Europe has the worst imaginable idea to counter SpaceX’s launch dominance

It is not difficult to understand the unease on the European continent about the rise of SpaceX and its controversial founder, Elon Musk.

SpaceX has surpassed the European Space Agency and its institutional partners in almost every way when it comes to accessing space and providing secure communications. Last year, for example, SpaceX launched 134 orbital missions. Combined, Europe had three. SpaceX operates a massive constellation of more than 7,000 satellites, delivering broadband Internet around the world. Europe hopes to have a much more modest capability online by 2030 serving the continent at a cost of $11 billion.

And Europe has good reasons for being wary about working directly with SpaceX. First, Europe wants to maintain sovereign access to space, as well as a space-based communication network. Second, buying services from SpaceX undermines European space businesses. Finally, and perhaps most importantly, Musk has recently begun attacking governments in European capitals such as Berlin and London, taking up the “Make Europe Great Again” slogan. This seems to entail throwing out the moderate coalitions governing European nations and replacing them with authoritarian, hard-right leaders.

All of that to say, it is understandable that Europe would like to provide a reasonable answer to the dominance of SpaceX.

Bring on the bankers

However, the approach being pursued by Airbus—a European aerospace corporation that is, on a basic level, akin to Boeing—seems like the dumbest idea imaginable. According to Bloomberg, “Airbus has hired Goldman Sachs Group Inc. for advice on an effort to forge a new European space and satellite company that can better compete with Elon Musk’s dominant SpaceX.”

The publication reports that talks are preliminary and include France-based Thales and Italy’s Leonardo S.p.A. to create a portfolio of space services. Leonardo has hired Bank of America Inc. for the plan, which has been dubbed Project Bromo. (According to Merriam-Webster, “bromo” is a form of bromide, which originates from the Greek word brōmos, meaning bad smell.)