The development of high power lasers in the last two decades has opened a new field of research where astrophysical phenomena can be studied in laboratory experiments. This new class of experimental science is complementary to astronomical observations, which cannot always give conclusive explanations due to insufficient data or too long timescales of the investigated phenomena. The possibility of performing well-designed laboratory simulations to study processes that occur in astrophysical objects has been demonstrated and can contribute to understand different processes and to validate complex simulations.

France play a key role in this field as it holds ones of the larger laser facilities worldwide. In this talk, we will give examples of this new approach, presenting an overview of the laboratory astrophysics experiments in France