Emergence of the French rocket propulsion industry

To develop its rocket engine capabilities, in 1944 France created SEPR - Société d'Etudes pour la Propulsion par Réaction, specialized in research on rocket propulsion for aircraft. The Espadon, an aircraft powered by a jet engine plus an SEPR rocket engine for takeoff and combat, made its first flight in 1952. Throughout the fifties, various SEPR engines were tested on a number of experimental planes, including the Trident I and II, Gerfaut, Mystère, Durandal, Mirage I, etc. On May 2, 1958, test pilot Roger Carpentier set a new world altitude record, flying his Trident II to 24,217 meters.

But by the end of the decade, the concept behind the Trident II - a main rocket engine combined with low-thrust jet engines - had made a U-turn: the Mirage III featured a main jet engine and a booster rocket for interception. While the Trident II never made it into production, the Mirage IIIC, powered by the Snecma Atar 9B plus a SEPR 844, would be chosen by six air forces and over 300 would be built. First deployed in 1959, the Mirage III remained in service until the 1980s.

The LRBA (Laboratoire de Recherches Balistiques et Aérodynamiques), created in 1946, was a ballistics and aerodynamics lab primarily for military research. In 1949 it was asked to build a sounding rocket to carry out experiments in the upper atmosphere. Flight tests started in 1952. The first Véronique rocket was designed to carry 60 kilos of scientific instruments to an altitude of 65 kilometers. Six meters high, it was first equipped with a rocket engine fueled by nitric acid and kerosene and developing 4,000 kg of thrust; subsequently, it was fitted with an engine fueled by nitric acid and turpentine, developing 6,000 kg of thrust.

From 1952 to 1975, five increasingly powerful versions of Véronique were launched, first from the Sahara, then from Kourou in French Guiana. Following Véronique was Vesta, with an engine developing 16,000 kg of thrust. At the same time, the LRBA was working on higher-thrust liquid-propellant rocket engines, developed by Heinz Bringer, a German engineer.

On October 1957, a new satellite began to circle around the Earth: Sputnik! Spurred by the Cold War, Soviet Union and America made spectacular advances in the conquest of space, including both launch vehicles and ballistic missiles. Against this backdrop, France now assigned top priority to developing its own nuclear deterrent force, capable of preserving national independence. Along with the Mirage IV bomber, powered by the Atar 9B, then 9K engine, the French government decided to develop strategic ballistic missiles. In 1958, the LRBA and SEPR were given the responsibility of developing solid and liquid propulsion capabilities for France's new deterrent force.

The birth of helicopters

Rotorcraft studies in the United States during the Second World War led to the production of light helicopters that would see service in Korea. In 1951 Turbomeca scored a world first with the flight of the SO 1120, the first turbine-powered helicopter, equipped with the Arrius II turbofan gas turbine. Following it were the Artouste (Sikorsky S-52, Alouette II) and Turmo (Super Frelon) turboshaft engines, the Bastan turboprop (powering the Nord 260) and the first jet engines, such as the Gabizo, often used in conjunction with SEPR rocket motors, on the Espadon and the Trident I and II, for example. Turbomeca sold production licenses to the American companies Fairchild and Continental, and to Blackburn of Great Britain. In 1956, Hispano-Suiza and Turbomeca teamed up to create CGTM (Compagnie Générale des Turbomachines), to carry out in-flight engine testing.