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Credit: Airbus \/ Thales \/ Leonardo<\/p>\n Credit: Airbus \/ Thales \/ Leonardo<\/p>\n
European aerospace giants Airbus, Leonardo, and Thales have signed a memorandum of understanding to combine their respective space businesses into a single new company. Ownership will be shared among the three parent firms, with Leonardo and Thales each holding a 32.5% stake, and Airbus holding the majority stake of 35%. The new company, which will employ approximately 25,000 people, will be managed jointly under a \u201cbalanced governance structure.\u201d<\/p>\n
The new company will combine the Space Systems and Space Digital divisions of Airbus Defence and Space, the Thales Alenia Space and Telespazio joint ventures of Leonardo and Thales, and Thales SESO from Thales. According to the joint press release issued on 23 October, the combined entity would have had an estimated annual turnover of \u20ac6.5 billion in 2024. For comparison, the Space Systems segment of Northrop Grumman generated $11.7 billion in 2024, while SpaceX is estimated to have brought in $13.1 billion.<\/p>\n
During a press conference following the 337th ESA Council meeting in Paris, the agency\u2019s Director General, Josef Aschbacher, stated that while he believed the merger would \u201cmake industry stronger and therefore more competitive on the world market,\u201d it would represent a \u201cchange in the landscape\u201d that the agency would have to take into account in its industrial policy and procurement negotiations.<\/p>\n
While the Director General gave an overall positive assessment, that sentiment is not universally shared among ESA leadership.<\/p>\n