Q: How is Safran Space strengthening its partnerships and industrial presence in the Middle East & Africa, and what key opportunities and challenges do you anticipate over the next years?

Safran Space is an industry-class technology specialist powering space - and aerospace - with solutions to observe our surroundings with the highest fidelity, connect assets from Earth to Space, and guide platforms, people and decisions in an ever-growing complex environment.

The Middle East & Africa region is experiencing a decisive acceleration in space and aerospace ambitions, and we are committed to long-term collaboration and to contribute with reliable technical expertise, and partnership-based engagement rather than simply deliver solutions. In the coming years, we will continue to expand our local engineering and support presence, while developing technology transfer and co-development programs with regional institutions and industry partners. Our core contributions include propulsion systems, high-precision optical instruments, and space-based intelligence services that support applications ranging from Earth observation to secure connectivity.

We are aware that successful industrial cooperation requires time, trust, and alignment with local priorities. Challenges related to supply chains, regulatory evolution, or workforce development are best addressed through transparent collaboration, building lasting partnerships that contribute to the region’s strategic autonomy and sustainable growth.

Q: Which technological breakthroughs do you consider most critical for the next generation of launch systems – improved propulsion, reusable stages, or advances in materials?

Within our role as an equipment supplier, a crucial element for reusability will be the implementation of the Autonomous Flight Termination System (AFTS), which will guarantee the safety of the flight and all stages throughout the mission while dramatically reducing the launch base operation costs and seamlessly transition to shorter turnaround times between launches.

We are also actively engaged with multiple satellite launch vehicle companies in the world: some being smaller ones while others are working on very large ones.

In this additional business, our New Space approach to instrumentation and navigation has proved to provide highly qualified and accurate solutions to a demanding market, while offering attractive: we reached this optimal point by using a larger market base which shares the same harsh environment and high precision requirements: the aerospace flight testing.

Q: How does Safran assess the future role of space in the interplay between civilian use, defense, and security – particularly in light of growing threats from space debris and potential anti-satellite weapons?

Space has always been an inherently dual-use domain, with both civilian and military applications. The most significant recent changes have been its transformation into a battlefield, the conduct of military operations in orbit, and the proliferation of satellites and debris.

Civilian and military space infrastructures (GNSS, telecommunications, observation) are critical elements for national and military security. This dependence places a strong industrial responsibility on the safety, resilience, and sustainability of orbital operations:

- Orbital debris = a systemic threat. ESA and European stakeholders emphasize a "zero debris" approach, improved space traffic monitoring, and regulation. Industry must integrate mitigation measures into their operations (deorbiting, passivation).

- Threats that could degrade space infrastructures - observation, navigation, telecommunications. Development of solutions to enhance satellite resilience (robust design, redundancy, recovery capabilities) and space and spectrum awareness/ monitoring capabilities to counter hostile maneuvers.

Q: The commercial space market is growing rapidly. Where do you see the greatest opportunities for Safran – in launch systems, satellites, or in new services?

Safran Space is an industry-class technology specialist powering space with solutions to observe the surroundings with the highest fidelity, connect assets from Earth to Space, and guide platforms, people and decisions in an ever-growing complex environment.

Primarily a supplier of critical equipment for satellites and ground segments, including inertial navigation systems and onboard telemetry devices, we additionally provide advanced space surveillance services, playing a key role in monitoring space traffic and ensuring the safety and sustainability of orbital operations.

The New Space paradigm has allowed a faster, cheaper and scalable way of doing space still in a reliable perspective by trading a 0-risk approach at high cost with an “acceptable risk approach” at a much more affordable price tag: the high revisit Earth Observation perspective is very exciting to us, enabling new downstream services, while dragging demand for smart equipment and solutions to power these satellites. The unfortunate trend of growing global tensions is calling nations to get prepared in anticipating crisis and resiliently connect their surface forces: new systems of satellite navigation signals, sovereign communication constellations, interconnected meshed networks… These needs are immediate and real. Meanwhile, Space remains the never-matched observatory of our planet from a climate monitoring perspective, meteorology, and support an anticipation to disasters.

Q: In which areas of application (e.g. commercial communications, military space operations) does Safran see the greatest customer benefit for its satellite-based monitoring and analysis systems WeTrack + LYNKS-Orbital?

Through its innovative solutions, Safran Space enables customers to gain precise awareness of satellites in orbit as well as detailed insights into communications across the electromagnetic spectrum at all orbital altitudes - from LEO to GEO (and even Deep Space). The WeTrack solution delivers significant operational benefits for both military and civilian users in the field of Space Situational and Domain Awareness (SSA/SDA) by providing high-precision tracking, real-time orbit determination, and anomaly detection of active satellites. These features are critical for strengthening State sovereignty by ensuring the safety of space assets and the continuity of missions.

Military space operations benefit from threat detection and early warning capabilities through a network of radiofrequency-based antennas, which deliver redundancy and global coverage. This enables uninterrupted monitoring of active satellites, supports defensive space situational awareness, and improves decision-making in contested environments.

For commercial communications, our systems help optimize satellite constellation management by providing accurate orbital data and predictive analytics. These enable efficient collision avoidance maneuvers and better satellite lifespan management. Furthermore, these technologies support regulatory compliance and coordination among satellite operators by delivering standardized datasets and analytics for conjunction analysis and risk mitigation.

WeTrack and LYNKS combine advanced sensor fusion, high-fidelity tracking algorithms, and robust data analytics to deliver critical insights that enhance the safety, security, and efficiency of satellite operations across both commercial and defense sectors. Both solutions - either as a global service (WeTrack) or as infrastructure deployed within a host country for sovereign use (LYNKS-Orbital) - have been operational with military and civilian agencies for nearly a decade. Today, they are recognized as highly trusted sources of critical data for space-related decision-making