| French:Centre national d'études spatiales | |
 | |
 CNES headquarters in Paris | |
| Agency overview | |
|---|---|
| Abbreviation | CNES |
| Formed | 19 December 1961 (1961-12-19) |
| Jurisdiction | Government of France |
| Status | active |
| Headquarters | 2 place Maurice Quentin, 75039 Paris, France |
President | François Jacq |
| Primary spaceport | Guiana Space Centre |
| Owners | |
| Annual budget | €2.370 billion (2023)[1] |
| Website | cnes |
CNES (French:Centre national d'études spatiales,lit. 'National Centre for Space Studies') is the French nationalspace agency. Headquartered in centralParis, the agency is overseen by the ministries of theArmed Forces,Economy and Finance andHigher Education, Research and Innovation.
It operates from theToulouse Space Centre and theGuiana Space Centre. The president of CNES isFrançois Jacq.[2] CNES is a member ofInstitute of Space, its Applications and Technologies. It is Europe's largest national organization of its type.[3]
CNES was established under PresidentCharles de Gaulle in 1961. It is the world's third oldest space agency, after theSoviet space program (Russia), andNASA (United States). CNES was responsible for the training of French astronauts, until the last active CNES astronauts transferred to theEuropean Space Agency in 2001.
As of January 2015[update], CNES is working with Germany and a few other governments to start a modest research effort with the hope to propose aLOX/methanereusable launch vehicle by mid-2015. If built, flight testing would likely not start before approximately 2026. The design objective is to reduce both the cost and duration of reusable vehicle refurbishment, and is partially motivated by thepressure of lower-cost competitive options with newer technological capabilities not found in theAriane 6.[4][5]
CNES concentrates on access to space, civil applications of space, sustainable development, science/technology research, and security/defence.[16]
France was the third space power (seeDiamant) to achieveaccess to space after the USSR and US, sharing technologies with Europe to develop the Ariane launcher family. Commercial competition in space is fierce, so launch services must be tailored to space operators' needs. The latest versions of theAriane 5 launch vehicle can launch large satellites togeosynchronous orbit or perform dual launches—launching two full-size satellites with one rocket—while the other launch vehicles used for European payloads and commercial satellites—the European/ItalianVega and RussianSoyuz-2—are small and medium-lift launchers, respectively.[17]
CNES and its partners in Europe—through theCopernicus Programme —and around the world have put in place satellites dedicated to observing the land, oceans, and atmosphere, as well as to hazard and crisis management. The best-known are theSPOT satellites flying the Vegetation instrument, the Topex/Poseidon, Jason-1 and Jason-2oceanography satellites, the Argos system,Envisat, and thePleiades satellites.
CNES is taking part in theGalileo navigation programme alongside the European Union and theEuropean Space Agency (ESA), and—in a wider international context—in theInternational Cospas-Sarsat Programme.[18]
The aforementionedGalileo navigation programme, though intended primarily for civilian navigational use, has a military purpose as well, like the similar AmericanGlobal Positioning System and RussianGLONASS satellite navigational systems.[18]
In addition to Spot and the future Pleiades satellites, CNES is working for the defence community as prime contractor for theHelios photo-reconnaissancesatellites.
Global Monitoring for Environment and Security—a joint initiative involving the EU, ESA, and national space agencies—pools space resources to monitor the environment and protect populations, though it also encompasses satellite support for armed forces on border patrol, maritime security, and peacekeeping missions.[19]
France's contribution to theInternational Space Station is giving French scientists the opportunity to perform original experiments inmicrogravity. CNES is also studying formation flying, a technique whereby several satellites fly components of a much heavier and complex instrument in a close and tightly controlled configuration, with satellites being as close as tens of meters apart. CNES is studying formation flying as part of the Swedish-ledPRISMA project and on its own with the Simbol-x x-ray telescope mission.[20]
CNES currently collaborates with other space agencies on a number of projects, including orbital telescopes likeINTErnational Gamma-Ray Astrophysics Laboratory,XMM-Newton, andCOROT and space probes likeMars Express,Venus Express,Cassini-Huygens, andRosetta. CNES has collaborated with NASA on missions like the Earth observation satellitePARASOL and theCALIPSO environment and weather satellite.
It has also collaborated with the Indian Space Agency (ISRO) on theMegha-Tropiques Mission, which is studying thewater cycle and how it has been impacted byclimate change. CNES plays a major role in the ESA'sLiving Planet Programme of Earth observation satellites, having constructed theSoil Moisture and Ocean Salinity satellite.
In December 2006, CNES announced that it would publish its UFO archive online by late January or mid-February. Most of the 6,000 reports have been filed by the public and airline professionals. Jacques Arnould, an official for the French Space Agency, said that the data had accumulated over a 30-year period and that UFO sightings were often reported to theGendarmerie.
In the last two decades of the 20th century, France was the only country whose government paid UFO investigators, employed by CNES's UFO section GEPAN, later known as SEPRA and now asGEIPAN.
On March 22, 2007, CNES released its UFO files to the public through its website. The 100,000 pages of witness testimony, photographs, film footage, and audiotapes are an accumulation of over 1,600 sightings since 1954 and will include all future UFO reports obtained by the agency, through its GEIPAN unit.
The CNES is headed by a president orCEO, aCOO and a deputy CEO. The following is a list of presidents of CNES from its inception to the current day.
Definitions from Wiktionary
Media from CommonsNews from Wikinews
Quotations from Wikiquote
Texts from Wikisource
Textbooks from Wikibooks
Resources from WikiversityThe CNES has severaltracking stations. A partial list follows:[32][33]
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