Two Heads of State visit ArianeGroup
13.10.2026
As part of the state visit of Frank-Walter Steinmeier, President of the Federal Republic of Germany, hosted by Emmanuel Macron, President of the French Republic, ArianeGroup had the honour of welcoming both Heads of State to its industrial site in Le Haillan.
The visit provided an opportunity to showcase our industrial excellence and expertise at the heart of Franco-German cooperation, demonstrating how sovereign European solutions in space and defence become reality on our production lines, where our teams put their expertise, commitment and technological mastery at the service of Europe’s ambitions every day.
As a Franco-German company operating across both civil and defence markets, ArianeGroup embodies the complementarity of our two countries’ skills and industrial capabilities. This industrial cooperation is essential to strengthening Europe’s strategic autonomy, innovation capacity and control over critical technologies. The Vinci engine powering the upper stage of Ariane 6 is a prime example of cross-countries industrial cooperation: its nozzle is manufactured at Le Haillan, France, while its combustion chamber is produced in Ottobrunn, Germany.
Although space is currently ArianeGroup’s most visible area of activity, I would like to emphasise that we are a dual-purpose organisation. For us, space and defence are not two separate worlds. They are two paths leading to the same goal: strengthening Europe’s strategic autonomy. Now more than ever, ArianeGroup is ready to rise to the challenges of our time. Space exploration is a matter for the future; sovereignty is a shared responsibility; and ArianeGroup is a Franco-German company. ArianeGroup’s Franco-German teams possess all the expertise required to achieve these outstanding results.
We would like to thank French President Emmanuel Macron, German Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier, as well as Catherine Vautrin, French Minister for the Armed Forces, Boris Pistorius, German Minister of Defence, Dorothee Bär, German Minister for Research, Technology and Space, Philipp Baptiste, French Minister for Higher Education, Research and Space, and Benjamin Haddad, French Minister Delegate for European Affairs, for their visit and their interest in our activities.
A source of pride for our teams, recognition of our industrial excellence, and a shared conviction: by bringing our strengths together, we are building a more sovereign Europe.
