CNES at the 40th COSPAR Scientific Assembly in Moscow

A delegation from CNES is in attendance at this week’s 40th COSPAR Scientific Assembly, where the international space science community is gathered at Lomonosov Moscow State University until 10 August. CNES President Jean-Yves Le Gall was at the opening session on 4 August, where he met Oleg Ostapenko, Head of Roscosmos, the Russian federal space agency.

Formed in 1958, the Committee on Space Research (COSPAR) is currently chaired by its President Italian astrophysicist Giovanni Fabrizio Bignami and its Executive Director is French scientist Jean-Louis Fellous. COSPAR is an international organization charged with promoting space research. It serves chiefly as a forum for information exchange, preparation of scientific and technical standards, and the presentation and publication of scientific papers in the field of space research. Its Bureau is in Paris at CNES’s head office.

COSPAR’s 40th Scientific Assembly is being held until 10 August at Lomonosov Moscow State University. France is particularly well represented this year, with over 30 top-level scientists. The previous Scientific Assembly, which takes place every two years, was in Bangalore, India.

On the sidelines of the assembly, CNES President Jean-Yves Le Gall met Oleg Ostapenko, his counterpart at Roscosmos, the Russian federal space agency. The two men took this opportunity to review the current status of cooperation in space between France and Russia and explore how it might evolve in the years ahead.

After the opening session, Jean-Yves Le Gall stated: “Once again, this COSPAR assembly is bringing together the world’s most eminent space scientists, this year in Moscow where France and CNES are particularly well represented. We also took the opportunity during our stay here to meet a delegation from Roscosmos. With Oleg Ostapenko, we agreed to start a process to decide on new joint missions. France and Russia have built a common heritage in space over 50 years of fruitful and ambitious cooperation in many areas and accomplished numerous successes. Today, our close collaborative ties deserve to be strengthened more than ever before.”

CNES press contacts
Alain Delrieu Tel. +33 (0)1 44 76 74 04 alain.delrieu@cnes.fr
Julien Watelet Tel. +33 (0)1 44 76 78 37 julien.watelet@cnes.fr
www.cnes.fr/presse

CP096-COSPAR_va.pdf (pdf - 116.76 KB)