[SatNews] Airbus Group (stock exchange symbol: AIR) and Safran (stock exchange symbol: SAF) have agreed to nominate Alain Charmeau as Chief Executive Officer (CEO) for the future Space Launcher Joint Venture.

Alain Charmeau, named CEO for the future Space Launcher Joint Venture.

Currently, Alain Charmeau is serving as the Head of Operations at Space Systems within Airbus Defence and Space Division. The CEOs of Airbus Group and Safran—Tom Enders and Jean-Paul Herteman—also agreed to nominate Marc Ventre (63), Deputy CEO & COO of Safran, to become Chairman of the Board of Directors for the Joint Venture.

In addition to the Chairman and the CEO, both Airbus Group and Safran will each nominate two additional Directors to the Board. Following the initial announcement of the Joint Venture by Airbus Group and Safran on June 16, 2014, these joint decisions form the basis for the corporate governance of the 50-50 Joint Venture, which is aimed at reshaping the Europe`s Space Launcher Business. The Joint Venture’s key objective is to propose a new family of competitive, versatile and efficient space launchers, to serve both commercial and institutional needs.

“Our nominations today are an important milestone in the creation of the Joint Venture and towards a more integrated, more efficient and hence more profitable launcher business in Europe,” said Tom Enders, CEO of Airbus Group. “The management is tasked with a clear mission: to improve competitiveness of the future European Launcher business. This objective is without alternative for me—either, we fundamentally drive change in this sector or we risk becoming irrelevant very soon.”

Jean-Paul Herteman, Chairman & CEO of Safran, said, “We have full confidence in the CEO and his team to establish an operational plan for the Joint Venture enabling industry to optimize future launcher configurations, to act as the design authority and to set the best overall integrated industrial organisation going forward. In this Joint Venture, each shareholder will bring its full support and retain a key role in their legacy activities especially in France and Germany, combining expertise in the launcher systems from Airbus Group as well as propulsion systems from Safran.”