The government makes MaiaSpace a sovereign actor for access to space

Four ministers for one rocket. Sébastien Lecornu (Armed Forces), Eric Lombard (Economy), Marc Ferracci (Industry), and Philippe Baptiste (Higher Education and Research) traveled together to Vernon (Eure) on June 13 to formalize the creation of the assembly plant for MaiaSpace's future launcher, on the site of its parent company, ArianeGroup. This 10,000 m² workshop will create 160 jobs, in addition to the startup's current 300 employees. The investment amounts to tens of millions of euros, an unspecified portion of which will be covered by the government as part of the France 2030 plan. The Normandy region is contributing 3 million euros.

Few companies, especially of this size, host four ministers at the same time. "It took, a few months ago, for Elon Musk," whose company SpaceX has a near-monopoly on satellite launches, "to venture the idea of ​​cutting Ukraine off from its Starlink communications network" for "us to say to ourselves, in capitals, in governments, that sovereignty is space," declared Eric Lombard, in front of the first elements of the Maia launcher, to justify the government's mobilization.

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