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On June 15-17, 2025, the Prague Security Studies Institute (PSSI) will convene in Prague its 8th Prague Space Security Conference titled Space Security Economy and Capabilities: From Policies to Action. For registration please proceed to www.spacesecruity.eu.

The conference welcome and opening remarks were delivered by Roger W. Robinson Jr., Chairman and Co-Founder of PSSI, and Rodrigo da Costa, Executive Director of the EU Space Programme Agency (EUSPA), respectively. Robinson stated that: “We’ve gathered at a time fraught with peril – with two wars raging and another likely coming our way. These conflicts are already interfering with some of our space assets and operations, but, regrettably, we will likely look back upon this period as the ‘good old days’.”

There were three distinguished keynote speakers: Jun Kazeki, Director General of the National Space Policy Secretariat in Japan’s Prime Minister’s Cabinet Office, who provided valuable insights into Japan’s space security initiatives; Lt. Gen. Thomas L. James, Deputy Commander of U.S. Space Command, who highlighted the strategic importance of international collaboration in space defense; and Lt. Gen. Karel Řehka, Chief of the General Staff of the Czech Armed Forces, who emphasized the critical role of space assets in modern military operations. and Lt. Gen. Karel Řehka, Chief of the General Staff of the Czech Armed Forces, who emphasized the critical role of space assets in modern military operations.

The central goal of the conference was to illuminate the connectivity among global space commerce, deterrence/security-related considerations, and proper space governance. The conference has built on the previous conference entitled “Evolution of the Counterspace Threat and Strengthening of International Space Partnerships”, which was held in Prague on June 9—11, 2019, and which focused on the prominent role played by the state-controlled space companies of authoritarian space powers (notably China and Russia) and how they are deployed to recruit smaller countries aspiring to build space capabilities. This generally entails practices that ultimately lead to sole-source contracts and unhealthy levels of dependency.

To compound the problems associated with the approach to space sector partnerships described above, a number of Chinese and Russian space companies are often operating under official sanctions of the U.S., EU, and/or Japan for various forms of national security and human rights abuses. The imposition of sanctions on space companies raises a number of new, vexing questions with regard to the risk calculus associated with space-related cooperation or partnering arrangements. These have not, to date, been included in the multilateral deliberations on space behavioral norms and governance.

On June 9-11, 2019, PSSI Washington and the Prague Security Studies Institute (PSSI) conveyed in Prague for the fifth event in its Space Security Conference series. This year’s gathering, co-organized with the European Space Agency (ESA), the Japanese Prime Minister’s Office Cabinet Satellite Intelligence Center (CSICE), and the Secure World Foundation (SWF)  is entitled “Evolution of the Counterspace Threat and Strengthening of International Space Partnerships”. It will focus on the rapidly advancing threats to space operations and the role of space partnerships in addressing – and, hopefully, mitigating – this higher risk environment. It will examine the issue of space hybrid operations that span an increasing number of areas (including the commercial space sector), as well as the non-democratic model of space partnerships. More information can be accessed here: http://spacesecurity.eu/

Previous PSSI Space Security Conferences were held in Prague (in 2011 and 2016), Tokyo (in 2013) and Washington, DC (in 2017). These events were co-organized with the European Space Agency, the Office of National Space Policy of the Japanese Prime Minister’s Cabinet Office, the Secure World Foundation (SWF) and the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS).

As part of PSSI Washington’s ongoing national security roundtable series, and co-organized by the Claremont Institute, Executive Director Roger Robinson moderated a discussion with four-star Admiral (ret.) Dennis C. Blair on China, India and other subjects pertaining to strategic U.S. foreign policy objectives.

PSSI Washington and Claremont convened an evening roundtable gathering to hear from Honorable Robert C. McFarlane, former National Security Advisor to President Reagan, on a range of global flash points facing the United States.

The fourth conference convened under the Space Security Conference Series focused on better understanding the Trump Administration’s approach to space security.  The event was sponsored by PSSI Washington in partnership with the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS).

The third event convened as part of this  Space Security Conference series focused on the connectivity between space security and terrestrial geopolitical events/conflicts. The event was sponsored by PSSI Washington in partnership with the Secure World Foundation (SWF), the European Space Agency (ESA), Analytical Graphics (AGI), PSSI Prague, and ITOCHU Europe.

The second gathering involved a full-day conference of some 150 participants  convened in cooperation with the George Washington University’s Space Policy Institute, la Fondation pour la Recherche Strategique, and the Todai Policy Alternatives Research Institute of the University of Tokyo. It was followed by a half-day, invitation-only simulation with whole-of-government Japanese participation concerning a situation in the East China Sea implicating space assets.  The entire proceedings were held under the auspices of the Office of National Space Policy of the Japanese Prime Minister’s Cabinet Office as well as the Japanese Ministries of Defense and Foreign Affairs.

The inaugural conference in the series was co-organized by the Prague Security Studies Institute (PSSI) in the Czech Republic, PSSI Washington and the European Space Policy Institute (ESPI) and held under the auspices of senior Czech officials from the Ministries of Defense and Transportation.  The conference dealt with the state of space security governance and issues included the projected threats to unfettered access to space, and the security policy dimension of Space Situational Awareness (SSA).