The space race is now a “nuts and bolts” race: The West and Japan must catch up
China is pouring money into the technology that will define the winner of the next space race. One such technology is advanced materials: the metals, coatings, and composites that make spaceflight possible. Lightweight alloys, radiation-proof shields, heat-resistant ceramics – without these, we can forget going to the Moon, forget going to Mars, forget even getting a rocket to leave the ground.
Dr. Robert Brüll, CEO at FibreCoat
The arrival of DeepSeek came as a shock. Within a matter of hours, it surpassed ChatGPT as the mostdownloaded free app on the App Store in the US. Then, it sent Nvidia’s share price tumbling by 18 percent. It was compared to the moment Sputnik – the first artificial Earth satellite, manufactured and launched by the Soviet Union – reached orbit in 1957. Back then, the US thought it was ahead of its rivals and was blindsided by Sputnik’s success.
While the comparison isn’t perfect, it’s close enough to warrant notice. China is moving fast, focusing on nextgen materials, and all we know for sure is that the West is
losing ground. China is investing in stealth composites, electromagnetic shielding, and hypersonic ceramics. It’s patenting new materials at twice the rate of the US, and four times that of Europe. More worrying, China doesn’t just invent. It manufactures. State-run factories take research from the lab to the battlefield at a speed the West can’t match. Its five-year plans operate without election cycles or red tape. State-backed labs, like China Textile Academy (CTA), churns out strategic materials while Western firms bicker over budgets.
Yet the world’s finest material scientists are arguably elsewhere. Germany – my home country – excels. France and Great Britain do as well. Japan is home to a wealth of talent. But these countries are rapidly learning that research alone wins nothing. Ideas cannot remain in academic journals. They must reach production lines. At university guides must stop rewarding publications at the expense of patents or spin-offs. Meanwhile high costs, red tape and weak ties between industry and universities stop breakthroughs becoming reality.
Is the US any better? Up to a point. It has great research hubs but lacks the will to mass-produce. There’s a culture of caution and the NIH-Syndrome (Not Invented Here) is entrenched in the big companies. They’re nervous to roll the dice and do things differently. Consequently, materials take years to move from lab to market.
This needs to change and it can. But it will require a radically different approach. Governments must invest in advanced materials as they do in AI. Funding shouldn’t just support research. It should help industry scale. One way is through direct government contracts. Instead of waiting for companies to invest, governments should fund key startups and SMEs, guaranteeing demand. Tax breaks and subsidies must encourage long-term investment. Shareholder-driven firms focus on short-term profits, but the space race is a long game that requires far-sightedness. If Western firms won’t take the risk, the state must step in.
Industry, in particular, must cut the regulation it puts in place to meet the EU’s standards. Right now, new materials take years to pass through approval processes. This simply slows down innovation. A faster, more flexible framework is needed. Shorter qualification times, and better links
Dr. Robert Brüll, CEO at FibreCoat
Photo courtesy FibreCoat
between industry and academia. Without these, Europe will fall further behind.
INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY
Intellectual property is another battleground. China has long been accused of stealing Western technology. The West must respond. Stronger IP laws, tougher sanctions on firms caught stealing, and tariffs on stolen tech – these are not ‘extreme’ measures, they are necessary defensive ones.
Another challenge is resources. The rare earth metals, and compounds needed for advanced materials come from a few key regions. China has spent decades securing these supply chains, particularly in Africa. The West hasn’t. This must change, too. Diversification will be critical. The US and Europe should invest in mining, stockpile the key resources, and lead in recycling to reduce dependence. If the West fails to act, then it will soon find itself reliant on China for the very materials that make spaceflight possible. It will, in other words, hand over control – of satellites, defense systems, and future space missions –to its primary rival in the space domain. That outcome is highly undesirable, to say the least. This is not just a
question of industry, but of security. That’s not to say the West should cut itself off from China entirely. There is room for collaboration on issues like space security and climate change. Not every contest has to be zero-sum. Strong competitors can be strong partners. However, in strategic space-related industries, competition must come above collaboration.
The new space race is not just about reaching orbit. It’s about who can build, sustain, and defend their presence in space. Without a shift in priorities, the West will be outpaced, outmaneuvered, and outclassed, and not only in space, but in every industry space technology touches – which is a great many. In the end, the nation that masters materials will master space. If one country can mass-produce highquality, affordable materials that are light, tough and resistant to radiation, then it can ensure the integrity and resilience of spacecraft. That means it can dominate this vital domain. So, the West must wake up. They need a practical and ambitious materials strategy. NASA, ESA, and the big national defense agencies must move the materials that keep assets working in space to the top of the priority list – or risk coming second, third, fourth or worse in this, the most competitive ‘space race’.
The new space race is not just about reaching orbit. It’s about who can build, sustain, and defend their presence in space. Photo courtesy Unsplash
