French PM Urges Swift Action on European Space Policy Amid Budget Constraints

The urgency now is to get started, because "we are playing for high stakes, with no lead over the big competitors, in a constrained budget context, and while the clouds are rather black and numerous over European space policies, the head of government said. He spoke alongside ArianeGroup CEO Christophe Bruneau, MaiaSpace CEO Yohann Leroy, and Normandy region president Hervé Morin. The Vernon plant, which is eventually to cover 12,000 square meters, will produce various rocket components that will be transported to Le Havre, then shipped to French Guiana — where MaiaSpace has been allocated the former Russian Soyuz launch pad at Kourou — for final assembly.

From 2032, MaiaSpace plans to manufacture around twenty upper stages per year (consumed on each mission), as well as a variable number of main stages, depending on the barge recovery rate. The company, which employs more than 400 people, compared with around twenty at its creation in 2022, will benefit from the "Notre-Dame method, namely a simplification and acceleration of procedures.