Editing CNES

{{short description|French space agency}}
{{about|the space agency|the Scottish council|Comhairle nan Eilean Siar}}
{{Infobox space agency
| name             = National Centre for Space Studies
| native_name      = {{langx|fr|Centre national d'études spatiales}}
| logo             = Centre_national_d'études_spatiales_logo.png
| logo_size        = 150px
| image            = Cnes-paris.jpg
| caption          = CNES headquarters in Paris
| acronym          = CNES
| formed           = {{Start date|1961|12|19|df=y}}
| preceding1       = <!-- up to | preceding6 = -->
| dissolved        = <!-- date of dissolution of the agency, use {{end date and age|YYYY|MM|DD}} -->
| superseding1     = <!-- up to | superseding6 = -->
| type             = <!-- or | agency_type = -->
| jurisdiction     = [[Government of France]]
| status           = active
| headquarters     = 2 place Maurice Quentin, 75039 Paris, France
| coordinates      = <!-- headquarters coordinates using {{coord}}, see documentation at {{coord}} for fields -->
| motto            = <!-- official motto/slogan of the agency -->
| language         = <!-- any official language used by the agency, use | languages = for more than one language -->
| leader_title     = President
| leader_name      = [[Philippe Baptiste]]
| key_people       = <!-- key people of the agency that are not necessarily agency leaders -->
| spaceport        = [[Guiana Space Centre]]
| owners           = {{Unbulleted indent list
   | [[Ministry of Armed Forces (France)|Ministry of Armed Forces]]
   | [[Ministry of Economics and Finance (France)|Ministry of Economy and Finance]]
   | [[Ministry of Higher Education, Research and Innovation]]
   }}
| employees        = <!-- or | num_staff = -->
| budget           = {{€|2.370 billion|link=yes}} (2023)<ref>{{citation|title=Budget - CNES|publisher=CNES|url=https://cnes.fr/fr/budget-exceptionnel|access-date=2024-07-07}}</ref>
| website          = {{URL|cnes.fr/en}}
| footnotes        = 
}}

'''CNES''' ({{Langx|fr|Centre national d'études spatiales|lit=National Centre for Space Studies}}) is the French national [[space agency]]. Headquartered in central [[Paris]], the agency is overseen by the ministries of the [[Ministry of Armed Forces (France)|Armed Forces]], [[Ministry of Economics and Finance (France)|Economy and Finance]] and [[Minister of Higher Education, Research and Innovation (France)|Higher Education, Research and Innovation]].

It operates from the [[Toulouse Space Centre]] and the [[Guiana Space Centre]]. The president of CNES is [[Philippe Baptiste]].<ref name="CNESpresident">{{cite web|url=https://spacewatch.global/2021/04/macron-names-philippe-baptiste-new-head-of-french-cnes/|title=Macron names Philippe Baptiste new head of French CNES|date=April 2021|publisher=Spacewatch Global|access-date=April 2, 2021}}</ref> CNES is a member of [[Institute of Space, its Applications and Technologies]]. It is Europe's largest national organization of its type.<ref>{{Cite web|title=French Space Agency {{!}} French government agency|url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/French-Space-Agency|access-date=2021-03-26|website=Encyclopedia Britannica|language=en}}</ref>

== History ==
CNES was established under President [[Charles de Gaulle]] in 1961. It is the world's third oldest space agency, after the [[Soviet space program]] (Russia), and [[NASA]] (United States). CNES was responsible for the training of French astronauts, until the last active CNES astronauts transferred to the [[European Space Agency]] in 2001.

