Dear members and partners,
The financial period 2024/25 for Aerospace Valley Cluster was undertaken in a generally favourable context but one which was marked by considerable challenges for our sectors.
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The Aeronautics industry reported remarkable commercial success which positioned order books at unrivalled levels, but there are still challenges ahead to achieve production goals. The still remarkable pace of innovation in low carbon light aviation is worth noting.
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In terms of space, despite the first successful flight of Ariane 6, the sector had to work to regain its competitiveness on the world launcher and satellite markets. Our innovative New Space companies achieved important milestones – industrialization, launches….
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Finally, the Drone sector was driven by the growing needs of the Defence sector.
In this context, the Cluster continued to lead its member network through targeted actions across its three strategic sectors and 5 ecosystems of excellence, but also through more cross disciplinary events such as the renowned Forum by Aerospace Valley, or the first successful edition of Innoday by Aerospace Valley.
It managed to capitalize on France 2030 and other regional, national and European funding programs to drive innovation. The projects accredited by the Cluster obtained record public funding of 141 M€.
It made possible the launch of ambitious training and attractiveness programs to meet the needs and skills of our sectors. The public and private funding is remarkable, a total of 220M€ over five years.
Finally, it defined and initiated a coherent approach to support the industrial transformation of SMEs.
With regard to governance, in January 2025, the Cluster welcomed its new CEO, Anouk Laborie, who replaced Eric Giraud. Serge Béregener took over from Bruno Nouzille as Vice President. And specific oversight was set up to take into account major transitions for the sectors: the environment, digitalization, skills and support for the move to defence markets.
Finally, in response to the downward trend in regional and national financial funding, the Cluster has implemented short term actions to maintain its financial stability, and it has initiated consideration of its future economic model.
The aerospace industry plays a critical role in the economy and the sovereignty of France. The Greater Southwest is the national and European nerve center. The Aerospace Valley Cluster must continue to meet these challenges.
