Europe’s biggest space groups on Thursday unveiled a tentative deal to join forces in satellite manufacturing and services after months of negotiations aimed at countering the leapfrog of rivals led by Elon Musk’s Starlink.

The deal between Airbus, Thales and Leonardo will create a new France-based business starting in 2027, in the most ambitious merger of European aerospace assets since rocket maker MBDA in 2001.

French Finance Minister Roland Leschire said the deal would “strengthen European dominance in a context of intense global competition”.

The new company will employ 25,000 people with revenues of €6.5 billion based on 2024 figures.

Talks have been ongoing for two years between shareholders, governments, unions and the European Commission over the deal, which affects operations in Britain and Germany, as well as Italy and France, where the business will be based.

The companies, which they have already cut a total of 3,000 jobs in their space operations, made no mention of further cuts, but executives said the focus would now turn to potential growth.

Codenamed “Project Bromo”talks between the three aerospace groups began last year in a bid to copy the cooperation model of European missile maker MBDA, which is owned by Airbus, Leonardo and BAE Systems.

Europe’s top satellite makers have long competed to build complex spacecraft in geostationary orbit, but have been hit by the arrival of cheap tiny satellites in low Earth orbit, notably the proliferating Starlink network built by Musk’s SpaceX.

Airbus will own 35 percent, while Thales and Leonardo will each own 32.5 percent, the companies said, adding that the new company would come under joint control “with a balanced governance structure.”

Sources familiar with the deal said those stakes would be adjusted to one-third each through a balancing of payments between shareholders, with Airbus receiving compensation for the reduction in its initial stake when the deal closes in 2027.