EADS Astrium Space Transportation

EADS Astrium Space Transportation was formed in June 2003 from the Space Infrastructure division of Astrium (whose core was originally ERNO) and the EADS Launch Vehicles division (formerly Aerospatiale's Space division). Until July 2006 it was called EADS Space Transportation and was a fully-owned subsidiary of EADS Space. In July 2006 the three subsidiaries of EADS Space, being EADS Space Transportation, EADS Astrium and EADS Space Services, were re-integrated into one company, EADS Astrium, of which EADS Astrium Space Transportation is a business division.

The Space Transportation company is prime contractor for the Ariane 5 launcher, the Columbus Module of the International Space Station and the ATV, as well as number of smaller projects (most notably Phoenix). It also builds launchers for the French nuclear missile program (see also Military of France), such as the M51 SLBM.

It has recently joined the team led by Lockheed Martin for a bid on NASA's Crew Exploration Vehicle (CEV), being in charge of the craft's Mission Module. The team won a contract from NASA in June 2005.

Recently, EADS Astrium Space Transportation has started a campaign in favour of a project called LIFE, for astronomy from the Moon surface.

The company has facilities in France (Les Mureaux near Paris and Aquitaine near Bordeaux) and in Germany, the main facility being in Bremen.

After Evert Dudoktook over from Antoine Bouvier as Head of EADS Astrium Satellites, on 11 June 2007, Alain Charmeau took over the full responsibility of the management of EADS Astrium Space Transportation.

External link

• EADS Astrium Space Transportation