EDITORIAL

 Recent years have seen far-reaching shifts in the space sector. The ambitions of new entrants from the public and private spheres, combined with the digital transformation of the economy, have changed the rules of the game, lowering costs and spawning a plethora of projects for launchers, satellites and services. The previously clear lines between upstream and downstream, civil and military, public and private are today being blurred, unleashing new paradigms in which these different sectors are more tightly linked than ever before.
 In this changing context, Europe is retaining its rank as one of the top three world space powers, behind the United States and very often ahead of China, with tens of thousands of jobs sustained directly by the space industry.
 France has always played a pivotal role in this European success story, with its particularly vibrant space sector in which CNES orchestrates and fuels the worlds of research and industry.
 Thanks to a pro-active industrial policy pursued for over half a century and backed by targeted government investment, our country has a strong and competitive space industry renowned worldwide for its quality and reliability. This industry today accounts for more than a third of space jobs in Europe and generates about half of the European space sector’s revenues.
 CNES is therefore especially glad to publish this catalogue of French space industry capabilities, with a view to helping to promote cooperation between space agencies, research institutes and industry, and encourage prospective partners to turn to France as a reflex response: for only by sharing ambitions, horizons and expertise will we be able to face the challenges ahead and continue inventing the future of space.

Jean-Yves Le Gall, CNES President, 12 April 2020.