Zodiac Aerospace
former French aerospace supplier, integrated with Safran Group
Zodiac Aerospace was a French aerospace group, active from 1896 to 2018, that supplied systems and equipment for aircraft. In October 2018, it was acquired by French aerospace and defense company Safran.
History
Aeronautic foundations (1896–1933)
The company was founded in 1896 as "Mallet, Mélandri et de Pitray" by Maurice Mallet and his associates. In the beginning, the company produced hydrogen balloons for sport and tourism.
In 1909, the company changed its name to "Zodiac". It then experienced a boom fueled by the construction of airplanes and airships, especially for the Aérostation Maritime (Naval Balloon Command), and through its participation in the war effort. Until the 1930s, it produced 63 airships.
Marine activities (1934–1972)
In 1934, the company created the first prototype inflatable boats, ancestors of the renowned "Zodiac", which would contribute to the development of the civil and military inflatable boat industry.
The company benefited from the boom in leisure activities after World War II, as well as the French interest in recreational boating in the 1960s. Zodiac developed inflatable boats for the civil market and gradually gave up the airship market for the more promising water sports market.
The public source identifies “Zodiac Aerospace” as former French aerospace supplier, integrated with Safran Group. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Zodiac, Aerospace and former.
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The citation trail is more important than the brevity of the summary: it shows where individual claims can be examined in context. The source revision retrieved here is dated Aug 2, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q218139. VIAF identifies the subject as 158023303. The Library of Congress control number is n2018045714. 4 of 5 selected statements include explicit references; 2 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1896, 2018, 1933 and 1909.
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This entry incorporates text from “Zodiac Aerospace” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.