Finally, a coherent European launcher reply to the Why-aren’t-you-like-Elon question

PARIS — Elon Musk was as much a part of the background music of young European aerospace engineers’ school years as Green Day or Coldplay.

Now in the business, they’re confronting the fact that maybe a European SpaceX is not possible, or even desirable, depending on how one looks at industrial policy.

But understanding that doesn’t mean they’re not on the defensive at every space policy conference in Europe, just like their elders, when faced with the inevitable Why-can’t-you-be-like-Elon . . .

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