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European Spaceflight (lemmy.sdf.org)

submitted 2 months ago by witx@lemmy.sdf.org to c/spaceflight@sh.itjust.works

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So what is your opinion on the European companies? Which ones do you think will thrive and why?

It might be a bit early but I've been going over the companies and I cannot form a solid opinion.

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[–] burble@lemmy.dbzer0.com 2 points 2 months ago (2 children)

Ignoring big old companies like Airbus, Thales Alenia, SES, etc, there are a handful of smaller companies I'm following a bit.

The Exploration Company is working on a space station cargo capsule that can be upgraded for crew. D-Orbit keeps launching space tugs. ICEYE seems to be doing well with their SAR constellation. Exotrail sells smallsat prop systems and has a tug.

For launch, PLD, RFA, and Isar, (and a lot of smaller ones) are racing to operations.

There are also a handful of companies with locations in the US and Europe, like Loft, Oneweb, and Redwire.

[–] threelonmusketeers@sh.itjust.works 2 points 2 months ago (1 children)

What are your thoughts on the MaiaSpace offshoot of ArianeGroup? Do you think they'll be successful enough to carve out a segment of the launch market?

[–] burble@lemmy.dbzer0.com 2 points 2 months ago

I hope so! Working on a reusable first stage is a good start, and hopefully they're able to leverage Ariane resources but not need to deal with the bureaucracy. I haven't seen enough hardware from them to feel confident yet, though. They're targeting a late 2026 launch, which means 2027, and it better mean PLD, Isar, and RFA have all launched multiple times by then, which makes their business case tougher until/unless they get reuse working.