France in Space, #189 – 21 Dec 2001

1: CNES’ 40TH ANNIVERSARY

2: ALCATEL SPACE TO BE REORGANIZED

3: THE BEDREST VOLUNTEERS BACK ON THEIR FEET

4: MBDA IS BORN

** 1: CNES’ 40TH ANNIVERSARY

CNES, the French Space Agency, founded by then President of France General
Charles de Gaulle on December 19th, 1961, is celebrating its 40th
anniversary. De Gaulle wanted to give France the opportunity to be part of
the race for space exploration along with the Soviet Union and the United
States. On this occasion, French President, Jacques Chirac, and French
Prime Minister, Lionel Jospin, have re-assessed the highly strategic aspect
of the European cooperation in terms of scientific and technical research.
While the Galileo project, a satellite positioning system, is under
pressure from the United States, Jacques Chirac confirmed that France
strongly supported the project at the European summit in Laeken. Lionel
Jospin also spoke in favor of the project, highlighting its strategic asset
for Europe.

[Les Echos and CNES Press Release 12/19/2001, AFP 12/17/2001]

** 2: ALCATEL SPACE TO BE REORGANIZED

Although the 2000 results were outstanding with 10 telecom satellite orders
totaling 27% of the market, Alcatel Space is facing a severe trend shift.
After ordering four satellites in 2001, GE Americom cancelled two, ordered
in 2000, following its merger with Societe Europeenne de Satellite (SES).
The world market remains uncertain. Alcatel Space, now a fully-owned
Alcatel subsidiary since the acquisition last May of Thales’ shares,
presented to the Central Committee on December 20th, a “restructuring
project according to the workload”. According to trade unions, 450
positions among the 6000 French employees would be affected by this
reorganization, as well as 300 internal reallocation . No mention was made
whether the positions would be eliminated. Alcatel had planned a 152
million Euro investment from 2000 until mid 2002 to increase its capacity
from 6 to 10 satellites a year.

[Les Echos and AFP, 12/17/2001]

** 3: THE BEDREST VOLUNTEERS BACK ON THEIR FEET

After three months in bed, the 14 volunteers of the ” Bedrest 2001 ” study,
which aimed at preparing long-lasting flights for astronauts, are back on
their feet. For 90 days, the men ages between 29 and 41, lied in a 6
degrees inclined position from the horizontal, heads down. This technique
is the most appropriate to recreate some of the weightlessness effects. To
explain their motivations, most of the volunteers mentioned the personal
challenges incurred by such an experiment and the unique opportunity it was
for them to contribute to space exploration. This first study gave some
interesting findings. The Bedrest study is already calling for a second
round in March 2002, with new volunteers.

[CNES Press Release and AFP, 12/17/2001, ESA Press Release, 12/21/2001]

** 4: MBDA IS BORN

MBDA has been successfully created. It occurred eight months after the
signature of the agreement for the merger regrouping the missile and
missile systems activities of the subsidiaries for BAE Systems, EADS and
Finmeccanica into a single company. With a total annual sales figure
exceeding 3 billion Euros and an impressive order book of around 13 billion
Euros, the new company is a market leader. MBDA – headed by Fabrice BrŽgier
– will include the missile activities of its shareholders and have
strategic alliances with the German missile industry (starting with LFK, a
company shared by EADS and MBDA) as well as with the Spanish missile
industry (with EADS-Casa, Indra and Izar).
[EADS Press Release, 12/19/2001]

[From Agence France Presse (AFP), CNES Press Release, EADS Press Release,
ESA Press Release, Les Echos]