ZODIAC AND THE ADVENT OF THE LEISURE SOCIETY

Zodiac was the first company in France to make rescue equipment for the Navy. It was also the first to win official approval for its lifeboats. Very soon, ocean rescue organizations, as well as ships, would also be equipped with Zodiac craft. Thanks to its experience in defense procurement and some profitable foreign contracts, Zodiac was well poised to capture the French market for inflatable lifeboats.

The creation of the Club Motonautique (Motorboat Racing Club) and the new French craze for pleasure boating and motorboats in the 1960s drove Zodiac to branch out into the civilian market and set up its first true sales/marketing organization.

In 1964, Zodiac established its first, part-owned foreign subsidiary : Zodiac Española SA in Spain, of which it became the sole shareholder four years later.

As a result of the success of its export development policy, the firm decided in May 1965 to change its name from "Société Zodiac, Anciens Établissements Aéronautiques Maurice Mallet" to plain "Zodiac." 

At the request of France's National Space Research Center (CNES), founded in 1961, Zodiac was asked to design special balloons equipped with sensors and meteorological equipment for the Éole project (1966). Adopting the spin-off principle it had been using in its export markets, Zodiac formed a dedicated subsidiary in 1970 : Zodiac Space. With the CNES project, Zodiac returned to its original specialty-the airship-and consolidated its position in the "all-inflatable" market.

The three foreign subsidiaries were gradually getting into stride-including Zodiac of North America, the U.S. subsidiary founded in Annapolis (Maryland) in 1970.