Airbus defense chief warns European bureaucracy hampers space ambitions

Friday 30 January 2026 - 17:20

By: Dakir Madiha

Airbus defense chief warns European bureaucracy hampers space ambitions

Europe's leading aerospace firms, Airbus, Leonardo, and Thales, are advancing plans to merge their space divisions into a single powerhouse entity, aiming to challenge US dominance and address a widening capability gap. The companies signed a memorandum of understanding in October 2025 to form this unified venture, which would employ around 25,000 people and generate annual revenues of about 6.5 billion euros. Set to launch in 2027 pending regulatory nods, the entity would see Airbus holding a 35 percent stake, with Leonardo and Thales each at 32.5 percent.

Michael Schöllhorn, CEO of Airbus Defence and Space, told Euronews this week that Europe must shift urgently from endless planning to decisive action to stay in the race. He highlighted a lag in "active space defense", the ability to operate, protect assets, and counter threats in orbit against adversaries. Even united, the new firm would rank only fourth globally, trailing Lockheed Martin, SpaceX, and Boeing, due to decades of public underinvestment. US space budgets dwarf Europe's by at least threefold, Schöllhorn noted.

This push responds to fierce rivalry from Elon Musk's Starlink constellation. The EU's counter, IRIS², a planned fleet of 290 satellites for secure government communications, won't deliver initial services until 2029, years behind Starlink's third-generation rollout.

The merger aligns with accelerating European defense investments. The European Commission's ReArm Europe plan targets 800 billion euros in defense spending by 2030. Germany pledged 500 billion euros over four years, including 35 billion euros for military space defense. At the 18th European Space Conference in Brussels this week, EU Defense and Space Commissioner Andrius Kubilius announced the launch of the bloc's own secure, encrypted satellite communication system, a key step toward autonomous space capabilities. The European Space Agency approved a record 22.3 billion euro budget in November, allocating 1.35 billion euros to a new space resilience initiative.

Schöllhorn urged regulators to deliver concrete programs and solutions, not bureaucratic hurdles. "Grand schemes on paper are worthless," he stressed, calling for practical support to fuel industry momentum.