MaiaSpace gets a CEO, Andøya Space begins construction and more 🚀
Issue 1 of my newsletter, scary stuff. I'm really not sure how best to go about this just yet. As a result, this and the next few weekly issues will be tests of what works and what doesn't. So, I can't yet promise you consistency but I can promise you all the passion for European spaceflight that got you here in the first place dialed up to 100.
Enjoy the first issue and let me know if you have any suggestions.
ArianeGroup breathes life into MaiaSpace but questions remain
ArianeGroup announced January 2022 that it had appointed Eutelsat CTO Yohann Leroy as the CEO of its launch startup MaiaSpace.
Publically announced in January, Maiaspace is an ArianeGroup subsidiary that aims to launch Europe's first reusable launcher by 2026. In order to achieve this ambitious goal, MaiaSpace will leverage work done by ArianeGroup and ArianeWorks, an ArianeGroup skunkworks department, on the Prometheus methalox rocket engine and Themis reusable booster for the European Space Agency.
The appointment of a CEO is the first clear sign of progress from MaiaSpace in almost three months following the initial announcement of its creation. This does not bode well for a company that was specifically created to be agile and disruptive where an industry stalwart like ArianeGroup could not be.
In the press release of the announcement, Leroy stated that Maia, the small launcher MaiaSpace will be tasked with developing, is expected to be a precursor of the "European family of launchers of the future." In February, ArianeGroup told European Spaceflight that Maiaspace would, however, not be the company to pursue the development of this family of launchers. This begs the question, is Maiaspace just an ArianeGroup development project masquerading as a startup that will later be absorbed back into its parent company?
What is clear is that the development of Maia seems to be secondary to AraineGroup's larger ambitions.
In Leroy's statement, he explained that the goal of Maiaspace was "to accelerate European space industry's ability to implement reusability, while offering a highly competitive and responsive launch service for small and very small satellites." It's interesting that the CEO of a startup in a highly competitive industry chose to highlight the company's role in the European space industry's future before the product he has been tasked with developing.
In other European space news
Norway's Andøya Space announce they have begun construction of their orbital launch facility.
Orbex and FORCE Technology receive a European Space Agency contract to further develop an X-Ray Inspection System for rocket engines.
The European Space Agency awards a contract to SWISSto12 to develop an innovative small geostationary satellite that will measure just one cubic metre. The satellite is slated to be launched in 2025.
Portuguese startup Neuraspace raises €2.5 million in funding from Armilar Venture Partners to accelerate the commercialization of its AI-powered space debris monitoring and satellite collision avoidance platform.