Aérospatiale (), sometimes styled Aerospatiale, was a French state-owned aerospace manufacturer that built both civilian and military aircraft, rockets and satellites. It was originally known as Société nationale industrielle aérospatiale (SNIAS). Its head office was in the 16th arrondissement of Paris. The name was changed to Aérospatiale during 1970. During the 1990s, Aérospatiale underwent several significant restructures and mergers. Its helicopter division was, along with Germany's DaimlerBenz Aerospace AG (DASA), combined to form the Eurocopter Group. In 1999, the majority of Aérospatiale, except for its satellite activities, merged with French conglomerate Matra's defense wing, Matra Haute Technologie, to form Aérospatiale-Matra. That same year, the satellite manufacturing division merged with Alcatel to become Alcatel Space, now Thales Alenia Space. In 2001, Aérospatiale-Matra merged with Spanish aviation company Construcciones Aeronáuticas SA (CASA) and German defense firm DaimlerChrysler Aerospace AG (DASA) to form the multinational European Aeronautic Defence and Space Company (EADS). Currently, the majority of the former assets of the company are part of the multinational Airbus consortium. History Formation During 1970, Aérospatiale was created under the name SNIAS as a result of the merger of several French state-owned companies - Sud Aviation, Nord Aviation and Société d'étude et de réalisation d'engins balistiques (SEREB). The newly formed entity was the largest aerospace company in France. From the onset, the French government owned a controlling stake in Aérospatiale; at one stage, a 97 per cent ownership of the company was held by the government. In 1971, Aérospatiale was managed by the French industrialist Henri Ziegler; that same year, the firm's North American marketing and sales arm, which had previously operated under the trading name of the French Aerospace Corporation, was officially rebranded as the European Aerospace Corporation, which was intended to better reflect Aérospatiale's increasing focus on collaborative efforts with its European partners. Major activities Many of Aérospatiale's initial programmes were holdovers from its predecessors, particularly those of Sud Aviation. Perhaps the most high-profile of these programmes was Concorde, a joint French-British attempt to develop and market a supersonic commercial airliner. Initial work on this project had begun at Sud Aviation and the Bristol Aeroplane Company, its British counterpart. The engines for Concorde were also developed as a joint Anglo-French effort between SNECMA and Bristol Siddeley. However, the programme was highly politicised and encountered considerable cost overruns and delays. Ultimately, it was negatively affected equally by bad political decisions and an oil crisis