Aerospace Valley
Aerospace Valley is a French cluster of aerospace engineering companies and research centres. The cluster is located in the regions of Midi-Pyrénées and Aquitaine in the southwest of France and is mainly concentrated in and around the city of Toulouse.
The over 500 affiliated companies (including Airbus, EADS, Air France Industries and Dassault Aviation) are responsible for some 120,000 jobs in the aviation and space flight industries. In addition, some 8,500 researchers are active within the affiliated companies and institutions. [1]
The cluster's stated aim is to create 40,000 new jobs within the next 20 years. [2] Since its inception in 2005, the cluster has initiated some 220 research projects with a total budget of 460 million euros, including 204 million euros in government funding. [1]
The headquarters of Aerospace Valley is located in Toulouse. Chair of the cluster is Jean-Marc Thomas, who is also vicechair of Airbus France. Key locations of the cluster include:
- The "Aerospace Campus" in Toulouse with the aviation schools ISAE (a merger of SUPAERO and ENSICA) and ENAC and over 1000 researchers at ONERA, CNRS, and CNES, among others. The Université Paul Sabatier, INSA Toulouse, and INPT are also part of this concentration of research and training facilities in and around Toulouse.
- A new aerospace research laboratory of the INRIA in Bordeaux
- A research centre adjacent to Turbomeca in Bordes for aerospace fuel research
- An experimental centre in Tarbes to study better ways of dismantling civil and military aircraft.
Aerospace Valley is a member of the European Aviation Clusters Partnership and of Institut au service du spatial, de ses applications et technologies.