{{asof|2015|01}}, CNES is working with Germany and a few other governments to start a modest research effort with the hope to propose a [[Liquid oxygen|LOX]]/[[liquid methane|methane]] [[reusable 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 the [[Space launch market competition|pressure of lower-cost competitive options]] with newer technological capabilities not found in the [[Ariane 6]].<ref name="deselding20150105">
{{cite news |last1=de Selding|first1=Peter B.|title=CNES proposal |url=https://twitter.com/pbdes/status/552119769772871680 |access-date=6 January 2015 |work=de Selding is a journalist for Space News |date=5 January 2015 }}</ref><ref name="sn20150105">
{{cite news |last1=de Selding|first1=Peter B. |title=With Eye on SpaceX, CNES Begins Work on Reusable Rocket Stage |url=http://spacenews.com/with-eye-on-spacex-cnes-begins-work-on-reusable-rocket-stage/ |access-date=6 January 2015 |work=SpaceNews |date=5 January 2015 }}</ref>

=== Timeline ===
[[Image:CNES Facility in Toulouse France.jpg|thumb|CNES facility at the [[Toulouse Space Centre]] ]]
* 1947: [[Centre interarmées d'essais d'engins spéciaux]] missile range and launch facility built for the [[French Armed Forces|French military]] near [[Hammaguir]] in [[French Algeria]].<ref name="colloque">[[Maurice Vaïsse]] (dir.), ''La IV<sup>th</sup> République face aux problèmes d'armement'', proceedings of the conference held on 29 and 30 September 1997 at the Military Academy of the Center for Defense of studying history, ed. Association pour le développement et la diffusion de l'information militaire (ADDIM), Paris, 1998, p.561 {{ISBN|2-907341-63-4}}, 648 pages</ref>
* 1961: CNES was founded with the headquarter in Paris. [[Pierre Victor Auger|Pierre Auger]] was the first president and [[Robert Aubinière]] the first director general.<ref name=About>{{cite web|title=About CNES|url=https://cnes.fr/en/web/CNES-en/3773-about-cnes.php|website=CNES|date=23 April 2015|access-date=27 April 2018}}</ref>
* 1962: First [[Bérénice (rocket)|Bérénice]] rocket launched.<ref name=Astronautix />
* 1963: CNES became the first—and only—space agency to successfully launch [[Félicette|a cat]] into space.<ref name="Kitty">{{cite book|last1=Burgess|first1=Colin|last2=Dubbs|first2=Chris|title=Animals in Space: From Research Rockets to the Space Shuttle|date=2007|publisher=Springer Science & Business Media|location=Berlin|isbn=978-0-387-36053-9|pages=227–228|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Sv_plWzWdeoC&pg=PA220}}</ref>
* 1964: [[Diamant]] Launch Vehicle introduced.<ref name="Astronautix">{{cite web|last1=Wade|first1=Mark|title=Hammaguira|url=http://www.astronautix.com/h/hammaguira.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160907125943/http://www.astronautix.com/h/hammaguira.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=September 7, 2016|website=Astronautix}}</ref>
* 1965: First French [[satellite]] put in orbit.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.univ-perp.fr/fuseurop/diaman_e.htm |title=Diamant launchers |access-date=2006-06-20 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061001224244/http://www.univ-perp.fr/fuseurop/diaman_e.htm |archive-date=2006-10-01 }}</ref> <!-- date: November 26, 1965, launch vehicle: Diamant A and launch site: Hammaguir in Algeria -->
* 1967: Hammaguir range closed.<ref name=Astronautix />
* 1968: [[Toulouse Space Centre]] completed.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Shah|first1=Kierann|title=A Visit to Toulouse: France's Space Capital|url=https://spacecentre.co.uk/blog-post/visit-french-space-capital/|access-date=27 April 2018|work=National Space Centre Blog|publisher=National Space Centre|date=May 27, 2016}}</ref>
* 1969: [[Guiana Space Centre]] in [[French Guiana]] completed.<ref name=About />
* 1973: [[Évry, Essonne|Évry]] Space Centre completed.<ref>"[http://www.arianespace.com/about-us/contact-us.asp Contact us]." [[Arianespace]]. Retrieved on 24 September 2009.</ref>
* 1982: [[Jean-Loup Chrétien]] became the first French astronaut in space.
* 1986: [[SPOT (satellite)|SPOT]] satellite mission brought about high-resolution civil Earth imaging.
* 2001: [[Jason-1]], the joint satellite mission between CNES and [[NASA]], was launched.
* 2014: [[E-CORCE]] [[Earth observation satellite]] launched<ref>{{cite web|title=E-CORCE|url=https://entreprises.cnes.fr/en/web/CNES-fr/11803-e-corce.php|publisher=CNES|date=23 March 2015}}</ref>
* 2024: [[Space Variable Objects Monitor]] launched<ref name="offsite">{{cite web |url=https://www.svom.eu/en/home/ |access-date=12 June 2024 |title=Svom }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last=Xin |first=Ling |date=22 June 2024 |title=China-France satellite launched to monitor most powerful explosions in space |url=https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3267503/china-france-satellite-launched-monitor-most-powerful-explosions-space |work=South China Morning Post |access-date=22 June 2024}}</ref>

