France is preparing a response to the militarization of outer space by other States

A plant for the production of a reusable launch vehicle by MaiaSpace, owned by ArianeGroup, has opened in France, said the country's Defense Minister Sebastian Lecorny. The plant is located in Vernon, in the department of Eure in northern France, on the territory of ArianeGroup.

"In 2027, this plant will launch the first reusable European launch vehicle, which will launch more than 20 satellites a year... to provide us with sovereign and responsive access to space — an area that is increasingly militarized by our competitors and which is important for our security," the minister said on the social network X.

According to Monde, investments in the project amount to hundreds of millions of euros, part of which will be covered by the state. Thus, the Normandy region allocates 3 million euros. The main shareholders of ArianeGroup are Airbus and Safran.

"Taking into account the military needs of the state, in the next ten years we will have to send many satellites into space," Lecorniu stressed.

As noted by Finance Minister Eric Lombar, who was also present at the opening of the plant, SpaceX founder Elon Musk "needed to put forward the idea of disconnecting Ukraine from its Starlink communication network so that we could tell ourselves in capitals, in governments that sovereignty is space."

According to the publication, it is assumed that the first stage of the launch vehicle will be able to be used up to 5 times.

With a height of 30 meters and a diameter of 3.50 meters, the Maia will consist of two main stages and one additional stage, which will provide it with a wider range of launches than the micro-launch units currently being developed in Europe, the newspaper writes. Thus, it will be able to launch various types of satellites into orbit, from small ones for telecommunications groups to heavier vehicles designed, for example, for Earth observation, for institutional or private clients.

In March, the American edition of Politico reported that the European Union had signed an agreement with the United States to launch its satellites on SpaceX launch vehicles. The agreement followed due to repeated delays in the commissioning of its own European launch vehicle Ariane 6.

In July 2024, ESA announced the first launch of a new European Ariane 6 launch vehicle from the Kourou cosmodrome. The rocket launched a constellation of satellites into orbit at an altitude of 600 kilometers, including vehicles belonging to various private companies, space agencies, research institutions and universities.

The second launch, originally scheduled for the end of 2024, was postponed to the first quarter of 2025 due to a "number of deviations" noticed in the July launch, the ESA said.

After the start of the special military operation of Russia on Ukraine countries The EU has imposed sanctions on Russian companies in the space industry. In response, Roscosmos announced the termination of cooperation in organizing launches from the Kourou cosmodrome.