France is one of the few global nations to boast an end-to-end domestic aerospace industry, which provides engineering, design, production and maintenance services for both civilian and military applications. The manufacturing side of the French aerospace industry is projected at nearly $24 billion USD, with 650 domestic companies employing 212,000 workers nationwide.
We’ve rounded up the top aerospace companies working in France.
Aerospace Companies in France
- Parrot
- Airbus
- Intelsat
- Volocopter
- Flying Whales
Top Aerospace Companies in France
LACROIX is a diversified technology company that operates environmental and electronics divisions. Within its electronics department, the company engineers and manufactures electronics for industrial IoT, with applications in aerospace, aviation and defense. Its electronic tools for aircraft include radio navigation, wiper systems, seat control, ventilation and anti-icing systems.
The Exploration Company is a multinational French and German aerospace company that creates modular spacecraft. Its craft, which is branded as Nyx, aims to provide a reusable and thus more environmentally sustainable alternative to spacecraft, with the goal of reducing contributions to space debris. Nyx can be refueled while in orbit using green propellants, which radically increases its duty cycle.
Shark Robotics is a robotics technology company that specializes in engineering terrestrial robots for use in hostile conditions. Many of its products are designed for fire safety, security and defense contexts. The company partners with the European Space Agency to develop reusable space launch tools such as vertical landing systems for launchers and autonomous fire safety robots.
The satellite technology company Intelsat provides digital connectivity and aerospace services through its network of satellites. The company operates a series of geostationary satellite installations, which orbit about 22,000 miles above Earth. The company uses this global coverage network to provide in-flight connectivity for commercial, military and private aircraft.
Airbus is an aviation and aerospace company that engineers and manufactures aircraft and their component parts. It is the biggest aircraft manufacturer in the world by the number of its planes in service as well as by revenue. The company’s internal divisions focus respectively on military and passenger aircraft, with its commercial division responsible for developing the world’s first wide-body twin engine plane, the A300.
Parrot is a drone company that specializes in purpose-built uncrewed aerial vehicles for professional contexts. It is a drone supplier to many branches of the United States government and military as well as to the British Army. Parrot’s drones include ANAFI Ai, a 4G robotic UAV that uses IoT technology to operate autonomously, and ANAF USA, a surveillance drone developed for the U.S. Army and now available to commercial customers.
Volocopter is an aircraft manufacturer that specializes in eVTOL craft for dense urban environments. These drones are designed to move vertically as well as horizontally, which opens up possibilities for applications in mobility such as air taxis and delivery drones.
Safran Electronics & Defense USA, LLC. is a technology company that provides tools to the aerospace and defense industries. Its areas of expertise are optronics, avionics, electronics and software, which it develops into products for military and civilian applications. The company has the distinction of being the second largest aircraft equipment manufacturer in the world, offering systems including landing gear, wheels and wiring.
Flying Whales is an aerospace company dedicated to the single mission of developing a Large Capacity Airship. This aircraft is an air cargo transport unit with a 60-ton payload and a maximum speed of 100km per hour. It can reach altitudes of 3,000 meters and relies on helium to keep it in the air. The LCA60T is developed for use in delivering large scale cargo such as wind turbines to remote and landlocked destinations.
The American automaker General Motors is primarily focused on vehicle manufacturing, and on developing technology and applications for advanced mobility. One element of the latter is research and development into robotics for aerospace contexts. The company has partnered with NASA to collaborate on aerospace robotics, developing a humanoid cobot with edge control, tactile sensors and computer vision. These Robonauts are designed to assist astronauts during missions.
