in the 1970s; thus, only two airlines purchased Concorde. Aérospatiale's senior management were keen to avoid the mistakes of the Concorde program. Their next major effort was would be an international consortium between British Aerospace and West German's aircraft company Messerschmitt-Bolkow-Blohm (MBB), called Airbus Industries. This was established with the purpose of building a twin-engined widebody airliner, known as the A300. While at first, it was difficult to achieve sales and the outlook for the A300 seemed negative. However, Aérospatiale continued to manufacture the airliner without orders, as it could not reasonably cut back production as French law required that laid-off employees were to receive 90 percent of their pay for a year as well as to retain their health benefits throughout. Sales of the A300 picked up and the type eventually became a major commercial success, subsequently driving both the American Lockheed L-1011 and the McDonnell Douglas DC-10 from the market due to its cheaper operating model. On the back of this success, further airliners would be produced under the Airbus brand and the company would become a world leader in the field of large commercial aircraft during the 1990s. Aérospatiale played a leading role in the development of the European space sector. During the 1960s, Sud Aviation had been involved in a multinational European programme to produce the Europa space launch vehicle, this being a three-stage rocket with the separate stages being manufactured in Britain, France, and Germany respectively. However, all of the flight tests conducted were failures; the programme's misfortune has been attributed to there being no central authority responsible for operations. This came was a result of the issue of workshare becoming highly politicized. When Aérospatiale stepped in, during 1973, it was determined not to repeat the mistakes of Europa. The company proposed to build a new heavy launch vehicle, which would later be called the Ariane, to take the place of Europa. While other European nations were invited to participate, it would be French officials who would hold primary responsibility, and thus, make the most important decisions. This approach was agreed upon with several other nations; during 1979. Ariane was an immediate success, allowing the French to gain a strong advantage over the United States, which had centred its efforts on the Space Shuttle. However, the Challenger disaster during 1986 showed that it was too complex for routine use as a satellite launch platform. Aérospatiale