The Centre National d'Études Spatiales (CNES) (English: National Centre for Space Studies) is the French space agency.
Established under President Charles de Gaulle in 1961, its headquarters are located in central Paris and it is under the supervision of the French Ministries of Defence and Research. It operates out of the Guiana Space Centre, but also has payloads launched from space centres operated by other countries. CNES formerly was responsible for the training of French astronauts, the last active CNES astronauts transferred to the European Space Agency in 2001.
CNES concentrates on five areas:
- access to space
- civil applications of space
- sustainable development
- science and technology research
- security and defence