Astrium Views Technology Transfer as a Cost of Winning Business
Space News - November 24, 2010
PARIS — The most successful Earth observation satellite builder on the global market, Astrium of Europe, is willing to accept that 20 percent of its contracts’ value goes to transferring technology to customer nations and ultimately may undermine future Astrium business, a senior Astrium official said Nov. 24. Jean Dauphin, head of the Earth observation and science division at Astrium France, said Astrium makes a conscious effort to limit the amount of technology it inadvertently gives to customers. But some contracts, most recently one with the government of Kazakhstan, stipulate that the winning bidder must train local engineers in satellite production and satellite imagery analysis. For these nations, buying a satellite is a way of jump-starting their space industrial base. This in effect means hiring Astrium to help them reach a point where they no longer will need Astrium. “This is an issue we do look at closely,” Dauphin said during a Nov. 24 space policy conference here organized by Euroconsult of Paris and the French aerospace industries association, GIFAS. “Up to now, technology transfer has only included a few elements, and we think it’s OK if about 20 percent of the contract is tied to this. We think 20 percent is an acceptable level for Europe.” Both on its own and through its Surrey Satellite Technology Ltd. (SSTL) division, based in Britain, Astrium has sold more Earth observation satellites around the world than anyone else in the past 20 years. The recent order from Kazakhstan is for an... (for full article, click on the above PDF)
