Airbus, Leonardo and Thales shape a European colossus to compete with Musk in space

The European defense industry continues to take steps towards the consolidation that the sector requires to shape large references that compete for the large contracts at stake. This Thursday, three great actors on the continental scene –Airbus, Leonard and Thales– have made official the merger of their space activities into a common company that will have a workforce of around 25,000 people and one annual turnover of 6.5 billion of euros. The merger, which is subject to the usual conditions in this type of operation, including the approval of the competition authorities, should allow the new company to start operating in 2027, the three companies said in a statement.

Airbus will contribute its aviation businesses to the new company. Space Systems and Space Digital, which are currently part of the defense and space division; Leonardo his division Spaceincluding its participation in Telespazio and Thales Alenia Space; and Thales “mainly” its participation in Thales Alenia Space, Telespazio and Thales SESO. The union representatives of the Airbus, Leonardo and Thales staff will be informed and consulted about this project, in accordance with the legislation of the countries involved and the collective agreements applicable in each parent company.

The objective of the three partners, who had been negotiating for months due to the difficulties of their space activities due to competition, wasespecially from giants in the sector like Elon Musk’s Spaceis to create and develop “a complete catalog of technologies and complementary comprehensive solutions.” This will range from space infrastructure to services, but space shuttles are excluded. In the case of Airbus, rocket activities are housed in a common subsidiary with the French Safran, Arianespace.

Airbus, Leonardo and Thales were convinced that their joint venture will accelerate innovation in this strategic market with “a unified, integrated and resilient European actor” that will have “the critical mass necessary to compete worldwide and grow in export markets.” The three expect that after five years of operation this new company will generate total synergies of hundreds of millions of euros in operating income and that the costs of generating these synergies will correspond to sector references.

Guillaume FauryCEO of Airbus; Roberto CingolaniCEO of Leonardo, and Patrice CaineCEO of Thales, have stressed that this new company will represent “a fundamental milestone for the European space industry.” “It embodies our shared vision of building a stronger and more competitive European presence in an increasingly dynamic global space market. By pooling our talent, our resources, our experience and our R&D capabilities, our objective is to generate growth, accelerate innovation and offer greater value to our clients and stakeholders,” they highlighted. In addition, they highlighted that this partnership “fits the ambitions of European governments to strengthen their industrial and technological assets, guaranteeing Europe’s autonomy in the strategic space field and its multiple applications.”