Société Astra des Constructions Aéronautiques was a major French manufacturer of balloons, airships, and aeroplanes in the early 20th Century. It was founded in 1908

1908 in aviation

This is a list of aviation-related events from 1908:-January:*13 January – Henry Farman wins the Deutsch-Archdeacon Prize for making a circular flight of . The flight lasts 1 minute and 28 seconds.-May:...

 when Henri Deutsch de la Meurthe

Henri Deutsch de la Meurthe

Henri Deutsch de la Meurthe was a successful French petroleum businessman and an avid supporter of early aviation...

 purchased Édouard Surcouf's workshops at Billancourt

Billancourt

Billancourt is a commune in the Somme department in northern France....

. Its most significant products were the Astra-Torres airship

Astra-Torres airship

The Astra-Torres airships were non-rigid airships built by Société Astra to a design by Spaniard Leonardo Torres Quevedo in France between about 1908 and 1922. They had a highly-characteristic tri-lobed cross-section rather than the more usual circular cross-section. This was the result of moving...

s, but beginning in 1909

1909 in aviation

This is a list of aviation-related events from 1909:- February :* 23 February – John McCurdy makes the first aeroplane flight in Canada in the Silver Dart...

, the firm also produced Wright brothers

Wright brothers

The Wright brothers, Orville and Wilbur , were two Americans credited with inventing and building the world's first successful airplane and making the first controlled, powered and sustained heavier-than-air human flight, on December 17, 1903...

 heavier-than-air designs under licence. In 1912

1912 in aviation

This is a list of aviation-related events from 1912:-January:*10 January – Lieutenant Commander Charles Samson flies Short Improved S.27 No. 38 from a platform constructed over the deck of battleship HMS Africa moored in the River Medway, England...

, these were supplanted by Astra's own designs, the Astra C

Astra C

|-References:* * -See also:...

 and CM.

In 1921

1921 in aviation

This is a list of aviation-related events from 1921:- Events :* Bessie Coleman attends flying school in France and became the first licensed African-American female pilot.* Mexicana de Aviación begins service....

, the firm was absorbed by Nieuport

Nieuport

Nieuport, later Nieuport-Delage, was a French aeroplane company that primarily built racing aircraft before World War I and fighter aircraft during World War I and between the wars.-Beginnings:...

.