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French space program

February 07, 2023

The French space program includes both civil and military spaceflight activities. It is the third oldest national space program in the world, after the Soviet (now Russian) and American space programs, and the largest space program in Europe.

Background

 
Space launch vehicle imagined on a Gobelins tapestry, ordered by Colbert and drawn by Le Brun, 1664.

Space travel has long been a significant ambition in French culture. From the Gobelins' 1664 tapestry representing a space rocket,[1] to Jules Verne's 1865 novel From the Earth to the Moon and George Méliès' 1902 film A Trip to the Moon, space and rocketry were present in French society long before the technological means appeared to allow the development of a space exploration program.

During the late 18th century, Jean-François Pilâtre de Rozier, Jacques Charles and the Montgolfier brothers are seen as worldwide precursors and explorers of aeronautics, with the world record altitude then reached by a human at 7,016 metres (23,018 ft) performed by Joseph-Louis Gay-Lussac in 1804. Those names, their numerous students and their works will mark the early expertise of France's space program in all types of air balloons since.

In the beginning of the twentieth century, the origins of the French space program are tied to French technological developments in aerospace and astronautics, notably the nascent airplane and rocket industries.

 
EA-EOLE rockets (as tested in 1940–1941 and 1951)

Robert Esnault-Pelterie appears as one of the early pioneers in space exploration design and rocket science. From 1908, he studied propulsion and space flight; without knowing the work of Russian mathematician Konstantin Tsiolkovsky at that time, he derived the mathematical equations for interplanetary flight, flight durations, and engine propulsion, and was later nominated President of the Chambre Syndicale des Industries Aéronautiques (Trade association of Aircraft industries) in 1912.[2] From 1935 to 1939 he designed a high-altitude sounding rocket, but World War II interrupted his plans; German experts believed that the rocket could have reached its design goal of 60 miles (97 km).[3] Esnault-Pelterie convinced physicist Jean-Jacques Barré, a pioneer in rocket propulsion, to collaborate on the design of a self-propelled cryogenic rocket. Between 1927 and 1933, Barré did extensive research and developed a rocket that could reach the upper atmosphere and space, the EA-41 Eole (see picture).[4]

History

The beginning of the institutional French space program dates back to 1946 when, right after World War II, the Laboratoire de recherches balistiques et aérodynamiques (LRBA, Ballistic and aerodynamic research laboratory) was formed in Vernon to develop the next generation of rockets, partly taking advantage of the German development of the V2 rocket.

Before this and during the war, as Free France continued to work, the EA-41 was tested and improved by military personnel, from October 1942 through to 1945.[5]

22 May 1952: Véronique N1 is successfully launched from the Saharan desert.[5]

In 1958, President Charles de Gaulle directed the creation of several space research committees. In 1959, the Comité d'études spatiales was born under the supervision of Pierre Auger. In 1961, de Gaulle signed the creation of the Centre national d'études spatiales (CNES) to coordinate French space activities. Development of Western Europe's first carrier rocket, the Diamant, began in 1962, first launched in Algeria.

On November 26, 1965, Astérix, the first French satellite in space, is successfully launched by a Diamant rocket from the Algerian desert. It is active for 2 consecutive days before ceasing to transmit.[5]

In 1965, France's space launch pads and CNES settled in Kourou.

In 1973, France drove the creation of the European Space Agency and became its first contributor.

The French space budget, although stagnant since the early 2000s in constant euros, remains in absolute terms the largest of the member countries of the European Space Agency (ESA) and the second largest national budget (after the United States of America) at €2.33 billion.[6] In 2004, this budget stood at €1.698 billion, with €685 million being transferred to the Paris-based ESA for the programs conducted under its supervision.

 
Ariane rocket at Le Bourget airport museum, Paris

The Ariane rocket family is France's own rocket family, whose use has been extended to the whole of ESA member countries.

