Germany has a strong reminder for America and it is that the United States of America needs Europe to go to outer Space. In an interview to Politico, German Space Minister Dorothee Bar said, “Germany and Europe provide critical key technologies” for U.S. space missions. “That is why we can confidently say: without us, it cannot be done.” She added pointing to European-built technology used in NASA’s missions as proof that Europe still has leverage in the new space race. “There are clear mutual dependencies,” she said.Bar said the dependence cuts both ways. “Without the European Service Module, the United States would not be able to fly to the moon,” the German minister said. She gave the interview on the sidelines of the VivaTech trade show in Paris recently. Bar added that German company Jena-Optronik also makes star trackers to help the Orion spacecraft determine its orientation in space. “We talk a great deal about the United States. At the same time, we must not overlook the fact that a strong alliance is forming on the other side, consisting of Russia, China, North Korea, and Iran. I do not want these countries to win the race in space,” Bar said.Germany’s message to the US comes as Europe and the US are in a tussle over the control of a range of technologies including Cloud, AI, microchips and more. Donald Trump administration’s recent decision to ban access to Anthropic’s latest AI models for any person other than Americans and every other on Earth has further added to the ongoing economic tensions. The move further galvanized European leaders’ resolve to reduce their dependence on US technology and companies. It also comes just days after the European Commission presented a tech sovereignty package to reduce the 27-nation bloc’s dependence on the US.In fact, the US space agency NASA too describes the European Service Module as the Orion spacecraft’s “powerhouse,” supplying it with electricity, propulsion, thermal control, air and water. The module is assembled in the northwestern German city of Bremen under a European Space Agency program.
Europe pushes for ‘tech sovereignty’
The European Union is reportedly preparing to loosen its dependence on US technology by backing European alternatives in sectors from semiconductors and cloud computing to AI. A draft European tech sovereignty strategy says the bloc must “reclaim its place in the global race for geoeconomic power” at a “defining moment to assert its technological sovereignty”.The move follows months of mounting concern in EU capitals about reliance on American tech that underpins most of the bloc’s economy. EU officials and companies also reportedly fear US President Donald Trump could suspend or restrict access to critical US tech services amid rising transatlantic tensions and the recent Anthropic ban kind of proved those fears true. At the centre of the EU strategy is a Cloud and AI Development Act, aimed at accelerating European data centre capacity by simplifying and harmonising procedures for data centres. The goal is to triple EU capacity in the next five to seven years.The law also seeks to encourage the development of “sovereign” cloud and AI. European governments will have to carry out “sovereignty risk assessments” to improve resilience and identify European alternatives.The law could boost existing European tech players such as SAP, Mistral and OVHcloud. Currently, more than 70 per cent of the cloud market in the EU is dominated by three US participants: Amazon, Microsoft and Google. On their part, several US tech companies have offered European customers more control over where their data is localised to dispel such concerns. Microsoft has said it will contest any US government order to cease cloud services to European customers, including through the courts.
