CHANGE: Elon Musk’s SpaceX Breaks Ground in Europe, Wins Key Satellite Launch Deal.

Notably, the collaboration is expected to see two launches in the coming year, each bearing two Galileo satellites, a move underscored by Javier Benedicto, the ESA’s director of navigation, the Wall Street Journal reported.

The final go-ahead, rests with the European Commission and EU member states and an approval is anticipated before the end of this year.

According to the terms laid out, the U.S.-based Falcon 9 rockets, part of SpaceX’s arsenal, will take the satellites into space.

EU authorities initially hesitated to leverage SpaceX for the Galileo satellite launches, with concerns stemming from a reluctance to rely on a U.S. entity to deploy essential infrastructure into space.

But, given the delays with Europe’s Ariane rocket program and the conscious choice to sidestep Russian rockets due to geopolitical tensions, officials conceded that SpaceX became the viable alternative.

Last July: Ariane 5 launches final mission as Europe faces space gap. “The mission to send France’s Syracuse 4B and Germany’s Heinrich Hertz (H2Sat) satellites to geostationary orbit caps 27 years of service for Ariane 5, whose successor – Ariane 6 – has been hit by technical delays until 2024 for operational use.”