Media

Space is supposed to be used peacefully. However, this does not apply to military satellite communications. At the Munich Cyber Security Conference 2026, it became clear that the Starlink system is also vulnerable. An independent network is needed.

For decades, space was imagined as a kind of neutral commons — a quiet layer of infrastructure floating serenely above earthly conflict. At the Munich Cyber Security Conference this week, that idea sounded less like policy and more like nostalgia.

Handelsblatt discussed with Clemens Kaiser, Deputy CEO and Chief Program Officer of Rivada Space Networks, why space and defense belong together and what priorities Germany should set.

“Imagine 600 satellites forming a kind of fishing net around the globe and communicating with each other.” In this profile in Die Zeit, CEO Declan Ganley explains how the Outernet could serve as a second Internet backbone that could keep the most important vital functions of digital civilization running in the event that our subsea-cable infrastructure were destroyed.

Telewizja Republika spoke to CEO Declan Ganley about our unique space-based solution: The Outernet, the first self-contained global communications network that does not rely on the internet and will provide vital connectivity for critical communications.

“Declan Ganley’s life is straight out of a John le Carré thriller. He is working on a top secret plan to build the Outernet — the world’s first fully private, secure global data network in space. There are rockets, billions of dollars, Chinese state actors and a slew of litigation involved.”

Recent years have brought growing demand for enhanced inter-satellite data routing, connectivity and communications services in modern warfighting missions. Having a web of interconnected assets in space that can provide resilient, satellite-based capabilities that stretch beyond the ground segment is becoming increasingly crucial to the U.S. military.

A GSOA webinar supported by Novaspace, featuring Rivada’s Chief Commercial Officer, Ronald van der Breggen.

Rivada Space Networks aims to deliver gigabit-speed internet globally by passing the public internet and third-party infrastructure, including on the ground.