Policy and Law

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.

Kleos Space S.A., the space-powered Radio Frequency Reconnaissance data provider, has been granted the Luxembourg Government Concession to establish and operate a Luxembourg satellite system (Concession).

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.

The President of the Centre national d'études spatiales (CNES), Jean-Yves Le Gall, met with Chau Van Minh, President of the Vietnam Academy of Science and Technology (VAST) at the CNES head office in Paris on 27 May 2019, in the presence of Pham Anh Tuan, Director of the Vietnam National Space Center (VNSC), and Bui Trong Tuyen, Director of the Space Technology Institute (STI).

Marc Serres, CEO of the Luxembourg Space Agency, announced the establishment of the Luxembourg Space Agency (LSA) Data Centre at the Space Forum in Luxembourg on 22 May 2019.

The United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs (UNOOSA) has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Asteroid Foundation, Luxembourg that will enable both bodies to work together to enhance understanding and deliver educational activities on asteroids.

The Prague Security Studies Institute's (PSSI) 5th invitation-only Space Security Conference will be held in Prague on 9-11 June 2019.

The UN Office for Outer Space Affairs (UNOOSA) and the European Space Agency (ESA) have signed a joint statement on their wish to cooperate on the challenge of space debris.

On the occasion of the meetings between CNES’s Directorate of Innovation, Applications and Science (DIA) and the Government of Kerala, India, on 16, 17 and 18 May 2019, the Centre national d'études spatiales (CNES), through its Connect-by-CNES programme (CbC), and the Kerala Start-Up Mission (KSUM) signed a Letter of Intent (LoI) to foster collaboration between French and Indian innovation ecosystems in the domain of New Space.