Laurent Gathier (original) (raw)

Laurent Gathier is a French engineer and space pioneer born in 1953 in Friedrichshafen, Germany. He is married and the father of three boys and currently the director of space activities of Dassault Aviation, in Saint-Cloud. He spent his adolescence in the Chambéry-Grenoble area, a period when he learnt how to build model planes and also became a pilot (gliders and planes). He first flew solo when he was 15. When he joined Supaéro in Toulouse in 1973, he had already flown 1000 hours. He specialized in space and obtained his engineering degree in 1976.