After a year (1957-1958) spent at the Meudon observatory as a researcher in radio astronomy, Erich Spitz joined the Compagnie générale de la télégraphie sans fil (CSF), which merged in 1968 with the French company Thomson-Houston (CFTH), a subsidiary of Thomson-Brandt to create the Thomson-CSF group, which in 2000 was renamed Thales.