Elon Musk’s spacecraft firm SpaceX is set to launch four communications satellites on behalf of the European Space Agency in 2024, pending approval from the European Commission and all member states of the European Union.
First reported by the Wall Street Journal, the agreement will see SpaceX launch two Falcon 9 rockets from US soil, each carrying two of the ESA’s Galileo satellites.
The pending agreement marks a turnaround in relations between SpaceX and the EU, which has been reluctant to use a US company for the bloc’s satellite launches.
However, EU officials have been left with fewer choices given delays to its own Ariane 6 launcher programme.
The EU has also cut ties with Russia’s Soyuz programme, which which previously used for launches, following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
If approved, it would be the first European satellite to be launched outside of European territory in 15 years.
SpaceX is increasing its foothold in the European space sector, having aided the ESA’s Euclid telescope launch in July.
Euclid is the first space telescope designed to study dark matter.
The UK’s launcher ambitions rest on the shoulders of Spaceport Cornwall, the first satellite launchpad on British soil based at the Newquay Airport.
Virgin Orbit Holdings plc attempted the first satellite launch from Spaceport Cornwall this January but ultimately failed to reach beyond the stratosphere.
Virgin Orbit has since filed for bankruptcy, but Spaceport Cornwall continues to build on the Government-backed Space Systems Operations Facility.