Space may seem far away, but it is already part of our everyday lives: satellites help us communicate, navigate, forecast the weather and understand our changing planet. They have also become essential to national security and a growing source of economic and political power. Why are governments and private companies investing so heavily in space? What is at stake in the race to the Moon and in the deployment of thousands of satellites around Earth?

Starting from concrete examples, we will explore how scientific discovery, commercial ambition and international competition are reshaping space activities. We will discuss Europe’s role, the opportunities opened by new technologies, and the challenges of keeping space accessible and usable as traffic and debris increase. The central question concerns all of us: how can we ensure that the expansion of human activities beyond Earth produces lasting benefits for people on Earth?