Setting Up of a Public-Private Joint Laboratory for Space Research

Across the entire region, Nice Côte d'Azur has 130 laboratories in which there are 2,700 researchers, 10 international schools, a renowned university campus and world scientific hubs in cutting-edge sectors.

These sectors are information technologies, microelectronics, telecommunications and networks, software engineering, life and environmental sciences, health-biotechnology-agricultural chemistry, the aromatics industry and the aerospace and aviation industry.

It is in this last field that the Observatory of the Côte d'Azur, CNRS and the University of Nice Sophia Antipolis has set up a joint research laboratory with the Thales Alenia Space the satellite manufacturer from Cannes. The new entity's work will be on optical systems and on-board instrumentation, astrophysics and planetary exploration missions, the geoscience for sciences of the Universe and Earth Observation.

The aim of this partnership is to facilitate development of joint research between the parties, facilitate the promotion of research work, the development of software and methods for advanced industrial projects, and to put forward a strong team to participate in national and international research programmes.

Among the themes of co-operation:

• The new satellite network structures;
• Scientific missions, such as AIM1 (Asteroid Impact Mission) or LISA2 (a space observatory for gravitation waves);
• Combining space data with other sensors for new observation applications, such as coastal ecosystems;
• Optical studies for the profiling of extraneous light or new designs for instruments for large telescopes.

Some of these issues are already the subject of collaborations, particularly through hosting and educating doctoral students.

Article published on 10 October 2018