Space Exploration

The President of the Centre Centre national d'études spatiales (CNES), Jean-Yves Le Gall, and Zhang Kejian, Administrator of the China National Space Administration (CNSA), chaired the 12th meeting of the French-Chinese space committee in Shanghai on 5 June 2019, devoted to reviewing and developing space cooperation between the two nations.

President of the Centre national d'études spatiales (CNES), Jean-Yves Le Gall, was in Tokyo on 6 June 2019 to lay the groundwork for the space agenda of the State Visit of President Emmanuel Macron to Japan on 26 and 27 June.

SES and World Space Week Association have confirmed that SES President and CEO Steve Collar will be Honorary Chair of World Space Week 2020.

The European Space Agency is opening for business by launching the Open Call for Commercial Proposals for the commercial utilisation of the European segment of the International Space Station.

NASA has selected three commercial Moon landing service providers that will deliver science and technology payloads under Commercial Lunar Payload Delivery (CLPS) as part of the Artemis program.

Europe has never landed on the Moon. PTScientists is preparing to change that by sending the first European lunar lander to the Apollo 17 site. But, perhaps equally important – PTScientists want to prove that Europe can be a fertile ground for companies striving to be at the forefront of lunar exploration, and that it is not a prerequisite for success to be based in the United States or Asia. However, this is not a feat we can accomplish independently, and Europe needs to make a commitment to lunar exploration now – or be left behind.

Astrobotic has been selected by NASA’s Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) program to deliver 14 payloads to the Moon on its Peregrine lunar lander in July 2021.

The first half of 2019 has already proven to be a worthy time to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the first human landing on the Moon. With China’s Chang'e-4 mission to the far side of the Moon in January and its proactive approach to create a permanent Moon Base, Israel’s private lunar mission in February – which has paved the way for commercial lunar missions, India’s very first mission to the south pole, expected to be launched in September, and NASA’s U.S.$2.6 billion Commercial Lunar Payload Service program and the American ambitions to send humans back to the Moon by 2024, the Moon race is on.

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis participated in a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signing between Space Florida and the Israel Space Agency on 27 May 2019. The Governor, Space Florida President and CEO Frank DiBello, and Mr. Avi Blasberger, Director General of The Israel Space Agency, were all on hand for the signing, which took place at the Peres Center for Peace and Innovation.

The Centre national d'études spatiales's (CNES) President and ESA Council Chair, Jean-Yves Le Gall, attended the 9th Space Council between ESA and the European Union (EU) on 28 May 2019.