André Lebeau (1932-2013) was a French physicist and senior space administrator, one of the chief architects of French and European space policy. A graduate of the École normale supérieure and holder of a doctorate in physics (1965), he joined the CNRS and then the CNES in 1965, where he held leading responsibilities in programme management. In 1975 he took part in the founding of the European Space Agency, serving as Deputy Director General and Director of Future Programmes until 1980. A professor at the Conservatoire national des arts et métiers (chair of space techniques and programmes), he went on to head Météo-France (1986-1995), chaired EUMETSAT and then the CNES, and served as Vice-President of the World Meteorological Organization. A rigorous thinker on the stakes of technology, he devoted several essays to space and the environment, among them L'espace en héritage (1986).