01 Sep 2026

NGC turns 25 – Reflections on 25 Years of Contributions to the Aerospace Industry

On April 30th, NGC celebrated its 25th anniversary. Before becoming the internationally recognized company it is today, composed of some twenty people passionate about high technology, NGC was a one person show. In honor of our 25th anniversary, we’re taking you behind the scenes of NGC, sharing some memorable moments and offering our thoughts on the future of our technology and the aerospace sectors, which are currently undergoing a major transformation.

THE ORIGINS OF NGC

NGC was founded in 2001, following Jean de Lafontaine’s successful work on PROBA-1. The message from the European Space Agency (ESA) was clear: we must continue working on the guidance, navigation and control of their satellites and this could not be the work of a single person. NGC therefore welcomed its first employees in 2004. From those early years, two are still with the team today and now serve as the pillars of our business units. Many others followed: although not all of them are still with us today, they surely helped make NGC what it is today.

MEMORIES

We asked a few colleagues about their most memorable moments since joining NGC and what has evolved the most. Their answers reminded us of the privilege we have in being involved in the field of autonomous space and aerial systems and in having carved out a prominent place for our company in it.

Here’s what our colleagues shared with us:

  • The launch of PROBA3
  • Tests with the Artemis rover
  • Submitting a proposal in person (before it was possible to do so online!)
  • The arrival of the robot and the deployment of the LDTF landing laboratory
  • The Moon Wall
  • Lidar-based landing tests on a piloted helicopter
  • Research to adapt our space knowledge to drones
  • Business trips across the globe
  • Inspiring conferences
  • Our software landing on the Moon
  • The first 100% autonomous flight of a drone using our software
  • The start of a development program for launch vehicles

THOUGHTS ON THE FUTURE

As we begin our 26th year of operations in a world very different from what it was 25 years ago, we can’t help but want to express a few thoughts on the future of our field, which we’ll have the opportunity to share over the coming months:

  • Very Low Earth Orbit (VLEO)
  • Capacity development in emerging countries
  • Space debris management
  • The use of drones for cargo transport
  • The development of autonomous aircraft for passenger transport
  • Advanced air mobility

THE HEART OF NGC

There are many things we’re proud of at NGC. We often talk about our technical achievements: our attitude, orbit and control software, which is present on 7 of the 28 ESA satellites, our drone autopilot, which has already flown in five different drone configurations, and our successful projects in more than twenty countries.

In reality, projects and technical feat aside, NGC is above all about its employees: our team members have a combined total of more than 168 years of service and remain as committed as ever to the quality of the projects we have the opportunity to work on and to the open, collaborative atmosphere they have built. These are colleagues who stick together, who know each other’s families and who have grown professionally together. It’s also the next generation, the initiative and passion of youth, that defines our new colleagues: curious, knowledgeable, and full of heart. It’s the laughter during lunch breaks, yoga at the gym, monthly “NGC Lunches,” summer festivities, BBQs, business trips, conferences, product launches, flight tests, and training sessions held all over the world, all of which help solidify our unique expertise.

For this 25th anniversary, we treated ourselves and took a group “day off”: we were able to enjoy a wonderful day outdoors, both to strengthen the bonds that unite us and to lay the groundwork for the strategic decisions that will guide us over the next five years. Thank you to all our colleagues for your enthusiastic participation.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Thank you to our long-time collaborators, our partners, the companies that are just discovering us and those who spread the word about us. You, too, are contributing to NGC growth and success.