"Russia and China have in recent years rapidly expanded their capabilities for conducting warfare in space," he said.

"They can disrupt, jam, manipulate or even physically destroy satellites. In space, there are no borders or continents."

Pistorius said "we are establishing structures within the German Armed Forces to enable us to effectively defend ourselves and deter potential adversaries in space".

Germany's space security architecture would comprise "a resilient system of satellite constellations, ground stations, secure launch capabilities and related services" as well "cybersecurity for all space systems".

Germany was also "improving our situational awareness in orbit through the use of radar, telescopes and the future deployment of space surveillance satellites".

Pistorius said that "by 2030 alone, we plan to allocate 35 billion euros in budget funds to relevant projects".