== Programs ==
CNES concentrates on access to space, civil applications of space, sustainable development, science/technology research, and security/defence.<ref>{{cite web|title=About CNES |date=23 April 2015|url=http://www.cnes.fr/web/CNES-en/3773-about-cnes.php|publisher=CNES}}</ref>

===Access to space===
[[File:Ariane-1-3-4-showcase.jpg|thumb|[[Ariane 1]], [[Ariane 3|3]] and [[Ariane 4|4]] models in a CNES window]]
[[File:Ariane-5-model.jpg|thumb|[[Ariane 5]]-ECA model showcase at CNES, [[Paris]]]]
France was the third space power (see [[Diamant]]) to achieve [[Timeline of artificial satellites and space probes|access 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 the [[Ariane 5]] launch vehicle can launch large satellites to [[geosynchronous 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/Italian [[Vega (launcher)|Vega]] and Russian [[Soyuz-2 (rocket)|Soyuz-2]]—are small and medium-lift launchers, respectively.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Federation|first=International Astronautical|title=IAF : Centre National d'Etudes Spatiales (CNES)|url=https://www.iafastro.org/membership/all-members/centre-national-detudes-spatiales-cnes.html|access-date=2021-03-02|website=www.iafastro.org|language=en}}</ref>

===Sustainable development===
CNES and its partners in Europe—through the [[Copernicus 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 the [[SPOT (satellite)|SPOT satellites]] flying the Vegetation instrument, the Topex/Poseidon, Jason-1 and Jason-2 [[oceanography]] satellites, the Argos system, [[Envisat]], and the [[Pléiades (satellite)|Pleiades satellites]].

===Civil applications===
CNES is taking part in the [[Galileo positioning system|Galileo]] navigation programme alongside the European Union and the [[European Space Agency]] (ESA), and—in a wider international context—in the [[International Cospas-Sarsat Programme]].<ref name="Galileo">{{cite web|title=Galileo and EGNOS|url=http://www.esa.int/Our_Activities/Navigation/Galileo_and_EGNOS|website=ESA Navigation|publisher=ESA|access-date=30 April 2018|date=August 24, 2017}}</ref>

===Security and defense===
The aforementioned [[Galileo (satellite navigation)|Galileo navigation]] programme, though intended primarily for civilian navigational use, has a military purpose as well, like the similar American [[Global Positioning System]] and Russian [[GLONASS]] satellite navigational systems.<ref name="Galileo" />

In addition to Spot and the future Pleiades satellites, CNES is working for the defence community as prime contractor for the [[Helios 1b|Helios]] photo-reconnaissance [[Helios 2 (satellite)|satellites]].

