CNES Science Programmes Committee meets

Tuesday 6 December, CNES’s Science Programmes Committee (CPS) met at the agency’s Head Office in Paris Les Halles. The CPS reports to the CNES Board of Directors on matters relating to space science research and makes recommendations on the agency’s science priorities.
CNES Chairman & CEO Philippe Baptiste and the committee’s members discussed the main stakes of space and the importance of science, notably through the perspective of the exceptional budget envelope of €16.9 billion approved for the next three years at the recent ESA Ministerial Council meeting. He pointed to the very big increase in France’s funding contributions, up 26% in the field of Earth observation and up 49% to support its continuing commitment to space exploration. Other programmes like S2P and FutureNAV hold great promise for the scientific community. The total contribution from all ESA member states to ESA’s mandatory science programme over the next five years will be €3,186 million.

The CPS was given a presentation about the agency's doctoral and post-doctoral programme, and a detailed progress report on its scientific programmes in the fields of universe sciences and space exploration, with the recommendations of the CERES space research and exploration committee, and in Earth sciences, with the recommendations of the TOSCA Earth, oceanography, land surfaces and atmosphere committee.

The GENESIS mission, an innovative priority science mission given the go-ahead at the Ministerial Council meeting as part of ESA’s FutureNAV programme, was the subject of a separate presentation. A review of CNES’s year as chair of the Committee on Earth Observation Satellites (CEOS), which came to a close at a plenary meeting attended by more than 100 representatives from the world’s space agencies, was also presented.

Concluding the CPS meeting, Philippe Baptiste commented: “I would like to thank the CPS for its work shaping our agency’s science priorities, which proved most useful in preparing for the ESA Ministerial Council meeting and in discussions with our overseeing ministries for the next three years.”

CPS President Gilles Bergametti added: “On behalf of the members of the CPS, I would like to thank the government and CNES’s overseeing ministries for raising the space sector’s budget for 2023-25. I would also like to commend CNES for our excellent discussions and to express our satisfaction with the overall outcome of the ESA Ministerial Council meeting for the scientific community.”

CONTACTS           
Nathalie Blain    Press Officer    Tel.: +33 (0)1 44 76 75 21    nathalie.blain@cnes.fr
Pascale Bresson    Press Officer    Tel.: +33 (0)1 44 76 75 39    pascale.bresson@cnes.fr
Raphaël Sart    Head of Media    Tel.: +33 (0)1 44 76 74 51    raphael.sart@cnes.fr

cp092-2022_-_cps_decembre_va.pdf (pdf - 53.7 KB)