Its spaceport, near Kourou, was selected in 1964 to host all of France's launches. Later, it was selected as ESA's launch site. Before being in French Guiana, France's space launches were made from Algeria, in Colomb-Béchar and Hammaguir.[7]

The French space program thus benefits from the best ground position for launch sites on Earth, as its position 5.3° north of the equator allows rockets to gain propulsion from the spinning of the Earth when launched eastward (+460 m/s) and save on propellant. No other governmental launch sites allow this level of physical parameters. It is also able to launch satellites into polar orbits from this spaceport.

Launch statistics

As of 21 December 2022[8][9]

As of 2017, Kourou counts amongst the spaceports with the highest percentage of successful launches, both successive and overall. Here is a chronology of all orbital launches from the Kourou spaceport since 1970, under the French and European space programmes.

Flights by launcher

3
6
9
12
15
1970
1975
1980
1985
1990
1995
2000
2005
2010
2015
2020
In development: 
  •    Ariane 6
Active: 

Retired: 

Flights by mission outcome

3
6
9
12
15
1970
1975
1980
1985
1990
1995
2000
2005
2010
2015
2020

  Success     Failure     Partial Failure     Scheduled


Collaborations

 
Columbus module

France's public involvement in space technologies is also deep into European programs such as Columbus (Thales Alenia Space) or Automated Transfer Vehicle (Airbus Defence and Space).

The French space program includes collaborations between its institutions and other countries, European as well as other foreign countries and institutions (JAXA, ISRO, NASA, CNSA) in projects ranging from the Herschel Space Observatory to BepiColombo, Saral/Altika and the Planck space observatory.[10]

Since 2010, France and Russia have been collaborating on several space missions, including long-run science programmes like Cardiomed, dedicated to monitoring cardiovascular health in cosmonauts.[11]

In 2016, for the COP21, CNES and ISRO impulsed a groundbreaking and worldwide plan to unite all space agencies for the gathering of satellite information and detection on greenhouse gas emissions, allowing more precise measurements and decision making.[12] In addition, CNES and ESA have a strong background of collaboration, notably building the largest single satellite surveyance program for earth's biological monitoring (Copernicus Programme).

CNES has provided essential instruments (cameras) on an Indian mission to the Moon (Chandrayaan-1), launched in January 2018.[13] A consortium led by the CNES also built Argos instruments on board India's Oceansat-3 in 2018.[14] A third collaboration between the ISRO and French space actors (Lesia, CNRS, Université Paris-VI and Université Paris-VII) has seen the launch of PicSat in January 2018, a nano-satellite that surveys the Beta Pictoris star for exoplanets.[15]

The French space agency was also responsible for the construction of the main instruments on the French-German-American InSight mission to Mars, which launched on 5 May 2018 and landed on 26 November 2018.

On 20 October 2018, CNES and JAXA launched the BepiColombo mission to study the magnetic field of Mercury and map its surface.

On 29 October 2018, the CFOSAT [fr] (China-France Oceanography SATellite) was placed into Earth orbit to study ocean surface winds and waves.[16] After President Macron's state visit to China in January 2018, the French-Chinese collaboration in space was increased significantly and includes more in-depth collaboration, notably in the sharing of CFOSAT data, meant to study oceans and their interaction with the atmosphere, as well as in the SVOM program.[17]

In 2020, Solar Orbiter was launched by NASA, containing instruments designed by CNES and other French industrial actors.[18]

The French satellite TARANIS, with international collaboration, was launched in November 2020. The launch was a failure (of the launching rocket) and the satellite never entered use. It would have been the 1st satellite designed to observe lightning at altitudes of 20 to 100 km.[19]

Future projects

The construction of the Ariane 6 launcher is underway, after being approved by all ESA countries in 2016.[20] It is designed by Airbus Safran Launchers.[21]

2023 will mark the launch of Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer. It will study Jupiter and three of its moons with a view to gaining new insights into how life emerged.[22] This mission is a collaboration of CNES with CNRS and ESA.

