The aim of this paper is to present an overview of the assessment undertaken by the DG Competition of the European Commission on a series of merger and acquisition cases occurring in the space sector in the last 25 years. Not only do the decisions of the DG Competition record the evolution of the major actors in the space sector in Europe but they also demonstrate how the DG Competition of the European Commission has acknowledged the regulatory contribution of the European Space Agency to the creation and growth of the industrial landscape of the space sector in Europe. The paper is not meant to be a scholarly contribution to the analysis of EU competition law. It is, instead, a fact-finding exercise seen from the perspective of ESA’s industrial policy.

The European Space Agency was set-up over 40 years ago and has delivered on expectations from the scientific community’s quest for more knowledge, from the politicians wishing for more Europe and from the business community developing industrial and operational capabilities. All has been made possible thanks to hard-working scientists and space engineers who created and progressively refined a magic formula of balanced interests and respectful co-operation. The diplomats and lawyers well understood the challenges and so defined long-term policy objectives and a stable legal framework necessary to meet them, therefore providing institutional skills and appropriate financing tools which proved successful, and still today make this particular aspect of Europe. The ESA Convention, along with the activities and programmes based in its framework continue to serve as a living example of how to make Europe with a cooperative formula of a common Agency and law maker, giving access to space for all European citizens.