From design to production ... From components to payloads

Flanders has a small but competitive aerospace industry operating in both the aviation and space markets.

Some 28 Flemish companies, research centers and educational institutions involved in aerospace formed Flemish Space Industrials in 1995. Member companies specialize in the design and manufacturing of instruments and payloads for research in space, in the construction of small satellites, in the development and manufacturing of command and control systems for data processing and spacecraft monitoring, in new developments in satellite telecommunication and in the provision of services associated with aerospace technology.

Members include Alcatel Bell Space, Barco and Siemens for example, while a home-grown firm with a significant reputation in its field has recently had 90% of its holding taken over by QinetiQ, the British defense technology and security company. Verhaert Design and Development (VDD), the leading Flanders-based space systems integrator, has expertise in small satellites, payloads and instrumentation and has delivered a number of programs for the European Space Agency.

Another home-grown firm is Sabca Limburg, a fully owned subsidiary of the long-standing Belgian aerospace company S.A.B.C.A. Sabca Limburg specializes in the
conversion of high-performance composite materials into high-value finished, ready-to-install, integrated components. It undertakes development, design and manufacturing activities in cooperation with customers and as a partner in multinational development programs. Its current programs include work for Airbus, Ariane 5, Dassault Falcon and Lockheed Martin. Previous contracts have included work on Agusta A-109s, Boeing E-3 AWACS and Fokker 50s.

Another organization, the Belgian Aerospace Industries Association, groups close to 100 companies working mainly in aviation.