In 2025, France and Germany will launch their collaborative mission Merlin, due to study methane levels and concentrations in the earth's atmosphere.[23][24]

See also

 
French spationaut Thomas Pesquet in 2016
 
Map of the Centre Spatial Guyanais (Guiana Space Centre)

References

  1. ^ Jean Cheymol. (PDF). Biusante.parisdescartes.fr. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2019-04-26. Retrieved 2017-08-11.
  2. ^ Larousse, Éditions. "Encyclopédie Larousse en ligne - Robert Esnault-Pelterie". Larousse.fr. Retrieved 11 August 2017.
  3. ^ Ley, Willy (June 1964). "Anyone Else for Space?". For Your Information. Galaxy Science Fiction. pp. 110–128.
  4. ^ Jacques Villain, 1993 : Jean-Jacques Barré pionnier français des fusées et de l'astronautique SEP, 1993
  5. ^ a b c "Chronologie Ariane". Capcom Espace (in French). Retrieved 6 February 2017.
  6. ^ "Le 2ème budget au monde". cnes.fr. Retrieved 11 August 2017.
  7. ^ "Choix de la Guyane - CNES". Cnes-csg.fr. Retrieved 11 August 2017.
  8. ^ Clark, Stephen (26 October 2018). "Launch schedule". Spaceflight Now. Retrieved 28 October 2018.
  9. ^ "Le Centre Spatial Guyanais - CNES". cnes-csg.fr.
  10. ^ "cnes - Bibliothèque des projets du CNES". cnes.fr. Retrieved 11 August 2017.
  11. ^ "Cardiomed".
  12. ^ "World's space agencies unite to face the climate challenge". cnes.fr. Retrieved 11 August 2017.
  13. ^ "Coopération spatiale entre la France et l'Inde" (in French). Télé Satellite et Numérique. 12 January 2017. Retrieved 2 February 2017.
  14. ^ "France-India space cooperation – CNES and ISRO review joint projects at Bengaluru Space Expo 2016" (Press release) (in French). CNES. 1 September 2016. Retrieved 2 February 2017.
  15. ^ "Un nanosatellite à l'affût d'une exoplanète". Le Monde.fr. 9 January 2018.
  16. ^ Barbosa, Rui C. (28 October 2018). "Long March 2C lofts CFOSAT for CNES". NASASpaceflight. Retrieved 2 October 2020.
  17. ^ "Visite d'Etat du Président de la République en République Populaire de Chine : Renforcement de la coopération spatiale franco-chinoise dans les domaines du climat et de l'exploration".
  18. ^ "Solar Orbiter" (in French). CNES. Retrieved 2 February 2017.
  19. ^ "Taranis". CNES. Retrieved 2 February 2017.
  20. ^ de Selding, Peter B. (2 December 2014). "ESA Members Agree To Build Ariane 6, Fund Station Through 2017". SpaceNews. Retrieved 2 February 2017.
  21. ^ de Selding, Peter B. (3 April 2015). "Desire for Competitive Ariane 6 Nudges ESA Toward Compromise in Funding Dispute with Contractor". SpaceNews. Retrieved 2 February 2017.
  22. ^ "Juice" (in French). CNES. Retrieved 2 February 2017.
  23. ^ "FBH lidar diodes promise clearer view of climate change – Franco-German Merlin satellite measuring atmospheric methane to be launched in 2025". SPIE. 20 July 2020. Retrieved 2 October 2020.
  24. ^ "Merlin" (in French). CNES. Retrieved 2 February 2017.

