Raumfahrt: Europas Satellitenhersteller treiben Megafusion voran – obwohl ihr Weltraumgeschäft boomt
Schon bald wollen Airbus, Thales und Leonardo der EU ihre Pläne offiziell vorlegen. Die deutschen Konkurrenten sind besorgt und warnen vor einem Marktgiganten – wie Zahlen belegen.
München and Düsseldorf, a once loss-ridden Airbus subsidiary, Defense and Space, is now set to announce a whopping 800 million Euros in profits, with a possible increase to 1.3 billion Euros by 2029, according to its CFO, Michael Schöllhorn. The surge in revenue is primarily due to a massive demand from European governments for communication and reconnaissance satellite technology, notably from the German armed forces, which plans to invest 35 billion Euros in space technology over the next few years.
Similar trends are also evident among Airbus' competitors, the French Thales and Italian Leonardo, who have both reported a rise in orders in the satellite business. Even they faced significant losses in the sector just a few years ago. Recognizing this, the three companies decided to merge their satellite divisions, hoping that together they could rival giants like SpaceX and Amazon.
The "Project Bromo", which has been in planning since several years, was officially announced in 2025. It is expected to attract the EU Commission's attention despite its improved order situation, as confirmed by Leonardo's CEO Lorenzo Mariani in an interview with the Handelsblatt. The consortium aims to sign the legally binding framework agreement for the joint venture by the end of the year and hopes to receive the green light from the EU by mid-2027 to kick off operations. However, the plans are not without criticism within the industry.
Written by urgent.news from Handelsblatt's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
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