The week of FigaroVox – “France in turmoil”

Dear readers,

When the Americans point to the moon, the French look at the bottom of their glass. A pill of effervescent Doliprane dissolves there, as quickly as the strategic assets of France. And while we rejoice at the technological prowess of SpaceX in Texas, French employees are going on strike in Lisieux and Compiègne against the sale of a Sanofi subsidiary to the American investment fund CD&R.

Between the smiles of Elon Musk’s teams and the worried faces of the French government, we can glimpse the gulf that has opened up between the two shores of the Atlantic. The technological prowess of SpaceX, managing to return the first stage of the Starship megarocket to its launch pad, clashes with the slow and painful progress of Arianespace. Astrophysics professor Olivier Mousis states: “ Without awareness or a major technological breakthrough, Europe will soon no longer exist in the space race (…). In the 2010s…