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Credit: Airbus<\/p>\n Credit: Airbus<\/p>\n
Unions are pushing back against Airbus as it moves to consolidate its satellite business, with Airbus Defence and Space absorbing Airbus Constellations Satellites. A Union Nationale des Syndicats Autonomes (UNSA) statement has called the move \u201cindustrial, economic and social nonsense.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Background<\/p>\n
In January 2016, Airbus Defence and Space and OneWeb announced the creation of a joint venture, Airbus OneWeb Satellites, to produce 900 satellites for OneWeb\u2019s broadband internet satellite constellation. In September 2023, Eutelsat completed the acquisition of OneWeb, adding the low Earth orbit constellation to its geostationary offering. Four months later, Eutelsat sold its share of Airbus OneWeb Satellites to Airbus, and by October, the company had been renamed Airbus Constellations Satellites (ACS).<\/p>\n
Also in October 2024, Airbus announced plans to reorganise its Defence and Space division. While the announcement did not specifically reference ACS, it stated that the reorganisation would be focused on its Space Systems segment, \u201cwhere significant financial charges were recorded.\u201d While the company announced the successful introduction of the new organisation as of 1 July 2025, language in two separate union statements from December indicates that the absorption of ACS had not yet occurred.<\/p>\n
An 18 December release from the CFDT Airbus Defence & Space, the company-level branch of the Conf\u00e9d\u00e9ration Fran\u00e7aise D\u00e9mocratique du Travail (CFDT), one of France\u2019s most influential trade union confederations, explains that ACS \u201cis to be absorbed by ADS.\u201d Additionally, a UNSA statement from 11 December uses a similar future tense describing the \u201cproposed\u201d merger by absorption. According to company records, ACS also continues to exist as a legal entity despite the planned absorption.<\/p>\n
The Conflict<\/p>\n
According to the CFDT release, the planned absorption has been \u201cpoorly perceived by the majority of ACS employees.\u201d The UNSA statement is far less diplomatic, calling the proposal \u201cindustrial, economic, and social nonsense,\u201d and adding that \u201cthere is no benefit in absorbing a company that is delivering strongly positive results, is experiencing strong growth, and is already wholly owned.\u201d<\/p>\n
In December 2024, ACS won its first contract after Airbus assumed full ownership, with Eutelsat tapping the company to build 100 satellites for its OneWeb constellation. Earlier this month, Eutelsat expanded the order by an additional 340 satellites<\/a>, bringing the total to 440 satellites. Delivery of the satellites is expected to begin before the end of the year.<\/p>\n In opposing the merger, the unions warn that ACS risks losing its agility within Airbus\u2019s bureaucracy, with efficiency undermined by the dispersal of ACS teams across major Airbus Defence and Space departments. They also cite employee departures to competitors and the erosion of ACS\u2019s systems and identity as it is absorbed into the larger organisation.<\/p>\n In comments made in July, Airbus Defence and Space CEO Mike Schoellhorn linked the reorganisation to broader geopolitical pressures on Europe\u2019s defence and security industry.<\/p>\n \u201cThe current geopolitical landscape requires a stronger, faster and more resilient European defence and security industry,\u201d said Schoellhorn. \u201cOur new structure delivers on this requirement through an efficient and effective end-to-end responsibility for our three businesses and a significantly optimised cost structure while preserving the ability and capacity to benefit from growing defence spending.\u201d<\/p>\n Project Bromo<\/p>\n Consolidating its own satellite business represents only the first step in a broader consolidation strategy under the Project Bromo initiative. This connection has not been lost on the unions, with UNSA explicitly referencing the initiative in its statement.<\/p>\n In October 2025, Airbus, Thales, and Leonardo, three of Europe\u2019s largest space primes, announced that they had signed a memorandum of understanding<\/a> to combine their space activities into a single company. Under the Project Bromo initiative, the plan would bring together the Space Systems and Space Digital businesses of Airbus Defence and Space, the Thales Alenia Space and Telespazio joint ventures of Thales and Leonardo, and Thales\u2019 SESO optics business. Ownership will be split among the three companies, with Leonardo and Thales each holding a 32.5% stake, and Airbus holding the majority stake of 35%.<\/p>\n