L'espace en héritage

A reflective essay on the meaning of the space enterprise, written by one of the leaders of the French and European space programmes. The book unfolds in three movements: "Invested Space" traces the genealogy of the conquest, from the balloon to the precursors (Tsiolkovsky, Goddard, Oberth, Esnault-Pelterie) and the rupture of the war; "Harnessed Space" analyses the major applications: meteorology and remote sensing (Landsat, SPOT), geostationary telecommunications (Intelsat, Eutelsat), and military uses up to the SDI; "Horizons and Prospects" examines space industries, colonisation projects and the American–European balance of power. A technical appendix details orbits, launchers and satellites, while the conclusion frames space as the "common heritage of mankind".