RAND Researcher Warns Civilian Satellites Can Be 'Repurposed' for Military Use as Space Militarisation Grows

The growing militarisation of space cannot be understood simply by classifying satellites as civilian, military, or weaponised, according to Mélusine Lebret, a researcher in the Defence, Security & Justice research group at RAND Europe, speaking to France 24.

Lebret told France 24 that a purely civilian satellite system can be "repurposed" for military capabilities, complicating traditional distinctions used to assess threats and intentions in orbit.

According to Lebret, this dual-use potential means that determining whether a piece of space infrastructure poses a security risk requires looking beyond its stated purpose or ownership, since systems designed for commercial or scientific use can be adapted to serve military functions.

Despite this trend toward what Lebret described as the weaponisation of space, she argued that militarisation does not eliminate the necessity of cooperation among states operating in orbit.

Lebret said the emerging space-security order is defined by what she characterised as an unusual tension: states may increasingly prepare to compete and potentially engage in conflict in space, while remaining structurally dependent on one another to keep space usable at all.

The interview, conducted by Erin Ogunkeye for France 24, did not detail specific incidents or named systems, but framed the discussion around broader structural dynamics shaping how states approach security and cooperation in the space domain.