[[Copernicus Programme|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.<ref>{{cite press release |date=September 2016 |title=Security Service |url=http://copernicus.eu/sites/default/files/documents/Copernicus_Factsheets/Copernicus_Security_October2017.pdf |location=Paris |publisher=European Space Agency |access-date=2018-04-30 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180501093124/http://copernicus.eu/sites/default/files/documents/Copernicus_Factsheets/Copernicus_Security_October2017.pdf |archive-date=2018-05-01 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

===Ongoing missions===
France's contribution to the [[International Space Station]] is giving French scientists the opportunity to perform original experiments in [[microgravity]]. 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-led [[Prisma (satellite project)|PRISMA]] project and on its own with the Simbol-x x-ray telescope mission.<ref>{{cite press release |date=June 22, 2006 |title=PRISMA PROGRAMME SEEKS TO ACQUIRE EXPERTISE IN FORMATION FLYING |url=https://cnes.fr/en/web/CNES-en/5283-prisma-programme-seeks-to-acquire-expertise-in-formation-flying.php |location=Toulouse |publisher=CNES |access-date=2018-04-30}}</ref>

CNES currently collaborates with other space agencies on a number of projects, including orbital telescopes like [[INTEGRAL|INTErnational Gamma-Ray Astrophysics Laboratory]], [[XMM-Newton]], and [[COROT]] and space probes like [[Mars Express]], [[Venus Express]], [[Cassini-Huygens]], and [[Rosetta (spacecraft)|Rosetta]]. CNES has collaborated with NASA on missions like the Earth observation satellite [[PARASOL]] and the [[CALIPSO]] environment and weather satellite.

It has also collaborated with the Indian Space Agency ([[ISRO]]) on the [[Megha-Tropiques Mission]], which is studying the [[water cycle]] and how it has been impacted by [[Global warming|climate change]]. CNES plays a major role in the ESA's [[Living Planet Programme]] of Earth observation satellites, having constructed the [[Soil Moisture and Ocean Salinity satellite]].

===UFO Archive===
{{Wikinews|French agency CNES to release UFO archives on the Internet}}
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 the [[Gendarmerie]].

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 as [[GEIPAN]].

{{Wikinews|French Space Agency CNES releases UFO files}}
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.

