🔗 Share this article

A trio of leading EU-based aerospace firms—the Airbus Group, Leonardo, and Thales Group—have finalized a major deal to combine their space-related businesses. This partnership seeks to establish a unified pan-European tech enterprise poised of competing with Elon Musk's SpaceX venture.

Economic Details and Ownership Breakdown

This newly formed company is expected to achieve yearly sales of around 6.5 billion euros (5.6 billion pounds). Under the terms, the French aerospace giant Airbus will hold a 35% share in the venture. Meanwhile, both Leonardo and France's Thales will respectively retain 32.5% shares.

Scope and Objectives of the New Company

The yet-to-be-named alliance constitutes one of the biggest partnerships of its kind across Europe. It will unite various capabilities in satellite manufacturing, spacecraft systems, parts, and support services from leading aerospace and defence producers.

Guillaume Faury, Roberto Cingolani, and Thales's CEO jointly declared, “This joint company marks a pivotal step for the European space sector.” They added, “Through combining our expertise, assets, expertise, and R&D capabilities, we intend to generate expansion, speed up progress, and provide enhanced benefits to our customers and partners.”

Operational Information and Schedule

This new firm will be based in Toulouse and have a workforce of about twenty-five thousand employees. The entity is scheduled to be operational in 2027, pending necessary clearances. According to the partners, it is expected to yield “hundreds of” millions of euros in cost savings on operating income each year, beginning following a five-year period.

Background and Motivation

Reports suggest that discussions between Airbus, Leonardo, and Thales started last year. The move aims to replicate the structure of MBDA, which is jointly held by Airbus, Leonardo, and BAE Systems.

Although significant job cuts in their space-related units in recent years, the companies stated that there would be no immediate facility shutdowns or layoffs. Nonetheless, they confirmed that labor representatives would be engaged throughout the project.

Past Struggles in Space-Related Operations

The firms have encountered difficulties in their space operations recently. Last year, Airbus recorded €1.3bn in charges from unprofitable space projects and revealed 2,000 job cuts in its defence and space division. Similarly, Thales Alenia Space, a collaboration between Thales and Leonardo, cut more than 1,000 jobs the previous year.

Global Market Landscape

Meanwhile, the SpaceX, established in 2002, has grown to emerge as one of the biggest startups globally, with a valuation of {$400 billion dollars. It leads both the space launch and satellite-based internet markets. Its primary rivals are other US firms such as United Launch Alliance, a joint venture of Boeing and Lockheed Martin, and Blue Origin, founded by tech billionaire Jeff Bezos.

Just this month, SpaceX successfully flew its eleventh Starship rocket from Texas, USA, landing in the Indian Ocean. Earlier in August, American President Donald Trump signed an presidential directive to simplify rocket launches, relaxing regulations for commercial space operators.