Air Liquide and Astrium own a land in Bremen

Monday, December 19th - Air Liquide and Astrium own a landin Bremen - Germany

Air Liquide has played a committed role in the space adventure for almost 50 years. The Group, historical partner and major player in the European space program, has developed unique expertise in the area of space cryogenics; this is the reason why Air Liquide is a legitimate and necessary partner in future developments.

Today, Air Liquide intends to reiterate its commitment and the continuity of its strategy in the space business and, in so doing, confirm its position as a European leader in this area.

Committed together for more than 20 years now, in particular via Cryospace, Astrium and Air Liquide are determined to ensure the long-term survival and ongoing joint development of a portion of their space activities within the Ariane Programme by taking the new demands of the program on board—i.e., the new tank for the German upper stage.
In fact, the ESA Ministerial Council ratified a plan for the next phases of Ariane 5 in late 2008, largely financed by Germany. Accordingly, Germany will be the leader for the new cryogenic upper stage of Ariane 5 ME (Midlife Evolution).

Naturally, Air Liquide turned to its longstanding partner Astrium once again to coordinate the development and production, in France and in Germany, of this new cryogenic upper stage (liquid oxygen and hydrogen).

To formalize this commitment, Air Liquide and Astrium entered into a new joint venture on 2010. This joint venture calls for the creation of a new pooled European structure involving Air Liquide and Astrium. Details concerning the organization were formalized in 2011, and the formal establishment companies will be completed sometime in January 2012.

Air Liquide and Astrium now own the land needed to build the production facility in Bremen. This purpose-built facility should be operational by mid-2013 and will enable the delivery of the first products completed at the Bremen site sometime in 2014.
The first launch of Ariane ME is scheduled for late 2016.

More information:   http://www.wfb-bremen.de/de/wfb-wirtschaftsfoerderung-bremen