> That would trigger politically-impossible lay-offs in France. And yet, that seems like the model ESA is moving to. Not exactly - it's more NASA style letting

> That would trigger politically-impossible lay-offs in France. And yet, that seems like the model ESA is moving to. Not exactly - it's more NASA style letting companies bid on launches instead of directly funding rockets. But close enough. I don't think ArianeGroup is in trouble in the near term. But Avio - the makers of Vega - are very unhappy about that direction, since the current crop of Rocket startups more directly competes with them.