Marcel Chassagny was born in Paris on 4 October 1903. At the age of 20, he graduated from the business school École des Hautes Études Commerciales. In 1937 he founded the company CAPRA (Compagnie Anonyme de Productions Aéronautiques) which supplied the French aircraft and automobile industry.
After the end of the Second World War, he founded Matra (Mécanique Aviation Traction) in Paris. The company designed and built the prototype for a twin-engine, twin-fuselage combat aircraft. With a speed of 800 km/h, it was to become the fastest propeller aircraft in the world. A year later, his company received a contract from the French Ministry of Aviation to develop airborne weapons and by 1950 the first tactical missile, the M 04 No. 1, had already flown.
In the nineteen-fifties, Chassagny developed his activities in the rocket and guided missile sector. In 1961, his company moved into the field of space technology and built the first French experimental satellite, the A 1. From this point onwards, Matra advanced to become one of the leading European companies in the area of satellite and missile technology. The company was also a household name in automobile construction and transport technology.