CNES celebrates 30th anniversary of move to Head Office in Les Halles, Paris

Today, 2 July, CNES is celebrating the 30th anniversary of its move to the agency’s Head Office at Les Halles in the centre of Paris.

It was in 1984 that CNES decided to move its Head Office from the premises it had by then outgrown in the Rue de l'Université and the Rue Cambronne to a more modern 6,000-sq.m., five-floor building and a more central location at 2 Place Maurice Quentin in the Les Halles district of Paris.

“The move didn’t get in the way of the agency’s work, quite the opposite, in fact,” says Pierre Ulrich, CNES’s Director of Human Resources and in charge of its Head Office. “The challenge was to make the move as seamless as possible for employees while pursuing CNES’s flagship projects. The new premises, in a better location and with more modern facilities, certainly helped to boost efficiency and create a better work environment for CNES teams.”

With the first launch of Ariane 3, 1984 was also the year that marked the start of a long series of successes for CNES. While its Head Office is celebrating its 30th anniversary, the agency is already in its 54th year and the successes accomplished today are down to the efforts of recent decades.

CNES is a pivotal player helping to shape space policy in France and Europe, driving strategic choices in science and new technologies.

CNES has been a pillar of European space programmes of the last 50 years, with Ariane 1 to 6, Vega and Soyuz in Guiana, as well as the ATV and the SPOT, CoRoT, GAIA, Rosetta, Insight, Swarm, Pleiades and Galileo satellites. It is also engaged in numerous international cooperation initiatives.

Throughout the summer, CNES is putting on an exhibition about its move to Les Halles, the stand-out projects of the last three decades and the challenges that lie ahead.

CNES press contacts
Alain Delrieu Tel. +33 (0)1 44 76 74 04 alain.delrieu@cnes.fr
Pascale Bresson Tel. +33 (0)1 44 76 75 39 pascale.bresson@cnes.fr
Julien Watelet Tel. +33 (0)1 44 76 78 37 julien.watelet@cnes.fr
www.cnes.fr/presse

CP080-2014 - Anniversaire 30 ans siège CNES Halles_va.pdf (pdf - 193.02 KB)