But one that, unfortunately, many of us saw coming.
So why has Europe had to turn to a US-based company?
Id also argue that governments arent helping the situation.
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Its a similar story in China, where government support totalled$12 billion.
How did we get here?
So, why have we fallen so far behind?
In part, ESA suffers from regulations on geographic return.
While its undoubtedly a step in the right direction, I would say this does not go far enough.
NASAs administrator Bill Nelson has also stated that he backs fixed-price contracts with companies working on space exploration.
Fixed-price contracts assume companies building technical systems absorb any unanticipated expenses, not NASA.
This makes the market more competitive for growth-stage companies selling low-cost services to the agency.
Here in Europe however, we simply dont have the same atmosphere of public-private partnerships.
Thats in part because we dont have a joint defence initiative.
We also dont have an Elon Musk or a Jeff Bezos who are willing to invest billions.
Unlike the US, theres also no single European country big enough to go it alone.
This is where collaboration between public-private partnerships and like-minded companies could make all the difference.
However, they can only succeed if they have the support and backing they need to flourish.
And thats a space race that we simply cannot afford to lose.
Jean-Francois Morizur is the founder and CEO ofCailabsand a Forbes 30 Under 30 honouree in Science & Healthcare.
