Abstract
Internally, CNES had a favourite for the prime contractorship of the Hermes spaceplane following the presentation of the Aerospatiale and Dassault proposals in April 1985. In the opinion of Director General Frédéric d’Allest, Dassault had prepared a much better and elaborate brief so this newcomer into the space arena should be appointed the winner of the competition with Aerospatiale. But it would turn out to be not that simple a process. The decision was to involve much more than a mere evaluation of a technical document and choosing the best design.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution.
Buying options
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Learn about institutional subscriptionsReferences
Hermes Development Programme Phase 1 Report, ESA-CNES Joint Team, December 1990, pp 4-8
Interview with Philippe Couillard by the author, Paris, 18 June 2013
Rêve d’Hermes, Philippe Couillard, April 1993, pp 40-49
Interview with Philippe Watillon by the author, Waterloo, 11 January 2015
Interview with Frédéric d’Allest by the author, Paris, 3 June 2014
Rêve d’Hermes, Philippe Couillard, April 1993, p 17
Interview with Frédéric d’Allest by the author, Paris, 3 June 2014
Rêve d’Hermes, Philippe Couillard, April 1993, p 19
France Selects Aerospatiale, Dassault to Develop Spaceplane, Aviation Week & Space Technology, 28 October 1985, p 18
Dans l’attente du choix de maitre-d’oeuvre de la Navette Hermes, Air & Cosmos, 10 October 1985
Hermes: Aerospatiale et Dassault se partagent la maitrise d’oevre, Air & Cosmos, 26 October 1985, p 41
Joint agreements set stage for space station cooperation, Aviation Week & Space Technology, 1 April 1985, p 16
Hermes, une navette pour l’Europe, Air & Cosmos, 30 November 1985, p 39
Hermes: France forces the pace, Flight International, 30 November 1985, p 24
Rêve d’Hermes, Philippe Couillard, April 1993, pp 20-21
Hermes: France forces the pace, Flight International, 30 November 1985, pp 24-27
Hermes, une navette pour l’Europe, Air & Cosmos, 30 November 1985, pp 39-51
L’avion spatial Hermes, Espace Information, CNES, February 1986, pp 1-8
Spaceshots, Flight International, 11 January 1986, p 14
L’Allemagne propose de retarder le démarrage du projet Hermes, Air & Cosmos, 2 November 1985, p 54
History of German Space Flight, Dr. Niklas Reinke, DLR, May 2011
Interview with Hans E.W. Hoffman by Helmuth Trischler, Oral History of Europe in Space, ESA INT539, 24 May 2011
The History of German space policy, Niklas Reinke, Beauchesne 2007, p 229
Interview with Philippe Couillard by the author, Paris, 3 June 2014
Die Raumfahrtpolitik des Bundesforschungsministeriums, Johannes Weyer, Wirtschafts- und Sozialwissenschaftliche Fakultät, Universität Dortmund, Oktober 2005, p 19
Die Deutschen waren viel zu spät dran, Die Zeit, 27 February 1987
Hermes debate raised questions about FRG research policies, JPRS-WST-86-011, 26 March 1986, p 14
Hubert Curien: “Hermès, les Allemands y viendront…”, Le Figaro, 19 December 1985
Hermes: toujours pas de decision allemande, Air & Cosmos, 25 January 1986, p 39
Espace, Air & Cosmos, 8 March 1986, p 5
The History of German space policy, Niklas Reinke, Beauchesne 2007, pp 258-259
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2017 Springer International Publishing Switzerland
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
van den Abeelen, L. (2017). One or the Other: Selecting the Prime Contractor (1985). In: Spaceplane HERMES. Springer Praxis Books(). Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-44472-7_3
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-44472-7_3
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-319-44470-3
Online ISBN: 978-3-319-44472-7
eBook Packages: Physics and AstronomyPhysics and Astronomy (R0)