External links

  • Signe 3 at NASA NSSDC
  • Signe 3 at NASA HEASARC

February 07, 2023
french, space, program, this, article, confusing, unclear, readers, please, help, clarify, article, there, might, discussion, about, this, talk, page, january, 2020, learn, when, remove, this, template, message, this, article, expanded, with, text, translated,. This article may be confusing or unclear to readers Please help clarify the article There might be a discussion about this on the talk page January 2020 Learn how and when to remove this template message This article may be expanded with text translated from the corresponding article in French August 2014 Click show for important translation instructions View a machine translated version of the French article Machine translation like DeepL or Google Translate is a useful starting point for translations but translators must revise errors as necessary and confirm that the translation is accurate rather than simply copy pasting machine translated text into the English Wikipedia Consider adding a topic to this template there are already 5 312 articles in the main category and specifying topic will aid in categorization Do not translate text that appears unreliable or low quality If possible verify the text with references provided in the foreign language article You must provide copyright attribution in the edit summary accompanying your translation by providing an interlanguage link to the source of your translation A model attribution edit summary is Content in this edit is translated from the existing French Wikipedia article at fr Programme spatial francais see its history for attribution You should also add the template Translated fr Programme spatial francais to the talk page For more guidance see Wikipedia Translation The French space program includes both civil and military spaceflight activities It is the third oldest national space program in the world after the Soviet now Russian and American space programs and the largest space program in Europe Contents 1 Background 2 History 3 Launch statistics 3 1 Flights by launcher 3 2 Flights by mission outcome 4 Collaborations 5 Future projects 6 See also 7 References 8 External linksBackground Edit Space launch vehicle imagined on a Gobelins tapestry ordered by Colbert and drawn by Le Brun 1664 Space travel has long been a significant ambition in French culture From the Gobelins 1664 tapestry representing a space rocket 1 to Jules Verne s 1865 novel From the Earth to the Moon and George Melies 1902 film A Trip to the Moon space and rocketry were present in French society long before the technological means appeared to allow the development of a space exploration program During the late 18th century Jean Francois Pilatre de Rozier Jacques Charles and the Montgolfier brothers are seen as worldwide precursors and explorers of aeronautics with the world record altitude then reached by a human at 7 016 metres 23 018 ft performed by Joseph Louis Gay Lussac in 1804 Those names their numerous students and their works will mark the early expertise of France s space program in all types of air balloons since In the beginning of the twentieth century the origins of the French space program are tied to French technological developments in aerospace and astronautics notably the nascent airplane and rocket industries EA EOLE rockets as tested in 1940 1941 and 1951 Robert Esnault Pelterie appears as one of the early pioneers in space exploration design and rocket science From 1908 he studied propulsion and space flight without knowing the work of Russian mathematician Konstantin Tsiolkovsky at that time he derived the mathematical equations for interplanetary flight flight durations and engine propulsion and was later nominated President of the Chambre Syndicale des Industries Aeronautiques Trade association of Aircraft industries in 1912 2 From 1935 to 1939 he designed a high altitude sounding rocket but World War II interrupted his plans German experts believed that the rocket could have reached its design goal of 60 miles 97 km 3 Esnault Pelterie convinced physicist Jean Jacques Barre a pioneer in rocket propulsion to collaborate on the design of a self propelled cryogenic rocket Between 1927 and 1933 Barre did extensive research and developed a rocket that could reach the upper atmosphere and space the EA 41 Eole see picture 4 History EditThe beginning of the institutional French space program dates back to 1946 when right after World War II the Laboratoire de recherches balistiques et aerodynamiques LRBA Ballistic and aerodynamic research laboratory was formed in Vernon to develop the next generation of rockets partly taking advantage of the German development of the V2 rocket Before this and during the war as Free France continued to work the EA 41 was tested and improved by military personnel from October 1942 through to 1945 5 22 May 1952 Veronique