François Cordié

François Cordié was head of design for the Étendard VI, Mirage III-V and Mirage F1, and the first engineering director of the Hermes spacecraft.

François Cordié was born in Paris in 1927 and studied at the prestigious aerospace university, SupAéro.

Following a short stint with Breguet, he was hired by Dassault in 1952 as a “design engineer” in the prototype design office.

He was head engineer specializing in structural studies, and joined the prototype design office for “Avions Marcel Dassault” in 1952. He played an important part in designing the Mirage IV.


He was head of design for the Étendard VI, the Mirage III-V and the Mirage F1, and then turned his hand to civil aircraft and supervised all structural work for the Mercure, before becoming the first engineering director of the Hermes spacecraft.

François Cordié passed away on Monday, December 28, 2015 at the age of 88.