Berlin, 4 September 2026, – Days before heads of state gather at the Grand Palais for the first International Space Summit, the German and French NewSpace industries have set out jointly what they want from Europe’s next budget cycle: reliable demand, not further regulation.
The BDI NewSpace Initiative and Alliance NewSpace France are publishing a joint Franco-German declaration on the future of European space transportation ahead of the summit, which runs in Paris on 9 and 10 September with close to 120 delegations at the invitation of President Emmanuel Macron and his special envoys, astronaut Thomas Pesquet and entrepreneur Hélène Huby. The paper, dated 31 August, was sent to European Defence and Space Commissioner Andrius Kubilius the same day.
Its central demand is that the European Commission act “primarily as a predictable and reliable institutional customer” and publish a clear, long-term demand outlook for space transportation as part of preparations for the 2028–2034 Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF). Competitiveness, the authors argue, should be strengthened through demand rather than additional regulatory intervention. The framework must align with the requirements of Member States, ESA and European industry, with ESA remaining responsible and the EU acting as anchor customer, complemented by public-private partnerships.
“The European Union should act more as a customer and competitively purchase launch services from European providers,” Matthias Wachter, managing director of the BDI’s NewSpace Initiative, told SpaceWatch.Global. Successful Franco-German industrial cooperation is possible, he said, and companies on both sides are moving in the same direction. What they need from Brussels, Berlin and Paris is “a market that allows them competition and growth.”
Three instruments are proposed. First, support for the European launch services marketplace (ELSA), being prepared by DG DEFIS with PwC, aggregating demand across the EU, ESA and Member States while operating in synergy with private platforms. Second, a multi-year EU Launch Procurement Plan for 2028–2034. Third, a Responsive EU Launch framework delivering launch services in anything from under a week to six months for defence and dual-use needs, with small launch vehicles named as the key enabler.
The near-term warning concerns rideshare. The authors write that Europe faces a potential shortage of access to space for small satellites because of the cancellation of the SpaceX rideshare programme, which they attribute to SpaceX’s shift toward heavy launchers. In 2025, the paper states, SpaceX rideshare missions deployed 396 satellites, 134 of them European. The remedy proposed is a European Rideshare Initiative to guarantee predictable access while commercial European capability ramps up.
That framing runs slightly ahead of the public record. Transporter-17 flew on 7 July, and Transporter-18 is reported for later this year. What operators and mission integrators have said since late June is that SpaceX has stopped taking new commercial bookings on Transporter and Bandwagon beyond late 2028, with capacity increasingly absorbed by Starlink and orbital data-centre payloads. SpaceX has not commented publicly. The squeeze is real; the cancellation is the industry’s word for it.
On financing, the declaration calls for a dedicated MFF envelope working primarily as a demand-side instrument, complementary to existing ESA and national programmes, and extends the demand case explicitly to a reusable heavy-lift launcher from established and new companies alike. Funding for disruptive technologies – reusability, green propellants, game-changing propulsion, large-part manufacturing – should run from R&D through to commercialisation.
Infrastructure gets equal billing: Kourou’s pads opened to new entrants under equal terms with multi-launcher operations and interoperability; accelerated development of continental spaceports including Andøya, SaxaVord, Esrange, the Azores and mobile platforms; multi-user test facilities alongside established centres such as DLR Lampoldshausen; and support for mobile and sea-based launch solutions. Throughout, Member States keep the ability to retain or assume national control, particularly for defence uses.
Alliance NewSpace France represents more than 60 startups, scale-ups and SMEs accounting for 3,100 jobs and 15 percent of the French space workforce. The BDI’s NewSpace Initiative, founded in 2021, counts more than 120 companies and organisations.
The timing is not accidental. Four days before the declaration was dated, ESA signed the first European Launcher Challenge contracts – €197.8 million to Isar Aerospace for Spectrum, €186.9 million to Rocket Factory Augsburg for RFA One, €158.9 million to PLD Space for Miura 5. The three were shortlisted in July 2025 alongside MaiaSpace and Orbex; ESA says the MaiaSpace award is nearing completion. Industry is now asking the Commission to turn that competition into a customer.
Source: “Consolidating a Long-Term Vision for Space Transportation”, Industry Position Paper, BDI NewSpace Initiative / Alliance NewSpace France, 31 August 2026. Wachter comments translated from German.
