PARIS, Oct 16 (Reuters) - Airbus plans to cut

up to 2,500 posts in its Defence & Space division after

spiralling losses on satellite projects, two people familiar

with the matter said on Wednesday.

The European planemaker aims to implement the cuts, which

represent 7% of its workforce in the Defence & Space unit, by

the middle of 2026, they said, asking not to be identified on

measures that have not yet been publicly announced.

Airbus declined to comment.

Airbus builds satellites, transport planes and has key

shares in European missile, fighter and space launch programmes.

Its business has been hit by heavy charges in space systems,

including OneSat, and delays and rising costs in defence.

The job cuts, first reported by French news agency AFP,

follow a longstanding efficiency review in the defence and space

business, code-named ATOM.

Airbus has also been drawing up a specific turnaround plan

for its struggling Space Systems business, without waiting for

the outcome of recent satellite consolidation talks that include

Italy's Leonardo as well as France's Thales.

But the job cuts will not be confined purely to the space

business, which has had 1.5 billion euros in charges in recent

quarters, the sources said.

Reuters reported in July that Airbus had launched an urgent

cash containment plan across the wider Defence and Space unit,

where managers have declared the cost situation "critical".

CEO Guillaume Faury told reporters earlier this year that

Airbus was looking at opportunities to create scale in defence,

space and particularly satellites where traditional players have

been heavily disrupted by the success of new constellations.