Airbus hits problems over satellite consolidation
January 22, 2026
By Chris Forrester
Airbus Defence & Space wants to consolidate its separate Airbus Constellations Satellites business. A French union (Union Nationale des Syndicats Autonomes (UNSA)) has described the move as industrial, economic and social nonsense.
The Constellations business is the former Airbus OneWeb Satellite business formed as a joint venture in January 2016 between Airbus and Eutelsat OneWeb and the plan was to produce hundreds of satellites at a Florida factory.
In September 2023 Eutelsat wrapped the acquisition of OneWeb, and a few months later Eutelsat sold its stake in the Airbus satellite joint venture to Airbus. Airbus subsequently renamed the division as Airbus Constellations Satellites.
On December 18th 2025, an important French trade union (Confédération Française Démocratique du Travail (CFDT)) got involved, saying that Airbus wanted to “absorb” the Satellites division. CFDT has subsequently said that the deal has not gone down well with employees, saying: “There is no benefit in absorbing a company that is delivering strongly positive results, is experiencing strong growth, and is already wholly owned.”
Meanwhile, Airbus is moving forward with its own plans to merge its space divisions with those of Thales and Thales/Leonardo. Ownership will be split among the three companies, with Leonardo and Thales each holding a 32.5 per cent stake, and Airbus holding the majority stake of 35 per cent.
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