N1 is successfully launched from the Saharan desert 5 In 1958 President Charles de Gaulle directed the creation of several space research committees In 1959 the Comite d etudes spatiales was born under the supervision of Pierre Auger In 1961 de Gaulle signed the creation of the Centre national d etudes spatiales CNES to coordinate French space activities Development of Western Europe s first carrier rocket the Diamant began in 1962 first launched in Algeria On November 26 1965 Asterix the first French satellite in space is successfully launched by a Diamant rocket from the Algerian desert It is active for 2 consecutive days before ceasing to transmit 5 In 1965 France s space launch pads and CNES settled in Kourou In 1973 France drove the creation of the European Space Agency and became its first contributor The French space budget although stagnant since the early 2000s in constant euros remains in absolute terms the largest of the member countries of the European Space Agency ESA and the second largest national budget after the United States of America at 2 33 billion 6 In 2004 this budget stood at 1 698 billion with 685 million being transferred to the Paris based ESA for the programs conducted under its supervision Ariane rocket at Le Bourget airport museum Paris The Ariane rocket family is France s own rocket family whose use has been extended to the whole of ESA member countries Its spaceport near Kourou was selected in 1964 to host all of France s launches Later it was selected as ESA s launch site Before being in French Guiana France s space launches were made from Algeria in Colomb Bechar and Hammaguir 7 The French space program thus benefits from the best ground position for launch sites on Earth as its position 5 3 north of the equator allows rockets to gain propulsion from the spinning of the Earth when launched eastward 460 m s and save on propellant No other governmental launch sites allow this level of physical parameters It is also able to launch satellites into polar orbits from this spaceport Launch statistics EditAs of 21 December 2022 8 9 As of 2017 update Kourou counts amongst the spaceports with the highest percentage of successful launches both successive and overall Here is a chronology of all orbital launches from the Kourou spaceport since 1970 under the French and European space programmes Flights by launcher Edit 3 6 9 12 15 1970 1975 1980 1985 1990 1995 2000 2005 2010 2015 2020 In development Ariane 6 Active Ariane 5 Soyuz ST VegaRetired Diamant Europa 2 Ariane 1 Ariane 2 Ariane 3 Ariane 4 Flights by mission outcome Edit 3 6 9 12 15 1970 1975 1980 1985 1990 1995 2000 2005 2010 2015 2020 Success Failure Partial Failure Scheduled Charts include all orbital launches from Kourou sounding rockets are excluded Historical data launch tables from List of Ariane launches Soyuz ST Vega and Encyclopedia Aeronautica Collaborations Edit Columbus module France s public involvement in space technologies is also deep into European programs such as Columbus Thales Alenia Space or Automated Transfer Vehicle Airbus Defence and Space The French space program includes collaborations between its institutions and other countries European as well as other foreign countries and institutions JAXA ISRO NASA CNSA in projects ranging from the Herschel Space Observatory to BepiColombo Saral Altika and the Planck space observatory 10 Since 2010 France and Russia have been collaborating on several space missions including long run science programmes like Cardiomed dedicated to monitoring cardiovascular health in cosmonauts 11 In 2016 for the COP21 CNES and ISRO impulsed a groundbreaking and worldwide plan to unite all space agencies for the gathering of satellite information and detection on greenhouse gas emissions allowing more precise measurements and decision making 12 In addition CNES and ESA have a strong background of collaboration notably building the largest single satellite surveyance program for earth s biological monitoring Copernicus Programme CNES has provided essential instruments cameras on an Indian mission to the Moon Chandrayaan 1 launched in January 2018 13 A consortium led by the CNES also built Argos instruments on board India s Oceansat 3 in 2018 14 A third collaboration between the ISRO and French space actors Lesia CNRS Universite Paris VI and Universite Paris VII has seen the launch of PicSat in January 2018 a nano satellite that surveys the Beta Pictoris star for exoplanets 15 The French space agency was also responsible for the construction of the main instruments on the French German American InSight mission to Mars which launched on 5 May 2018 and landed on 26 November 2018 On 20 October 2018 CNES and JAXA launched the BepiColombo mission to study the magnetic field of Mercury and map its surface On 29 October 2018 the CFOSAT fr China France Oceanography SATellite was placed into Earth orbit to study ocean surface