==Governance structure==
The CNES is headed by a president or [[CEO]], a [[Chief operating officer|COO]] and a deputy CEO. The following is a list of presidents of CNES from its inception to the current day.
{{Div col|colwidth=25em}}
* 1961 - 1962 [[Pierre Victor Auger|Pierre Auger]]
* 1962 - 1967 [[Jean Coulomb]]<ref>{{Cite web |title=Jean Coulomb (1904-1999) |url=https://www.annales.org/archives/cofrhigeo/coulomb.html |website=www.annales.org}}</ref>
* 1967 - 1973 [[Jean-François Denisse]]<ref>{{Cite web |last=Casoli |first=Fabienne |title=Jean-François Denisse, président du CNES |url=https://www.observatoiredeparis.psl.eu/IMG/pdf/casoli.pdf}}</ref>
* 1973 - 1976 [[Maurice Lévy (physicist)|Maurice Lévy]]<ref>{{Cite web |title=Maurice Lévy, physicien et universitaire |url=https://maurice-levy-physicien.fr/ |website=maurice-levy-physicien.fr}}</ref>
* 1976 - 1984 [[Hubert Curien]]<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Authier |first=André |date=2005-06-01 |title=Hubert Curien (1924–2005) |url=https://scripts.iucr.org/cgi-bin/paper?S0021889805010861 |journal=Journal of Applied Crystallography |volume=38 |issue=3 |pages=578 |doi=10.1107/S0021889805010861 |issn=0021-8898}}</ref>
* 1984 - 1992 [[Jacques-Louis Lions]]<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Ciarlet |first=Philippe G. |date=2002 |title=Jacques-Louis Lions 2 May 1928--17 May 2001 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/3650260 |journal=Biographical Memoirs of Fellows of the Royal Society |volume=48 |pages=275–287 |doi=10.1098/rsbm.2002.0015 |jstor=3650260 |issn=0080-4606|url-access=subscription }}</ref>
* 1992 - 1995 [[René Pellat]]<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Bonnet |first1=Roger-Maurice |last2=Laval |first2=Guy |last3=Luciani |first3=Jean-François |date=2004-07-01 |title=René Pellat |url=https://pubs.aip.org/physicstoday/article/57/7/77/917926/Rene-Pellat |journal=Physics Today |language=en |volume=57 |issue=7 |pages=77–78 |doi=10.1063/1.1784316 |issn=0031-9228}}</ref>
* 1995 - 1996 [[André Lebeau]]<ref>{{Cite web |last=Selding |first=Peter B. de |date=2013-02-28 |title=Controversial Former CNES Chief Lebeau Dies |url=https://spacenews.com/33901controversial-former-cnes-chief-lebeau-dies/ |website=SpaceNews |language=en-US}}</ref>
* 1996 - 2003 [[Alain Bensoussan]]<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Buckdahn |first1=Rainer |last2=Li |first2=Juan |last3=Peng |first3=Shige |date=2022 |title=Special issue dedicated to Alain Bensoussan on the occasion of his 80th birthday: Preface |url=https://www.aimsciences.org/article/doi/10.3934/puqr.2022010 |journal=Probability, Uncertainty and Quantitative Risk |volume=7 |issue=3 |pages=i |doi=10.3934/puqr.2022010 |issn=2095-9672|url-access=subscription }}</ref>
* 2003 - 2013 Yannick d'Escatha<ref>{{Cite web |title=La biographie de Yannick D'ESCATHA, Ancien président du Cnes - L'Etudiant - Educpros |url=https://www.letudiant.fr/educpros/personnalites/d-escatha-yannick-157.html |website=www.letudiant.fr}}</ref>
* 2013 - 2021 [[Jean-Yves Le Gall]]<ref>{{Cite web |last=Federation |first=International Astronautical |title=IAF : Jean-Yves LE GALL |url=https://www.iafastro.org/biographie/jean-yves-le-gall.html |website=www.iafastro.org |language=en}}</ref>
* 2021 - now [[Philippe Baptiste]]
{{div col end}}

==Tracking stations==
{{sisterlinks|French Space Agency}}
The CNES has several [[tracking station]]s. A partial list follows:<ref>{{cite web|url = http://spot4.cnes.fr/spot4_fr/stat2ghz.htm |title = Les stations de contrôle |access-date = 2008-06-22}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url = http://www.cnes.fr/web/1778-fin-de-vie-de-spot-1.php |title = Cnes - Fin de vie de SPOT 1 |access-date = 2008-06-22 |archive-date = 2008-06-06 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20080606022557/http://www.cnes.fr/web/1778-fin-de-vie-de-spot-1.php |url-status = dead }}</ref>
* [[Kourou]] in [[French Guiana]]
* [[Issus Aussaguel]], 20&nbsp;km away from [[Toulouse]]
* [[Kerguelen Island]], [[French Southern and Antarctic Lands]]
* [[Hartebeesthoek Radio Astronomy Observatory]], South Africa
* [[Kiruna]], Sweden, for the [[SPOT (satellites)|SPOT]] program

== See also == 
* [[French space program]]
* [[European Space Agency]]
* [[List of government space agencies]]

==References==
<references/>

==External links==
* [https://cnes.fr/fr CNES — Homepage] {{in lang|fr}}
* [https://cnes.fr/en CNES — Homepage] {{in lang|en}}

{{Public sector space agencies}}
{{Use British English|date=January 2014}}

{{authority control}}

[[Category:CNES| ]]
[[Category:Space agencies]]
[[Category:Space program of France]]
[[Category:Organizations based in Paris]]
[[Category:Organizations established in 1961]]
[[Category:1961 establishments in France]]
[[Category:Ministry of Armed Forces (France)]]