CNES at ‘Prospects for Space in 2015’ seminar organized by GIFAS and Euroconsult

In the presence of Geneviève Fioraso, Secretary of State for Higher Education and Research, CNES President Jean-Yves Le Gall was at the ‘Prospects for Space in 2015’ seminar organized on Wednesday 14 January by GIFAS, the French aerospace industries association, and Euroconsult. Following Mrs Fioraso’s opening speech, he reviewed the current status of France’s space industry and the outlook for the years ahead.

The ‘Prospects for Space 2015’ seminar, a must-attend event for the space community, brought together for the fifth time some 200 public and private decision-makers from the French space sector for a day of top-level discussion and debate.

Organized by the French aerospace industries association GIFAS1 and Euroconsult, an independent consulting and analyst firm specializing in high-tech and with recognized expertise in space and satellite applications, the seminar gave participants the opportunity to review the major events, key milestones and successes of the past year in space and to look ahead to the prospects facing the sector in 2015 and beyond.

During his speech, CNES President Jean-Yves Le Gall underlined the importance of space in assuring sovereignty and independent decision-making, and as an asset for France’s foreign policy through the strategic status it affords. He then listed the historic accomplishments of 2014, with the Luxembourg Conference where ESA ministers gave the go-ahead for the Ariane 6 programme, the performance of Rosetta and Philae, the results of the Planck and GAIA missions and the first contracts for all-electric satellites.

Looking ahead to 2015, Jean-Yves Le Gall said: “From the start of this year, CNES has been busy getting Ariane 6 underway. This programme will be spearheading our space policy for the coming years. By March, Philae should have recharged its batteries and be ready to continue studying its host comet in situ. This summer, we shall be pursuing the development of space oceanography with the launch of Jason-3, while the development of IASI-NG, SWOT and MERLIN will give us new tools to monitor our planet. This year in space will be focusing on climate, culminating with the COP21 global climate summit in Paris in December.”