Challenge

Relativity Space is a U.S. launch vehicle manufacturer developing Terran-R, a next-generation heavy-lift rocket designed to expand global access to space. As Europe accelerates its industrial and defence space agenda, new policy priorities around strategic autonomy, security screening, and institutional procurement created a complex market-entry environment for non-European launch providers.

For Relativity Space, the challenge was to build credible EU positioning and identify realistic cooperation pathways while navigating fragmented EU and national competences across space, defence, and industrial policy.

Strategy

Alber & Geiger developed a tailored EU market-access and government-relations strategy for Relativity Space. We mapped relevant decision-makers across the European Commission, the European Parliament, the Council, and key Member State authorities, and aligned Relativity Space’s value proposition with European priorities on resilient launch capability, supply-chain security, and transatlantic cooperation.

Our team supported targeted outreach, prepared policy messaging, and advised on structuring engagement with European stakeholders, including space agencies and defence-related interlocutors, to establish a clear pathway for long-term institutional acceptance.

Results

Relativity Space secured stronger visibility and strategic positioning in Europe, with a clear engagement roadmap across EU and Member State stakeholders. The company established a credible narrative linking its launch capabilities to Europe’s evolving access-to-space priorities and laid the foundation for sustained cooperation discussions with European institutions and national authorities.

Challenge

The Maidan Square disaster on the eve of the Ukrainian Revolution and the following fall of Yanukovych’s government, triggered the Russian annexation of Crimea and a souring of the relationship between Russia and the West.

On March 5, 2014 the EU Council froze the assets of 18 former Ukrainian high-ranking officials, suspected of involvement in the Maidan Square disaster and misappropriation of state property. Among them Mykola Azarov, the former Prime Minister of Ukraine, and his son Oleksii Azarov, turned to Alber & Geiger for help.

Strategy

The strategy employed was built on an awareness of the full scope of the rule of law in Europe today, looking at the procedural fairness surrounding the sanctions. It required a subtle deployment of innovative legal arguments and emotional intelligence to navigate through the political turbulence, EU officials and peripheral actors to the institutions, for Alber & Geiger to demonstrate their innocence with strong convictions about their executive culpability.

We put forward that the freezing of funds was of a persecutive nature and not within EU competence. The three pronged approach attacked the premise of the sanctions at the right places and times. Alber & Geiger challenged the (1) legality, (2) legitimacy and (3) non-arbitrariness of the action, grasping all the potential playmakers.

Results

Ultimately the we were able to successfully get the freezing orders imposed on Oleksii Azarov removed, and considerably improve the position of Mykola Azarov. We made clear that the arbitrary targeting of individuals lacked a sufficient legal premise.

Through diligent fact finding we were able to cast doubt on the premise of the government’s alleged responsibility in the first place. We ultimately managed to help reinforce the rule of law, getting platform for the notions of fairness and equitable treatment of individuals into the public forum at a time when fairness was not an institutional priority.

Challenge

Alber & Geiger was tasked with supporting entry into the EU for clients whose families suffered intimidation and coercion in their respective home countries. This would require us to obtain student visas for the UK. Their applications to leading UK universities had failed before. In a short space of time we had to support their applications.

We had to deal with the specific entities and their own distinct decision making processes. This had to be done with political sensitivity, and we had to rely on the integrity of the system to ensure that political influences did not have a bearing on their entry into the UK.

Strategy

The strategy required an expedient understanding of the nooks and crannies inside the UK education system. It used careful neutral language to ensure that their applications were not misconstrued. It relied on the basis of our firm’s intrinsic aptitudes.

We worked to break down and analyse the discretionary selection criteria of each university. The documents thoroughly assimilated the ‘criteria language’ of the universities into their narrative. In this case we had to effectively co-ordinate through the network of statutory instruments and satisfy the executive concerns they were designed to address.

Results

The result was the safe arrival of the families into the UK and their admission into top tier universities. The transferable nature of our skills is constantly being tested by the ever changing institutional framework of Europe.