European companies plan a new competitor for Starlink in the satellite sector

European companies Airbus, Thales and Leonardo are exploring plans to create a new joint space company to compete with Elon Musk’s Starlink.

“Project Bromo,” named after an Indonesian volcano, envisions an autonomous European satellite sample modeled after missile maker MBDA, owned by Airbus, Leonardo and BAE Systems, three people familiar with the matter said.

So far, Europe’s major satellite makers have said only that they are considering working together to create larger-scale satellites, in an industry marked by huge losses, with Musk’s fast-growing Starlink network dominating Earth’s orbit low.

While still at an early stage, negotiations have progressed enough to achieve a code name within Airbus and a preferred structure in which a new company will pool satellite assets – rather than a format in which one partner buys assets from others , the companies said. sources.

Leonardo Chief Executive Roberto Cingolani told Reuters the negotiations involved several technical discussions. He confirmed that the planned structure will be based on the MBDA model.

“Well, it can hardly be anything else,” he said on the sidelines of an event in Rome.

Airbus and Thales declined to comment.

The merger proposals are separate from staff cuts that will be revealed this week and could take years to implement, a source said. But together they represent an effort to put Europe’s struggling space sector in a better position to face competition.

Source: Terra

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