The European space industry is a niche sector, embedded in the wider European Aerospace and Defence industrial complex. A few large industrial holdings are directly responsible for more than 70 per cent of the total space industry employment.1 Growth in this sector depends heavily on public budgets and the cyclical demand of commercial satellite communications operators. Nearly half of the overall market is placed with public customers, such as the European Space Agency and national space agencies. Given its strategic importance and interdependencies with the defence sector, political intervention is strong.