March 31, 2016

France-Chile space cooperation CNES at FIDAE and LARS

Tuesday 29 and Wednesday 30 March, CNES was at the FIDAE aerospace show (Feria Internacional del Aire y del Espacio) in Santiago, Chile, where the agency’s President, Jean-Yves Le Gall, spoke on the theme of “Space as a Tool for International Cooperation” and took part in the opening ceremony of the Latin American Remote Sensing Week (LARS), this year focused on “Observing the Planet”. During his stay, he also met Andrés Gomes-Lobo, Chile’s Minister of Transport and Telecommunications.

CNES President Jean-Yves Le Gall was in attendance at the 19th edition of FIDAE, an event created 35 years ago and now one of the biggest aerospace exhibitions on the American continent, spanning a broad spectrum of sectors from aircraft maintenance and civil aviation to national security and space technologies. At this event, he delivered a speech in which he underlined the importance of international cooperation in the space sector and the number of missions being conducted with other nations, stressing the strength of France’s cooperation model as illustrated by the 12 international space accords signed in 2015 in the presence of President François Hollande and Prime Minister Manuel Valls.

Jean-Yves Le Gall was also guest of honour at the Latin American Remote Sensing Week (LARS), one of the main events in South America bringing together scientists, industry and users to discuss space development issues. In his speech, he pointed to the importance of satellites as a permanent observatory of climate change and the pivotal role of space agencies, a fact that France has taken fully on board in devoting an annual per capita budget of 37 euros to space, second only to the United States. He then hailed the success of the COP21 last December in Paris, which highlighted the essential role of satellites in studying and preserving Earth’s climate, and announced the meeting on 3 April in New Delhi of the world’s space agencies to craft a new declaration aimed at curbing climate change. He concluded by affirming the need to keep innovating to meet the challenges that lie ahead, especially with regard to climate, citing the effectiveness of the International Charter on Space and Major Disasters, which Chile is able to activate as an authorized user.

On the sidelines of these events, Jean-Yves Le Gall met Andres Gomez-Lobo, Chile’s Minister of Transport and Telecommunications, with whom he signed a letter of intent last October regarding French-Chilean cooperation on the peaceful uses of outer space. Their discussions centred on the upcoming inception of Chile’s new civil space agency and the use of consumer space applications.

After his visit, Jean-Yves Le Gall commented: “I am delighted to see that South America’s space sector is pursuing its dynamic development and focusing on the major issues of the moment, as illustrated by Chile’s pioneering role in Earth observation. I will take home from this visit the fact that Chile’s vibrant space programme is now a key part of international efforts working to safeguard our planet.”

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Contacts
Pascale Bresson  Tel. +33 (0)1 44 76 75 39  pascale.bresson@cnes.fr
Julien Watelet       Tel. +33 (0)1 44 76 78 37  julien.watelet@cnes.fr