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 Aérospatiale'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 (EADS Space Transportation, EADS Astrium, and EADS Space Services) were reintegrated into one company, EADS Astrium, of which EADS Astrium Space Transportation is a business division. Currently 4397 employees work in the launcher segment.

The Space Transportation company is the prime contractor for the Ariane 5 launcher, the Columbus Module of the International Space Station, and the ATV, as well as a 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 in Germany is located in Bremen.

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