Laurent Gathier is a French engineer and space pioneer born in 1953 in
Friedrichshafen
Friedrichshafen ( or ; Low Alemannic: ''Hafe'' or ''Fridrichshafe'') is a city on the northern shoreline of Lake Constance (the ''Bodensee'') in Southern Germany, near the borders of both Switzerland and Austria. It is the district capital (''Kre ...
,
Germany
Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...
. He is married and the father of three boys and currently the director of space activities of
Dassault Aviation
Dassault Aviation SA () is a French Aerospace manufacturer, manufacturer of military aircraft and business jets.
It was founded in 1929 by Marcel Dassault, Marcel Bloch as Société des Avions Marcel Bloch or "MB". After World War II, Marc ...
, in
Saint-Cloud
Saint-Cloud () is a commune in the western suburbs of Paris, France, from the centre of Paris. Like other communes of Hauts-de-Seine such as Marnes-la-Coquette, Neuilly-sur-Seine and Vaucresson, Saint-Cloud is one of France's wealthiest towns ...
.
He spent his adolescence in the Chambéry-Grenoble area, a period when he learnt how to build model planes and also became a pilot (gliders and planes). He first flew solo when he was 15.
His first passion for space came from the launch of the first French satellite A-1, nicknamed ''Astérix'', in November 1965, when he was 12. He spent entire nights watching the sky at that time.
When he joined
Supaéro in Toulouse in 1973, he had already flown 1000 hours. He specialized in space and obtained his engineering degree in 1976.
Then he start working in CNES in Toulouse and Aerospatiale in Cannes. Afterwards he joined Dassault Aviation flight tests. He became head of the flight test program.
At the beginning of 2000, he joined the Space Directorate of Dassault.
With
Jean-Pierre Haigneré
Jean-Pierre Haigneré (born 19 May 1948) is a French Air Force officer and a former CNES spationaut.
Jean-Pierre Haigneré was born in Paris, France, and joined the French Air Force, where he trained as a test pilot.
He flew on two missions ...
, and
Alain Dupas, he has created the ''
Astronaute Club Européen'' (ACE), the first French association aimed at creating a European space tourism vehicle.
References
Interview of Laurent Gathier
Website of ''Astronaute Club Européen''
1953 births
Living people
French aerospace engineers
French aviators
People from Friedrichshafen
{{France-engineer-stub