Andreas Cellarius, Harmonia Macrocosmica, 1661

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mercredi 24 février 2010

European space industry and the game of alliances : French, German and Italian supremacy

The European space industry is a strategic niche sector which belongs to the large industrial complex of Aerospace and Defense whose turnover is 133 billion euros (it represents a third of the total turnover of world aerospace activities. Useless to add that aerospace industry, that includes space and defense, represents one of the key high-tech sectors of the European Union. The space industry, whose turnover is about 6 billion euros, is dominated by four industrial holdings: EADS, Thales, Finmeccanica and Safran. They alone generate 70% of the total turnover of the European space industry.
>EADS is the main European group, and the third in the world. Astrium Division is a leading provider of satellites, launchers and space services, has come to play an important part in military and institutional space programs in Europe (Ariane, Galileo).
>Thales Alenia Space is a French-Italian company, a joint venture between Thales and Finmeccanica, created in 2007. Thales Alenia Space is the first constructor of satellites in Europe and a key player in the field of orbital infrastructure.
>Finmeccanica represents the second Italian industrial group, the first in the high technology sector and one of the first five in the world. It is present in the defense, aeronautics and space sector, among others. Telespazio, another joint venture Finmeccanica Thales is a leading provider of satellite services.
>Snecma is a French company of the Safran group, specialized in the construction of engines for the aeronautics and astronautics industry (Airbus, Boeing, Ariane)

We can see that the space industry is highly concentrated, from a geographical point of view – the majority of the activities take place on the territory of only a few member countries – as well as from the point of view of the size of companies – there are few large companies. Except the four major holdings, the space industry counts about another fifty companies that provide equipment for the four groups and about one hundred other firms, most of them independent medium and small-sized enterprises. The industry is spread in all Europe but the most important industrial sites are in France, Germany and Italy.The development of the space industry in Europe finds support in the space agencies (especially ESA and CNES), as they offer important financial support through research and development contracts.
The future of the European space industry depends on a cooperation policy, that is already under way. The truth is that no European country has the financial and economic resources necessary to cope alone with ambitious space projects and face the harsh competition on its own. Another reason for these alliances is represented by the need to make up for the disadvantage on the international market, when confronted to the American industry. Europe has been trying for 30 years to catch up with Americans and it took ten years to develop industrial groups that may parallel the American ones. EADS Astrium and Thales Alenia Space hold the most important industrial capabilities and commercial units and they have reached a level that allows them to act as real competitors on the international market.

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