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 Airbus, Dassault Aviation, ONERA, the French Ministry of Transports and Safran have launched the first in-flight study of a single-aisle aircraft running on unblended sustainable aviation fuel (SAF). During the flight test over the Toulouse region on 28 October, one CFM LEAP-1A engine of an Airbus A319neo test aircraft operated on 100% SAF. Initial results from the ground and flight tests are expected in 2022.

Space situational awareness is a critical aspect of sovereignty. Adaptive optics and the processing of images developed by ONERA also make a significant contribution to this strategic need. The spectacular performance of the European VLT was achieved by applying these techniques to astronomy. This is specifically true for one of VLT's flagship instruments: SPHERE.

By the end of June 2021, 13 start-ups were involved in the BLAST programme. Today, ONERA is sending a mentor to each of the start-ups to assist them in their project.

ONERA's appointment to the directorate-general for defence industry and space (DEFIS) expert group is a recognition of its skills in the integration of multidisciplinary research for the benefit of innovation in the space, defence and aeronautics sectors.

While Space X prepares to launch its first tourist space flight, other players in the sector in France and Europe are rather working on new, more robust and greener launchers. Moreover, to improve space propulsion, ONERA remains the key partner of CNES and Ariane Group.

People often talk about “long-term research”; for ONERA today, this is not a fashion statement when it comes to environmental concerns. Its vast, tried and tested work is the basis necessary for taking the sharp turn towards decarbonised aviation.

How to save time by optimising satellite images? By reconciling physical understanding, learning technology and "newspace" capabilities, ONERA wants to propose a "smarter" Earth observation satellite concept.

At the beginning of January 2021, Starburst, ONERA, SATT Paris-Saclay and Polytechnique joined forces to launch BLAST, the first French incubation programme designed for deep tech companies in our sector.

For 10 years now, ONERA has been fulfilling its mission of transferring its research on intelligent systems to the French military operational landscape. Today, the tools have evolved and allow the construction of a decision-making architecture with a distribution of the decision between the command systems and the drones.