Recently, Emmanuel Macron has been making headlines with a powerful speech delivered from France’s First Space Air Base in Toulouse. He spoke with clear conviction, warning about Europe’s risky dependence on the United States and urging the development of European reusable launch vehicles to compete with Elon Musk’s SpaceX. He also pledged an extra €4.2 billion for France’s military space programme.
It was an ambitious message — but there are caveats. Let’s start with the numbers. According to the French business outlet Capital.fr, SpaceX carried out 261 orbital launches last year, while all European countries combined managed just three. Since Russia’s full-scale war against Ukraine began, European governments have repeatedly vowed to build a serious alternative to Starlink to avoid relying on the whims of an American billionaire. But progress has been slow.
A project known as “Bromo”, meant to serve as a European alternative, is being developed by three aerospace groups — Thales, Airbus and Leonardo. As of early November, the companies were still in talks to reach a basic agreement on how to divide responsibilities and funding. In practice, “Bromo” is unlikely to be up and running before 2027, French outlet BFM.TV reports. Before then, the merger of the satellite units of Airbus, Thales and Italy’s Leonardo must clear the European Commission’s competition authority. Approval is seen as “generally likely”, but “not something that will happen quickly”.
The three partners aim to employ about 25,000 people across Europe and generate roughly €6.5 billion in annual revenue, while hoping for “an order book three times that size”, according to Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung. Under the plan, Airbus would hold 35% of the new company, with Thales and Leonardo taking 32.5% each. The venture would have “balanced management”, following the model of MBDA, Europe’s leading missile developer. Once fully approved, it would also be able to operate in the defence sector.
The goal is not only to give Europe greater autonomy in space but also to slow the rapid rise of its US rival SpaceX, which launches thousands of small satellites into low orbit each year through its Starlink network, FAZ notes. If “Bromo” becomes the EU’s preferred partner, Europe could build its own satellite-based internet system and secure a measure of independence in orbit.
These plans aim high. Talks have been underway since 2022, when the European Commission first put the proposal forward. Digital sovereignty — not only in relation to the United States but also Russia and China — is long overdue. Yet tangible progress has only begun to appear this autumn.
Assessing the project’s prospects, Capital.fr noted what it calls an “absolutely fundamental” difference between Europe and the United States: competition rules. “This is no small matter,” the outlet writes. “SpaceX is a rocket manufacturer, a launcher and a telecoms operator through Starlink.” Its French rival, Ariane, is “only” a launcher operator. For “competition reasons”, Ariane is “not allowed to manufacture rockets”—a role handled by Airbus. For the same reason, it cannot run a mobile communications network. French economic analyst Nicolas Bouzou says this setup is a “major problem”, putting the European model at a clear disadvantage against SpaceX.
By November, Elon Musk’s company had already put 10,000 satellites into orbit, offering high-speed, low-latency internet around the globe. If EU countries hope to “catch up with and surpass” the United States, the challenge ahead is immense.
In his speech in Toulouse on 12 November, Emmanuel Macron laid out France’s space strategy through 2040. The plan sets five main priorities and is meant to help French start-ups and major industrial players join forces amid intensifying global competition from China and the United States. “Space has become a battlefield,” Macron said — a line that captures the thrust of his strategic message. The question now is whether the successor elected in 2027 will recognise the threats Macron has so clearly spelled out.
