Project BROMO: Airbus, Leonardo and Thales unite to form a European space giant
October 23, 2025 marks a new milestone for the European space industry. Airbus, Leonardo, and Thales have announced the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to combine their main space activities into a new joint venture, known as Project BROMO. The stated objective: to reinforce the European Union’s technological sovereignty in a rapidly evolving space sector, driven by global competition and growing security demands.
A turning point for Europe’s space sector
Project BROMO follows a path of industrial consolidation similar to the one that led to the creation of Airbus in the aviation industry. It aims to bring together the core capabilities of the three European leaders to form a fully integrated company able to design, produce, and manage complete space systems and related services—excluding launchers. The entity could become operational as early as 2027, pending regulatory approval.
A new continent-scale space company
The merged company will bring together around 25,000 employees across Europe, with a pro forma annual revenue of €6.5 billion and an order backlog representing more than three years of sales. It will be built on the following contributions:
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Airbus: its Space Systems and Space Digital divisions from Airbus Defence and Space.
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Leonardo: its space division and stakes in Telespazio and Thales Alenia Space.
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Thales: its shares in Thales Alenia Space, Telespazio, and Thales SESO.
Capital distribution will be as follows: Airbus 35%, Leonardo 32.5%, and Thales 32.5%, under a balanced governance shared between the three groups.
Innovation, sovereignty, competitiveness — the three strategic pillars
Project BROMO is built around three key objectives:
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Boost innovation by pooling R&D resources and developing end-to-end space solutions integrating both infrastructure and services.
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Strengthen European sovereignty by becoming the trusted partner for national and European space programs—civil and military alike.
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Increase global competitiveness by achieving critical mass, optimizing costs, and improving operational efficiency through synergies estimated at several hundred million euros per year in the medium term.
A strategic response to the global geopolitical context
With the growing influence of American (SpaceX, Amazon Kuiper), Chinese, and Indian players, Europe needed a champion capable of defending its interests in space. Project BROMO emerges as a structural response, with greater export potential and enhanced resilience to global technological tensions.
It also embodies European governments’ ambition to build a solid industrial foundation capable of addressing key challenges in security, sovereign connectivity, Earth observation, and exploration.
Next steps for Project BROMO
Before its planned operational launch in 2027, several regulatory and institutional steps must still be completed:
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Consultation of employee representatives in each company under national legal frameworks.
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Approval by competition authorities and European regulators.
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Establishment of a balanced governance structure and a unified industrial roadmap.
Project BROMO goes far beyond a simple corporate merger — it represents Europe’s bid to secure a leading role in the new space age. By uniting major aerospace players under one banner, the initiative reflects the continent’s drive for greater independence, innovation, and competitiveness in a global arena increasingly shaped by space technology, defense, and connectivity.
Source
Read the official press release published by Airbus on 23 October 2025 [here].