Raquel González, director of Airbus Space in Spain, on the challenge of Spain as a space power: “We lack people”

It is not usual to cross the doors of Airbus Space in Getafe and tour a facility where the space industry stops being a succession of proper names and becomes something physical. During the visit organized by the 60 years of Airbus Espacio in Spainthe tour revealed production areas, clean areas, parts linked to launchers and satellite technologies and components that will end up operating outside of Earth. The first impression was not of a corporate celebration, but of an industrial chain much broader than its separate programs suggest.

Rachel Gonzalezdirector of Airbus Space in Spain, summed it up with a very direct phrase during the presentation: “Spain is a space power.” He did not present it as a pending aspiration, but as a reality that, in his opinion, is explained by the accumulation of capabilities developed in the country. Satellites appeared on the table like PEACE, PEACE-2, Wit, CHEOPS either LSTMsecure communications programs such as Spainsat NGparticipation in European launchers such as Ariane 6 and even antennas made in Spain to communicate with the rovers Curiosity and Perseverance on Mars. The statement had weight because it did not rest on a single project, but on a sustained presence in various layers of the space sector.

The Spanish space muscle and its challenges

With that statement on the table, the next question was almost obligatory: if Spain has reached that position, How do you maintain yourself in an industry as competitive as the space industry?. The pressure does not come only from access to space, although launching more frequently and at a lower cost has become one of the great battles in the sector. Also important is the ability to design, manufacture and prepare increasingly complex systems, to respond to strategic needs and to do so on a board where pace has accelerated. SpaceX is the most visible symbol of this change, but not the only one: the US maintains a very active commercial ecosystem, China accelerates its commercial and state capabilities, India opens more space for private participationand Europe tries to strengthen its autonomy.

That was the question I asked González: what challenges now appear to remain in that position and what the next step should be. The director of Airbus Space in Spain opened the focus to the entire European space industry, but the response immediately landed on the terrain she knows first-hand. “There’s a talent challenge now. Budgets are increasing, programs keep coming up. There’s a lot of ambition.”

The idea became even clearer when he condensed it into two words: “people are missing” González then turned the diagnosis into a call to those who are still deciding their educational path. His message was aimed at university students, but also at younger students who are beginning to choose where to direct their studies: space needs scientific, technological and engineering profiles, but not only that. Professional training trajectories and profiles linked to production are also needed, because an industry like this is not sustained solely by design on paper. Between an approved mission and a technology ready to leave Earth there are years of specialized work, and that quarry does not appear from one day to the next.

The dimension of the problem is better understood by looking at the figures that Airbus put on the table. According to the company, Airbus Espacio in Spain closed 2025 with 295 million euros in turnover and 530 direct employees, but its impact does not end with its own workforce. Around 30% of this turnover goes to subcontractors, a fact that helps measure the extent to which space activity is distributed across a broader ecosystem. That is why the lack of talent does not only affect a specific company: when programs grow, pressure also increases on suppliers, specialized technicians and teams capable of supporting high-value-added work.

This activity is better understood when you go down from the figure to the type of work behind it. Airbus maintains that its space division in Spain is the only company in the country capable of designing, building, integrating and delivering complex satellites into orbit, a statement that places the focus on high-level industrial responsibilities. González took it to the field of accumulated capacity during the presentation: “Everything that is satellite construction, that is where we are as a leader in Espacio España.” PAZ appears as one of the examples already in service within that trajectory, while PAZ-2 and LSTM show where that capability is now moving.

Another part of the journey led to a less visible, but equally important layer: the technology that allows a mission to observe, measure or transmit useful information from space. Airbus spoke of radars, microwave radiometers and active antennas as areas in which its Spanish division has been accumulating knowledge. They are not elements designed to attract attention outside the sector, but they can make the difference between a space platform and a mission with real service capacity.

The map was completed with another sensitive piece for Europe: access to space. Airbus recalled during the presentation that its activity in Spain has been linked to the family for decades. Ariane already Vegawith structures and subsystems that are part of the European launchers. In the case of Ariane 6, the company also noted that it is increasing production to supply 27 complete setsknown as shipsetsincluding large lightweight carbon fiber structures for Ariane 6 in the coming years. It is not necessary to go into the detail of each component to understand the relevance of this line of work: without reliable launchers and with sufficient cadence, a good part of European space ambition is conditioned.

The launcher tour served to land a broader idea: the European space industry needs more scale. González defended that Europe has taken important steps with programs such as Galileo and Copernicus, but also that the current moment requires going further. “Now is the time to step on the accelerator and move on to the next step,” he said. The phrase did not speak only of a specific program, but of the need to better coordinate industrial capacities that continue to be distributed among several countries and companies.

All of this requires more than contracts and accumulated knowledge. Airbus locates this activity in two headquarters in the Community of Madrid, Getafe and Tres Cantos, and describes its facilities as part of the capacity that allows it to work on highly complex space systems. In Getafe, according to the company, production linked to launchers and areas prepared for the assembly of satellites coexist, an infrastructure that does not function as a showcase, but as a material condition to sustain years-long programs. The talent that González was talking about needs precisely that environment: long projects, stable teams and processes capable of maintaining reliability throughout the entire work cycle.

The lack of people is not resolved only by opening selection processes. In an activity like this, training someone involves years of learning, exposure to real projects and familiarity with procedures where reliability is as important as innovation. González pointed precisely to that dimension when he spoke of reinforcing training and developing capabilities that require time. Then he added a second element: focus. His approach was that the sector has ambition and opportunities, but it needs to decide where to concentrate efforts so that that energy is not dispersed.

This focus also appears in the European debate. Airbus, Leonardo and Thales have signed a memorandum to promote the creation of a larger-scale space player, a movement that Airbus frames as a response to the fragmentation of the sector in Europe and the need to gain scale to compete in a more demanding market. It is not a minor detail in this conversation: if space programs are expensive, long and technologically complex, scale matters as much as specialization. For Airbus, European autonomy does not depend only on having good national projects, but on coordinating capabilities to compete, precisely, in such a dynamic and fast sector.

The visit to Getafe thus left a less obvious reading than that of the satellites, the launchers or the facilities. Airbus can defend that Spain is a space power based on its programs, technology and trajectory. However, the next step does not depend only on preserving what has already been built or adding new missions to the list. If the sector wants to grow in an increasingly fast-paced and demanding environment, it will need something presumably much more difficult: finding a sufficient pool of people capable of keeping all of this working.

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