Ariane 6: the stab of the German OHB
EXCLUSIVE The German satellite manufacturer OHB, a minority shareholder in Arianespace, is campaigning behind the scenes for the next Galileo satellites to be launched by SpaceX Falcon 9s, rather than Ariane 6. Big clash in sight?
It is a discreet lobbying, which is a little less so every day. According to our information, the German industrial group OHB has engaged in an influence operation that is surprising to say the least. Marco Fuchs, the CEO of the private family group based in Bremen, besieges the European Commission to convince it to launch the next Galileo satellites (the European GPS)… on SpaceX Falcon 9 launchers, rather than on the new European rocket Ariane 6. The German group's proposal is as follows: Brussels would buy three Falcon 9 launches, which would put two Galileo satellites into orbit each in the short term. The Commission would then undertake to carry out other launches on RFA One, the mini-launcher of RFA (Rocket Factory Augsburg), a subsidiary of OHB, from 2024. Asked, Arianespace declined to comment . Also contacted by Challenges, OHB and CNES did not respond.
To understand the case, a little background is necessary. It is the Russian Soyuz launcher which was to carry out the next two Galileo satellite launches, respectively in March and September 2022. Following European sanctions linked to Russia's invasion of Ukraine, the Roscosmos space agency withdrew all its Russian teams from Kourou, which forces the European Commission, owner of the Galileo constellation, to find an alternative solution. The most natural plan B was to switch launches to the future Ariane 6, which is due to make its maiden flight at the end of 2022 or the beginning of 2023. The new European heavy launcher had already been selected for three future Galileo satellite launches: all that was needed was add the two left free by Soyuz. This is also the proposal of Arianespace.
"OHB, broker of SpaceX"
Why, then, is OHB behind the scenes supporting an American solution? This choice is all the more surprising since the Bremen group is both a shareholder of Arianespace (a little less than 10% of the capital) and a major industrial partner of the Ariane 6 program. Its subsidiary MT Aerospace, based in Augsburg (Bavaria) , designs approximately 10% of the European heavy launcher, in particular elements of the second stage. It is the second industrial in terms of workload on Ariane, behind the Franco-German ArianeGroup. Seeing the German group push an offer based on the Falcon launchers from great rival SpaceX therefore seems like a stab in the back. "OHB is turning into a SpaceX broker with the Commission, fumes someone familiar with the matter. With friends like that, you don't need an enemy..."
On closer inspection, this is not the first time that OHB has taken liberties with European solidarity. The group, prime contractor for the German military radar satellites SARah, had already entrusted the launch of these satellites to SpaceX in 2013. The Californian group must carry out the two launches of these spy satellites this year, from the base of the US Air Force in Vandenberg (California).
For the past two years, several European manufacturers have also complained about the reluctance of MT Aerospace, a subsidiary of OHB, to do its part to improve the competitiveness of Ariane 6. In March 2021, the boss of Safran Olivier Andriès, whose the group owns 50% of the capital of ArianeGroup (prime contractor of Ariane 6), ranted against European space "actors", accused of not playing the game of space Europe. If OHB was not named, it was he who was targeted, according to our information.
The Scud by Olivier Andriès
What did Olivier Andries say? "Today, there are players who hide behind geographical return clauses (an industrial burden proportional to the investment of the States, editor's note) so as not to play the game of solidarity around Ariane 6 and "ArianeGroup, he denounced. It is a message that we pass on to the ESA (European Space Agency): it is indeed the geographical returns, but it should not be a pretext or an alibi which allows it is up to certain players in the ecosystem not to participate in the common effort. There are centrifugal tendencies. We must be able to maintain the European cement around Ariane as a whole."
The big question remains. How will the European Commission react to the HBO proposal? To the chagrin of some European industrialists, the European commissioner for the internal market Thierry Breton, in charge of space, does not seem to have ruled out the option proposed by the German group, despite its stated desire for space sovereignty for Europe. "We take note at this stage of the proposals of all the players in the European space