winds and waves 16 After President Macron s state visit to China in January 2018 the French Chinese collaboration in space was increased significantly and includes more in depth collaboration notably in the sharing of CFOSAT data meant to study oceans and their interaction with the atmosphere as well as in the SVOM program 17 In 2020 Solar Orbiter was launched by NASA containing instruments designed by CNES and other French industrial actors 18 The French satellite TARANIS with international collaboration was launched in November 2020 The launch was a failure of the launching rocket and the satellite never entered use It would have been the 1st satellite designed to observe lightning at altitudes of 20 to 100 km 19 Future projects EditThis section needs to be updated Please help update this article to reflect recent events or newly available information January 2019 The construction of the Ariane 6 launcher is underway after being approved by all ESA countries in 2016 20 It is designed by Airbus Safran Launchers 21 2023 will mark the launch of Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer It will study Jupiter and three of its moons with a view to gaining new insights into how life emerged 22 This mission is a collaboration of CNES with CNRS and ESA In 2025 France and Germany will launch their collaborative mission Merlin due to study methane levels and concentrations in the earth s atmosphere 23 24 See also Edit French spationaut Thomas Pesquet in 2016 People Joseph Louis Lagrange Pierre Simon Laplace Augustin Jean Fresnel Jean Yves Le Gall Francois Arago Philippe Baptiste French spationautsCompanies and organisations CNES European Space Agency Airbus Safran Arianespace ArianeGroup Astrium Thales Group Thales Alenia Space Aerospatiale Dassault ISAE SUPAERO Ecole nationale superieure de mecanique et d aerotechnique ISAE ENSMA Ecole nationale superieure d ingenieurs de Poitiers Ecole nationale de l aviation civile France AEROTECH Ecole nationale superieure d electronique informatique telecommunications mathematique et mecanique de Bordeaux French Air and Space Force Map of the Centre Spatial Guyanais Guiana Space Centre Locations Guiana Space Centre Aerospace Valley Toulouse Space Centre Musee aeronautique et spatial Safran Cannes Mandelieu Space Center Bureau des Longitudes More Felicette the only cat in spaceReferences Edit Jean Cheymol Astronautique PDF Biusante parisdescartes fr Archived from the original PDF on 2019 04 26 Retrieved 2017 08 11 Larousse Editions Encyclopedie Larousse en ligne Robert Esnault Pelterie Larousse fr Retrieved 11 August 2017 Ley Willy June 1964 Anyone Else for Space For Your Information Galaxy Science Fiction pp 110 128 Jacques Villain 1993 Jean Jacques Barre pionnier francais des fusees et de l astronautique SEP 1993 a b c Chronologie Ariane Capcom Espace in French Retrieved 6 February 2017 Le 2eme budget au monde cnes fr Retrieved 11 August 2017 Choix de la Guyane CNES Cnes csg fr Retrieved 11 August 2017 Clark Stephen 26 October 2018 Launch schedule Spaceflight Now Retrieved 28 October 2018 Le Centre Spatial Guyanais CNES cnes csg fr cnes Bibliotheque des projets du CNES cnes fr Retrieved 11 August 2017 Cardiomed World s space agencies unite to face the climate challenge cnes fr Retrieved 11 August 2017 Cooperation spatiale entre la France et l Inde in French Tele Satellite et Numerique 12 January 2017 Retrieved 2 February 2017 France India space cooperation CNES and ISRO review joint projects at Bengaluru Space Expo 2016 Press release in French CNES 1 September 2016 Retrieved 2 February 2017 Un nanosatellite a l affut d une exoplanete Le Monde fr 9 January 2018 Barbosa Rui C 28 October 2018 Long March 2C lofts CFOSAT for CNES NASASpaceflight Retrieved 2 October 2020 Visite d Etat du President de la Republique en Republique Populaire de Chine Renforcement de la cooperation spatiale franco chinoise dans les domaines du climat et de l exploration Solar Orbiter in French CNES Retrieved 2 February 2017 Taranis CNES Retrieved 2 February 2017 de Selding Peter B 2 December 2014 ESA Members Agree To Build Ariane 6 Fund Station Through 2017 SpaceNews Retrieved 2 February 2017 de Selding Peter B 3 April 2015 Desire for Competitive Ariane 6 Nudges ESA Toward Compromise in Funding Dispute with Contractor SpaceNews Retrieved 2 February 2017 Juice in French CNES Retrieved 2 February 2017 FBH lidar diodes promise clearer view of climate change Franco German Merlin satellite measuring atmospheric methane to be launched in 2025 SPIE 20 July 2020 Retrieved 2 October 2020 Merlin in French CNES Retrieved 2 February 2017 External links EditSigne 3 at NASA NSSDC Signe 3 at NASA HEASARC Portals Spaceflight France Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title French space program amp oldid 1108306911, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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