The next space race is not only about who can launch more satellites or travel farther. It is increasingly also about who can communicate, measure and navigate with quantum precision. Quantum technologies, once largely confined to highly controlled laboratory experiments, are gradually being adapted for operation in orbit, where they could support secure global communications, more precise measurements of the Earth, highly accurate timing systems and new approaches to navigat

Unlike military alliances or coercive political arrangements, AI ecosystems generate influence through everyday economic activity, software development, and digital governance. This reflects a broader preference for economic statecraft, whereby technology, trade, infrastructure, and innovation become instruments of geopolitical influence rather than conventional military power.