A factory for the production of reusable launch vehicles by MaiaSpace, owned by ArianeGroup, has opened in France, according to the country’s Minister of Defense, Sébastien Lecornu. The factory is located in Vernon, in the Eure department in northern France, on ArianeGroup’s premises.
“In 2027, this factory will produce the first European reusable launch vehicle, which will enable the launch of more than 20 satellites per year… to provide us with sovereign and responsive access to space — an area that is increasingly being militarized by our competitors and which is essential to our security,” the minister said on social media.
According to Le Monde, the project will require hundreds of millions of euros in investment, part of which will be covered by the state. The Normandy region is allocating €3 million. The main shareholders of ArianeGroup are Airbus and Safran.
“Given the military needs of the state, we will have to send many satellites into space over the next ten years,” Lecornu emphasized.
As Finance Minister Eric Lombard, who was also present at the opening of the plant, noted, SpaceX founder Elon Musk “had to put forward the idea of disconnecting Ukraine from its Starlink communications network so that we would tell ourselves in capitals, in governments, that sovereignty is space.”
According to the publication, it is assumed that the first stage of the launch vehicle will be able to be used up to five times.
With a height of 30 meters and a diameter of 3.50 meters, Maia will consist of two main stages and one additional stage, which will give it a wider range of launches than the micro-launchers currently being developed in Europe, the publication writes. This will enable it to launch various types of satellites into orbit, from small ones for telecommunications constellations to heavier ones designed, for example, for Earth observation, for institutional or private customers.
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