About Astrium

Astrium is a wholly owned subsidiary of EADS, a global leader in aerospace, defence and related services. In 2007, EADS generated revenues of €39.1 billion and employed a workforce of more than 116, 000.

In 2007, EADS Astrium had a turnover of €3.5 billion and more than 12,000 employees in France, Germany, the United Kingdom, Spain and the Netherlands. Its three main areas of activity are Astrium Space Transportation for launchers and orbital infrastructure, and Astrium Satellites for spacecraft and ground segment, and its wholly owned subsidiary Astrium Services for the development and delivery of satellite services.

Astrium space scientists and engineers in Friedrichshafen and Stevenage in two separate proposals came in second and third in a worldwide Planetary Society competition in collaboration with NASA and ESA for a mission to tag an asteroid heading for Earth in 2029.

In June 2007, Astrium unveiled a model of a private "space jet" that would take off from a conventional runway, blast 100 kilometres (60 miles) into space and then land like a normal plane.