BELFAST — European defense giants Airbus, Leonardo and Thales signed a pact today to bring their space businesses together, under a long-planned merger that could eventually compete in the heavens with the American incumbent heavyweight SpaceX.
Aimed at strengthening Europe’s “innovation capability, strategic autonomy and competitiveness” across the extraterrestrial domain, the new but as yet unnamed company is forecasting annual turnover of €6.5 billion ($7.5 billion), according to a joint statement announcing the inking of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU).
As part of the statement, Guillaume Faury, Roberto Cingolani and Patrice Caine, the chief executives of Airbus, Leonardo and Thales, respectively, said that the “proposed new company marks a pivotal milestone for Europe’s space industry.”
Stakes in the joint entity, planned to be operational from 2027 once regulatory approval is secured, are split, with Airbus retaining a majority of 35 percent, while Leonardo and Thales will each be allocated 32.5 percent stakes.
The joint statement also noted that the collaborative effort seeks to establish itself as a “trusted partner for developing and implementing national sovereign space programmes.”
Together, the trio of European manufacturers are setting out to “pool, build and develop a comprehensive portfolio of complementary technologies and end-to-end solutions, from space infrastructure to services.”
Leveraging innovation, the merger also plans on establishing a “unified, integrated and resilient European space player, with the critical mass to compete globally and grow on the export markets,” added the joint statement. However, there’s a key area in which the trio will not compete with SpaceX: launch services, which the American firm helped revolutionize with reusable rockets.
The mechanics of the merger see Airbus Defense and Space offering up its space systems and space digital businesses with Leonardo pitching in with its space division, including company shares in Telespazio and Thales Alenia Space. Rounding off the manufacturer contributions, Thales will chip in its shares from Thales Alenia Space, Telespazio, and Thales SESO. None of the companies responded to a request for additional comment following initial reports of the merger.
The merger comes amid significant woes for the European space industry, including Airbus suffering a loss last year of €989 million and more than initially expected, because of “schedules, workload, sourcing, risks and costs over the lifetime of certain telecommunications, navigation and observation programmes,” according to a press release.
The merging of Europe’s leading space firms mirrors that of weapons system manufacturer MBDA, the continent’s joint venture between Airbus, BAE Systems and Leonardo.