A SOVEREIGN INDUSTRY BECOMING EUROPEAN: THE TRAJECTORY OF FRENCH SATELLITE MANUFACTURERS SINCE THE 1960s

Abstract

From the start, satellites were used for telecommunications and observation in both the civil and military domain and the manufacturing was considered to be a sovereign industry. French space policy was, therefore, based on both strong public institutions such as the CNES and on national manufacturers. In the 1970s and 1980s, this industry was boosted by the boom in telecommunications with the Alcatel group playing a major role. However, changes in the
telecommunications markets at the beginning of the 2000s combined with a trend towards concentration meant that satellite manufacturing increasingly became part of defence groups. The Europeanisation of markets has not jeopardised the fundamentally dual nature of this industry, however, and it remains relevant to consider how to assert sovereignty at national level.