French MPs propose symbolic €1 budget line for VORTEX spaceplane
Dassault Aviation · OHB
Per European Spaceflight: 71 French MPs added a symbolic €1 VORTEX line to France's 2027 budget to press the government for clarity.
what happened
Seventy-one MPs from France's La France Insoumise party proposed an Oct. 16 amendment to the country's 2027 budget creating a symbolic one-euro budget line for VORTEX, a reusable spaceplane demonstrator France's Ministry of Armed Forces has backed since June 2025, per European Spaceflight. The outlet reports the MPs said the amendment aims "to question the government about the programme's absence from the proposed 2027 budget and to formally establish the objective of developing a French reusable spaceplane capability within the state budget," and that they also raised concerns about German partner OHB's involvement following the collapse of the Franco-German SCAF fighter program in June 2026. The move comes despite President Macron announcing broader support for VORTEX on Sept. 10 and 2026 preliminary research funding, per the outlet.
why it matters
VORTEX is Dassault Aviation's bid to build a European reusable orbital vehicle, with OHB developing a service-module variant pitched to ESA. A parliamentary fight over whether the 2027 budget funds the program at all is an early signal of how secure its financing is, which matters to suppliers counting on a funded French spaceplane effort continuing on schedule.
for who
European launch-vehicle suppliers, Dassault/OHB program partners
signal-to-noise
quick facts
- Companies
- Dassault Aviation, OHB
- Category
- financial
- Impact
- noise
- SNR
- 3 / 5
- Event date
- 2026-10-16
- Published
- 2026-10-20 12:29 UTC