French space program
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The French space program includes both
Background
Space travel has long been a significant ambition in
During the late 18th century,
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.
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
Before this and during the
22 May 1952:
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 (
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.
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
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 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
Flights by mission outcome
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
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 (
Since 2010, France and
In 2016, for the
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
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 (China-France Oceanography SATellite) was placed into Earth orbit to study ocean surface winds and waves.[16] After
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
This section needs to be updated.(January 2019) |
The construction of the
2023 will mark the launch of
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
- People
- Joseph Louis Lagrange
- Pierre-Simon Laplace
- Augustin-Jean Fresnel
- Jean-Yves Le Gall
- François Arago
- Philippe Baptiste
- French spationauts
- Companies and organisations
- CNES
- European Space Agency
- Airbus
- Safran
- Arianespace
- ArianeGroup
- Astrium
- Thales Group
- Thales Alenia Space
- Aérospatiale
- Dassault
- ISAE-SUPAERO
- École nationale supérieure de mécanique et d'aérotechnique (ISAE-ENSMA)
- École nationale supérieure d'ingénieurs de Poitiers
- École nationale de l'aviation civile
- France AEROTECH
- École nationale supérieure d’électronique, informatique, télécommunications, mathématique et mécanique de Bordeaux
- French Air and Space Force
- Locations
- More
- Félicette, the only cat in space
References
- ^ Jean Cheymol. "Astronautique" (PDF). Biusante.parisdescartes.fr. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2019-04-26. Retrieved 2017-08-11.
- ^ Larousse, Éditions. "Encyclopédie 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 Barré pionnier français des fusées et de l'astronautique SEP, 1993
- ^ a b c "Chronologie Ariane". Capcom Espace (in French). Retrieved 6 February 2017.
- ^ "Le 2ème budget au monde". cnes.fr. 24 April 2015. 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 - Bibliothèque des projets du CNES". cnes.fr. Retrieved 11 August 2017.
- ^ "Cardiomed". 24 April 2015.
- ^ "World's space agencies unite to face the climate challenge". cnes.fr. 3 June 2016. Retrieved 11 August 2017.
- ^ "Coopération spatiale entre la France et l'Inde" (in French). Télé Satellite et Numérique. 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 à l'affût d'une exoplanète". 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 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". 10 January 2018.
- ^ "Solar Orbiter" (in French). CNES. 24 April 2015. Retrieved 2 February 2017.
- ^ "Taranis". CNES. 24 April 2015. 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. 24 April 2015. 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. 24 April 2015. Retrieved 2 February 2017.
External links