European firms unite in bid to rival SpaceX

Key European aerospace firms have agreed to pool their space operations into a single business in a bid to compete in the rapidly developing space industry against rivals including SpaceX.

Pitched as a ‘European Space Champion’, the new company will be headquartered in Toulouse, employ around 25,000 people and have an annual turnover of €6.5bn ($7.5bn, £5.6bn).

The three companies, Airbus, Leonardo and Thales, will pool their interests in areas such as space exploration, earth observation, space threats and satellite navigation.

According to Airbus sources, while the aim of the new venture is long-term growth in an expanding market, “doing nothing would be the biggest risk at this stage”.

The new business is being set up in response to the rapid development of the space industry, including the emergence of SpaceX as a major player, as well as a significant increase in spending on the sector by the United States and China.

Guillaume Faury, chief executive of Airbus, Roberto Cingolani, chief executive of Leonardo and Patrice Caine, chief executive of Thales, said in a joint statement the new company “marks a pivotal milestone for Europe’s space industry”.

In order to protect national interests where necessary, the new business will include five new national companies, in the UK, France, Italy, Germany and Spain.

It will use a similar structure to the defence giant MBDA, which was also formed from the merger of a number of national operations.

“There is no way the UK can compete alone,” an Airbus UK spokesperson explained.

“We see European collaboration as the only way to secure jobs here in the long term”.

Of the three aerospace firms, Airbus has the most significant space operations in the UK.

Some 3,100 people currently work in its current Defence and Space divisions in this country, with the bulk of employees in the space sector operating out of hubs at Portsmouth and Stevenage.

The company says it has no plans to reduce the number of jobs or sites in the UK – and insists the focus of the move is growth.

SpaceX was founded by billionaire Elon Musk in 2002, initially aimed at being a cost-effective alternative to Nasa.

The rocket company has grown to lead serious advances in space technology, including the development of the largest and most powerful spaceships built to date, the Starship.

It has since signed a deal with Nasa to supply those Starship rockets for the Artemis programme to send people to the Moon in 2027.