It was originally founded in 1793 in the nearby Château de Meudon and has played an important role in the development of French aviation.

Many famous French aircraft designers and engineers worked here or used its resources, such as hangars, wind tunnels, and laboratories to further their activities, and the site continues as an aerospace research hub into the 21st century.

[5] The Universal Exhibition in Paris in 1878 had a huge Great Gallery of Machines, designed by Henri de Dion.

The designer, Albert Caquot went on to plan the Chalais-Meudon wind tunnel and to propose the aviation museum (see below).

It was propelled by an electric motor, but the batteries were so heavy that even the designers recognised that it was, at the time, a dead end, and after a further six successful flights, its development was abandoned.

Data from [8][9][10] Conducting a reconnaissance mission, the French (airship) Fleurus became the first Allied aircraft to fly over Germany during World War I.

This modern commercial airship, 31 metres (102 ft) long, was assembled, inflated and given a public presentation here in 2002.

[2][14] Émile Dorand was a balloonist and engineer, who had been at Chalais-Meudon since 1907 and was appointed head of the Military Aeronautical Laboratory.

He had developed ever-larger kites, capable of supporting a man, and some were powered, with a nacelle (fuselage structure) which was suspended underneath large wings,[15] and which had a steerable engine and propeller at the front.

[2] One of the earliest experiments with aeroplanes at Chalais-Meudon was conducted by Victor Tatin who in 1879 developed a model monoplane, with a wing span of 1.9 m (6 ft 3 in), powered by a compressed air engine.

Tied to a central pole in a circular track it took off and flew for about 15 metres (49 ft) entirely under its own power - the first model aeroplane ever to do so.

[2] Marcel Bloch worked at the laboratory during World War I, developing a propeller named the Éclair and, with Henry Potez who was the Dorand's assistant at the STAé, and Louis Coroller, formed a company, the Société d'Études Aéronautiques to produce the SEA series of fighters.

During the occupation of World War II, German researchers used the facilities, including the Great Wind Tunnel, for testing their own aircraft and interesting captured French designs such as the Payen PA-22.

[2] In 1946, the engine testing service moved back to Chalais-Meudon and became the Centre d'Essai des Moteurs et Hélices (CEMH).

It was designed by Antonin Lapresle, who was a colleague of Gustave Eiffel who had built two wind tunnels with great success in Paris in 1909 and 1912.

Built of reinforced concrete, it was powered by six fans of 1,000 hp (750 kW) each, and airspeeds could reach 180 km/h (110 mph).

[2][20] In 1946, the STAé was replaced by the Office National d'Etudes et de Recherches Aérospatiales (ONERA), and it took over most of the Chalais-Meudon site, where it remains to this day.