European satellite sector needs to consolidate to compete with Musk, Leonardo exec says
FARNBOROUGH, England, July 23 (Reuters) -The European satellite sector needs to consolidate in order to keep pace with Elon Musk's rapidly-expanding network of Starlink communications satellites, an executive at Italian aerospace firm Leonardo LDOF.MI said on Tuesday.
"Thanks to Elon Musk and his team, Europe will have to evolve somehow. This evolution needs probably to take into account some form of consolidation," Lorenzo Mariani, co-general manager of Leonardo, told Reuters.
European aerospace groups Airbus AIR.PA and Thales TCFP.PA, in which Leonardo holds a 33% stake, are exploring a tie-up of some space activities, including satellite activities, industry sources say.
Airbus and Thales are Europe's largest makers of satellites for telecommunications, navigation and surveillance.
Demand for their geostationary satellites is increasingly under pressure as traditional manufacturers face competition from massive constellations of expendable satellites in low Earth orbit, like the Starlink network built by Musk's SpaceX.
Mariani's comments echo those of Airbus CEO Guillaume Faury who said on Sunday that the company was looking to "create scale" in the satellite market.
Reporting by Joe Brock
Editing by Peter Graff
Related Assets
Latest News
Disclaimer: The XM Group entities provide execution-only service and access to our Online Trading Facility, permitting a person to view and/or use the content available on or via the website, is not intended to change or expand on this, nor does it change or expand on this. Such access and use are always subject to: (i) Terms and Conditions; (ii) Risk Warnings; and (iii) Full Disclaimer. Such content is therefore provided as no more than general information. Particularly, please be aware that the contents of our Online Trading Facility are neither a solicitation, nor an offer to enter any transactions on the financial markets. Trading on any financial market involves a significant level of risk to your capital.
All material published on our Online Trading Facility is intended for educational/informational purposes only, and does not contain – nor should it be considered as containing – financial, investment tax or trading advice and recommendations; or a record of our trading prices; or an offer of, or solicitation for, a transaction in any financial instruments; or unsolicited financial promotions to you.
Any third-party content, as well as content prepared by XM, such as: opinions, news, research, analyses, prices and other information or links to third-party sites contained on this website are provided on an “as-is” basis, as general market commentary, and do not constitute investment advice. To the extent that any content is construed as investment research, you must note and accept that the content was not intended to and has not been prepared in accordance with legal requirements designed to promote the independence of investment research and as such, it would be considered as marketing communication under the relevant laws and regulations. Please ensure that you have read and understood our Notification on Non-Independent Investment. Research and Risk Warning concerning the foregoing information, which can be accessed here.
