The cooperation will cover human spaceflight, science, technology and commercial capabilities
Paris Air Show, June 18th 2025 - The European Space Agency (ESA) has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Thales Alenia Space, a joint venture between Thales (67%) and Leonardo (33%), and Blue Origin to foster and facilitate commercial and industrial advancements in the area of space exploration in Low Earth Orbit.
Signature Ceremony - from left to right: Giampiero Di Paolo,Deputy CEO and Senior Vice President of Observation, Exploration, and Navigation at Thales Alenia Space, Daniel Neuenschwander, Director of Human and Robotic Exploration at ESA and Pat Remias, Vice President, Advanced Concepts and Enterprise Engineering, Blue Origin © ESA
The signatories will explore opportunities for European payloads and/or crew members to utilize on a non-exclusive basis the low-Earth orbit (LEO) space station Orbital Reef which will offer end-to-end services, including transportation of crew and cargo, astronaut accommodations, and payload utilization services.
Through this MoU, the European Space Agency intends to develop a closer relationship with Blue Origin and Thales Alenia Space for the development of Orbital Reef, that could provide services meeting Europe’s long-term research and commercial needs in alignment with ESA’s recently announced requirements.
The MoU will also support European industry in preparing to supply modules, systems, subsystems, and equipment for Orbital Reef, and conducting risk-mitigation activities. Furthermore, Thales Alenia Space and Blue Origin are considering using future qualified European LEO cargo and/or crew transportation services under commercially viable terms and conditions as a means to transport astronauts and supplies to and from the station.
“I am thrilled to witness an opening of a new economic dimension on Low Earth Orbit, to which this MoU is contributing,” said Daniel Neuenschwander, Director of Human and Robotic Exploration at ESA. “Our core mission at ESA is to support our Member States’ ambitions, and to do so, we are always keen to investigate potential collaborations in a renewed ecosystem with a growing commercial segment.”
“We’re truly honored that ESA has placed its trust in our company to explore opportunities in the LEO ecosystem together with Blue Origin to meet Europe’s commercial needs,” said Giampiero Di Paolo, Deputy CEO and Senior Vice President of Observation, Exploration, and Navigation at Thales Alenia Space.“Thales Alenia Space has played a key role in achieving humanity’s ambitions in LEO in recent years. By leveraging our expertise in space exploration infrastructures and vehicles, we’re committed to competing and investing in the development of technological solutions to empower Europe’s plans for the commercialization of low-Earth orbit. We’re excited about our collaboration with Blue Origin and are ready to implement whatever’s required to prepare for human presence and life in space, laying the groundwork for the post-ISS era while addressing new economic needs for research and science.”
"This alliance is a unique opportunity to not only enable a new era of research and progress in orbit, but to welcome the broadest spectrum of partners in constructing humanity’s future beyond Earth,” said Pat Remias, Vice President, Advanced Concepts and Enterprise Engineering, Blue Origin. “Together, we are building foundations for industries and missions yet to be imagined."
About the European Space Agency
The European Space Agency (ESA) provides Europe’s gateway to space.
ESA is an intergovernmental organisation, created in 1975, with the mission to shape the development of Europe’s space capability and ensure that investment in space delivers benefits to the citizens of Europe and the world.
ESA has 23 Member States: Austria, Belgium, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom. Latvia, Lithuania and Slovakia are Associate Members.
ESA has established formal cooperation with other four Member States of the EU. Canada takes part in some ESA programmes under a Cooperation Agreement.
By coordinating the financial and intellectual resources of its members, ESA can undertake programmes and activities far beyond the scope of any single European country. It is working in particular with the EU on advancing the Galileo and Copernicus programmes as well as with Eumetsat for the development of meteorological missions.
About Thales Alenia Space
Drawing on over 40 years of experience and a unique combination of skills, expertise and cultures, Thales Alenia Space delivers cost-effective solutions for telecommunications, navigation, Earth observation, environmental monitoring, exploration, science and orbital infrastructures. Governments and private industry alike count on Thales Alenia Space to design satellite-based systems that provide anytime, anywhere connections and positioning, monitor our planet, enhance management of its resources, and explore our Solar System and beyond. Thales Alenia Space sees space as a new horizon, helping to build a better, more sustainable life on Earth. A joint venture between Thales (67%) and Leonardo (33%), Thales Alenia Space also teams up with Telespazio to form the Space Alliance, which offers a complete range of solutions including services. Thales Alenia Space posted consolidated revenues of €2.23 billion in 2024 and has more than 8,100 employees in 7 countries with 15 sites in Europe.
About Blue Origin
We are building a road to space for the benefit of Earth, humanity’s blue origin. Our team is focused on radically reducing the cost of access to space and harnessing its vast resources while mobilizing future generations to realize this mission. Blue Origin builds and operates reusable rocket engines, launch vehicles, in-space systems, and lunar landers.