🔗 Share this article

A trio of leading European aerospace companies—the Airbus Group, Leonardo S.p.A., and Thales Group—have now finalized a major deal to combine their space-related businesses. The partnership aims to establish a single European tech enterprise poised of competing with the SpaceX venture.

Financial Aspects and Ownership Structure

This newly formed company is projected to generate yearly revenue of around 6.5 billion euros (£5.6bn). Under the terms, Airbus will control a 35% share in the new business. At the same time, both Italy's Leonardo and Thales will respectively retain 32.5% shares.

Scope and Objectives of the Joint Company

The unnamed alliance represents one of the largest consolidations of its type across Europe. It will bring together various capabilities in building satellites, space systems, components, and services from top defense and aerospace producers.

Guillaume Faury, Roberto Cingolani, and Thales's CEO collectively stated, “The joint company marks a crucial step for Europe's space sector.” The executives added, “By combining our talent, assets, expertise, and research and development capabilities, we aim to drive growth, speed up progress, and provide greater value to our customers and stakeholders.”

Business Details and Timeline

The new firm will be headquartered in Toulouse and employ about 25,000 people. It is scheduled to be operational in 2027, pending necessary approvals. According to the partners, it is expected to generate “mid-triple digit” millions of euros in cost savings on operating income per year, starting following a five-year period.

Background and Reasons

Reports indicate that discussions among Airbus, Leonardo, and Thales began the previous year. The move seeks to mirror the structure of MBDA, which is owned by Airbus, Leonardo, and BAE Systems.

Despite significant job cuts in their space-related units in recent years, the firms stated that there would be no immediate site closures or job losses. Nonetheless, they noted that unions would be engaged throughout the project.

Past Struggles in Space-Related Business

These companies have encountered difficulties in their space ventures recently. The previous year, Airbus incurred €1.3bn in losses from unprofitable space projects and announced 2,000 redundancies in its defense and space sector. In a similar vein, the Thales Alenia Space joint venture, a partnership between Thales and Leonardo, cut more than 1,000 positions last year.

Worldwide Market Environment

Meanwhile, Elon Musk's SpaceX company, established in 2002, has expanded to emerge as one of the biggest private companies globally, with a valuation of {$400 billion dollars. SpaceX leads both the rocket launch and satellite-based internet sectors. Its main competitors include additional US companies such as United Launch Alliance, a joint venture between Boeing and Lockheed Martin, and Blue Origin, created by technology tycoon Jeff Bezos.

Just this month, SpaceX successfully flew its 11th Starship from Texas, USA, landing in the Indian Ocean. In August, US President Donald Trump approved an presidential directive to streamline rocket launches, relaxing rules for private space companies.