Europe must get its act together on space technology, Airbus warns

DAVOS, Switzerland – A senior European defense and space executive told CNBC Tuesday that the U.S. and China are leading the way in space technology — with Europe needing to "get its act together" to keep up. China recently impressed with its mission to the dark side of the moon and Dirk Hoke, CEO of Airbus Defense and Space told CNBC at the World Economic Forum in Davos that the country's lunar success was no real surprise. "The space agency is huge — they have more than 3,000 employees and they invest into all kinds of new technologies. They are definitely moving very fast," Hoke told CNBC's David Reid, and warned that Europe was at a real risk of falling behind.

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The Intelligent Aerospace take:

January 22, 2019-Airbus would obviously benefit from increased military spending by EU members, so it's not all that surprising that Airbus Defense and Space CEO Dirk Hoke called for European nations to honor a pledge made in 2014 to spend 2 percent of their country's GDP on defense. However, Hoke also speaks truthfully when he noted to CNBC that the United States and China are out pacing Europe outside of the Earth's atmosphere. In addition, just three NATO countries had met the 2 percent target.

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Jamie Whitney, Associate Editor
Intelligent Aerospace

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