner of the United Kingdom, underscored the foundational trust and cooperation already embedded in UK-Canada relations. He pointed to the recently renewed UK-Canada space Memorandum of Understanding as a model of how shared democratic values can be translated into concrete frameworks for collaboration. Crucially, he noted that these partnerships are not only rooted in defence policy but also in civilian and peaceful space applications, including Arctic situational awareness, climate monitoring, and data-sharing for scientific research. His remarks highlighted a growing recognition that space—like cyberspace—transcends borders, requiring multilateral governance and operational synchronization.

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Technological convergence emerged as another key theme. Henny Sands, Head of Telecommunications at the UK Space Agency, delivered a comprehensive keynote that captured the profound shift underway in the satellite industry. Once dominated by geostationary satellites for television broadcasting, the sector has undergone a wave of disruption, moving toward smaller, more agile satellites in low-Earth orbit (LEO). This transformation has enabled convergence between non-terrestrial networks and terrestrial systems, opening the door to direct-to-device mobile services, ubiquitous connectivity, and novel applications such as quantum-secure communications and lunar relay infrastructure.

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But this convergence is not merely technical—it is also strategic. As Sands emphasized, the true promise of this new era lies in its ability to erase the digital divide, provide resilient backup systems for terrestrial failures, and foster international supply chains that are distributed, interoperable, and secure. Importantly, he noted, no single country can build or sustain such a system alone. Global collaboration is not a luxury—it is a necessity.

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The subsequent panel discussions reinforced this view by grounding it in operational and commercial reality. David Van Dyke, representing Eutelsat OneWeb, illustrated how LEO constellations already deliver connectivity in some of Canada’s most remote northern communities, supporting education, healthcare, and Indigenous development. These technologies, he explained, are not positioned to compete with terrestrial carriers but rather to complement them, creating a hybrid mesh of connectivity capable of serving remote mines, defence bases, and Arctic patrols.

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Howard Stanley of Cisco Canada and Michael Tremblay of Calian Group added further depth to the discussion, emphasizing the importance of cybersecurity and quantum readiness. Both speakers noted that cyber resilience cannot be bolted on after the fact. Instead, hardware, software, and organizational processes must be embedded from the ground up. This includes protecting satellite command-and-control links, encrypting data streams, and maintaining secure ground stations capable of complying with national and allied security standards.

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Kevin Fernandes of Dejero Labs offered a concrete example of operational resiliency. Using the military communications planning model known as PACE—Primary, Alternate, Contingency, Emergency—his firm has developed dynamic, blended communications platforms that integrate terrestrial, satellite, and mobile networks into a seamless, uninterrupted whole. This approach, already tested in emergency response situations, offers a blueprint for defence and security actors who require uninterrupted situational awareness in contested or degraded environments.

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A broader view was offered by Prashant Shukle, Chair of the Open Geospatial Consortium, who explored the critical role of data standards and interoperability. Whether the focus is terrestrial infrastructure, lunar mapping, or space domain awareness, standardization is the connective tissue that allows allies to exchange information, coordinate responses, and develop trusted technologies. His remarks pointed to the deeper stakes of the conference: resilience in the space domain is not just about systems—it is about systems of trust, shared principles, and mutual accountability.

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Indeed, trust was the unifying theme across all conversations. As several speakers noted, resilience in the transatlantic context must be measured not only by technical uptime or network redundancy but also by the strength of enduring partnerships. Trust in data, technology supply chains, operational standards, and shared geopolitical commitments is what ultimately undergirds collective security.

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As the session drew to a close, the concept of “resilience” was revisited in operational terms. How can it be measured? Some pointed to practical indicators: redundancy across networks, successful simulation of communications failure, and real-time threat detection. Others emphasized economic resilience—the ability to commercialize innovations, scale across markets, and diversify supply chains. Still, others noted political resilience: the presence of stable, rules-based frameworks that govern shared capabilities across allied nations.

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Together, these reflections make clear that space cooperation between North America and Europe is not simply a matter of bilateral diplomacy or industrial strategy. It is a multidimensional endeavour that requires synchronization of policy, technology, and trust. It calls for bold investments in next-generation capabilities but also humility in acknowledging that no one nation—or one sector—can do it alone.

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As a strategic advisory and government relations firm specializing in defence, aerospace, and national security, Samuel Associates remains committed to advancing these dialogues and building the bridges necessary to support them. We believe that resilience is not only about preparing for the future—it is about building it, together.

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Samuel Associates is headquartered in Ottawa and supports private-sector clients across North America and Europe. To learn more about our strategic advisory work in defence, government relations, and space cooperation, visit us at www.samuel.associates.