Arianespace has poached Thomas Hundt from Airbus to become its new CFO amid plans to consolidate Europe’s launch assets.
Hundt was previously a VP of financial control for the Earth observation, navigation and science satellite activities at Airbus,…
Arianespace has poached Thomas Hundt from Airbus to become its new CFO amid plans to consolidate Europe’s launch assets.
Hundt was previously a VP of financial control for the Earth observation, navigation and science satellite activities at Airbus, as well as a finance director for its Astrium Satellites unit.
He replaces Jean-Max Puech, who left earlier this year to join the European Space Agency.
Hundt had been with Airbus for 14 years, holding various international financial management positions, particularly in the space industry.
The appointment comes as Airbus talks with fellow European aerospace giant Safran about consolidating their launch assets – a move that could ultimately affect the future structure of Paris-based Arianespace.
Launch services providers across the world have been embarking upon heavy cost-cutting drives to deal with a new price war in the historically low-margin industry.
ILS is looking to cut 25% of its workforce and scale down the number of launches it targets a year, while Sea Launch has put its operations on hold to compensate for a gap in its manifest.
