Editing Matra Marconi Space (section)

=== Acquisitions ===
In 1991, [[British Aerospace]] was discussing with MMS how to merge their space interests, as well as [[Robert Bosch GmbH]] and [[DaimlerChrysler Aerospace|Deutsche Aerospace]].

On 19 July 1994, it acquired [[British Aerospace Space Systems]] (a subsidiary of [[BAe Dynamics]] with 900 workers) for £56 million. On 11 August 1994, it bought [[Ferranti|Ferranti Satcomms]] (from [[administration (insolvency)|administration]]), which was based in [[Poynton]] in [[Cheshire]]. Ferranti Satcomms brought satellite ground station, component and subsystem technologies to the group.

In July 1995, GEC bought 45% of shares in the National Remote Sensing Centre for the company. Also in July 1995, the company was looking to link up with the French state giant [[Aérospatiale]] and DASA of [[Germany]] to form a Europe-wide space company. The company would (five years later) link up with DASA.

By 1996, the company was turning over more than £1 billion. In the late 1990s, it developed a partnership with the [[University of Sheffield]]'s Sheffield Centre for Earth Observation Science (SCEOS), which researched [[interferometry]].

In November 1997, it announced that it would close the Filton site (former [[BAe Dynamics]]) in August 1999, with the planned transfer of 300 of 400 personnel and staff from Bristol to Stevenage. The Filton site specialised in scientific satellites and their computer software; projects included [[Ulysses (spacecraft)|Ulysses]], [[Hubble Space Telescope]] Solar Arrays, [[Giotto (spacecraft)|Giotto]], [[Envisat]] / Polar Platform, [[Solar and Heliospheric Observatory]] (SoHO) and the [[Cluster (spacecraft)|Cluster]] spacecraft destroyed in the first flight of [[Ariane 5]]. Over 380 staff left the Company and, as a result, MMS lost the ESA prime contract for the [[Rosetta (spacecraft)|Rosetta]] spacecraft. British Aerospace regained an interest in the company when it merged with GEC's [[Marconi Electronic Systems]] to form [[BAE Systems]] in November 1999.