European Cooperative Organization and Government Space Budgets

French Government Space Budget

2010 – French Government Space Budget -Snapshot

France’s space agency, the Centre National d’Études Spatiales (CNES), operated on a government budget of approximately €## million (US$## million) in 2010, excluding contributions made to ESA. This represented a ##% increase from the 2009 budget of €## million. In 2010, France contributed €## million (US$## million) to ESA programs. Combined, the CNES budget and the French contribution to ESA total €## billion (US$## billion), representing approximately ##% of France’s €## billion (US$## billion) national budget in 2010.[

2009 – French Government Space Budget -Snapshot

France’s space agency, the Centre National d’Études Spatiales (CNES), operated on a budget of approximately €## million (US$## billion) in 2009, excluding contributions made to ESA. This represented a ##% percent increase from the 2008 budget of €## million. In 2009, France contributed €## million (US$## billion) to ESA programs. Combined, the CNES budget and the French contribution to ESA total €## billion (US$## billion), representing approximately ##% of France’s €## billion (US$## billion) national budget in 2009.

2008 – French Government Space Budget – Snapshot

Priorities for France’s Centre National d’Études Spatiales (CNES) in 2009 include further refinement of the Automated Transfer Vehicle (ATV) and an ongoing role in developing Europe’s new Vega small launch vehicle. Forty CNES and EADS Astrium engineers spent six months preparing the ATV for its March 2008 flight, which proceeded smoothly. This marked the beginning of operations for the Automated Transfer Vehicle (ATV) Control Centre in Toulouse, France, which seven months later guided the ATV through a planned destructive re-entry.