The Community of Ariane Cities: a strong team
The Community of Ariane Cities (CVA) was set up in 1998 as a non-profit association. Its membership comprises cities and urban areas on whose territory firms are contributing to the development and production of the European launcher family. As industrial partners, these firms are likewise CVA members. One outstanding example of this in Germany is Bremen and the firm Astrium, which produces the Ariane 5 upper stage in that city.
The CVA promotes cooperation between its members and represents both the interests of participating towns and cities and industrial partners in political circles. In addition it organises a wide range of activities for schools, universities and other establishments designed to kindle the younger generation’s enthusiasm for space as well as convincing citizens of the importance of such activities and the necessity of maintaining Europe’s independent access to space via its own launchers.
The Council of Mayors
Each 'Ariane City' and its local industrial partner are represented in the Council of Mayors (CoM), where joint programmes and activities are deliberated and decided by consensus. Each Council Presidency is held by a city on a rotating basis for one to two years. For 2012, this function is being performed by the Free Hanseatic City of Bremen. The day-to-day work in-between CoM meetings is coordinated by a delegate Bureau.
The latest Council of Mayors meeting took place in Berlin on 23-24 May.
New members
That Berlin meeting also saw new members officially join the CVA. The first newcomer was the Belgian city of Leuven, together with its three industrial partners: LMS International, which manufactures simulation and test software programs with which many Ariane 5 components are developed and tested at other firms; Septentrio, which develops and produces professional receivers for satellite navigation; and imec, a non-profit research centre for nano- and microelectronics.
The second newcomer was the Spanish city of Seville along with industrial partner Airbus Military, which is responsible for various components of Ariane’s Vulcain engine and other parts of the launcher.
This means that the CVA, in addition to the European Space Agency (ESA), the French space agency (CNES) and Arianespace, now numbers 20 member cities plus their respective partners from industry.
