François Auque is Chairman of the Investment Committee of Airbus Ventures since July 2016. Previously he was President of Airbus Defence and Space France and Head of Space Systems, Member of Airbus Group Executive Committee. He was appointed Chief Executive Officer of Astrium in 2000, now merged with Cassidian and Airbus Military into Airbus Defence and Space since 2014. Previously, he was Chief Financial Officer together with Managing Director for satellites of Aerospatiale Matra after having been Chief Financial Officer of Aerospatiale since 1991. He spent his earlier career with the Suez Group and the French Cour des comptes. He graduated from the École des Hautes Études Commerciales (HEC), the Institut d’Études Politiques and is an alumnus of École Nationale d’Administration (ENA).