European Space Agency (ESA) Director General Johann-Dietrich Wörner set out in the course of a press conference lasting over two hours on Wednesday 17 January the main areas for discussion at the Agency’s next ministerial meeting in Spain in 2019.
He listed five: - applications of space activities (earth observation, navigation and telecommunications); - space, science, exploration; - enabling and support; - space safety and security; - human resources, finance management and procurement.
He stressed the importance of space safety and security, mentioning, on the one hand, space debris from human activity and, on the other, the risk – highly improbably but nonetheless real – of an asteroid colliding with the Earth and, consequently, the need to monitor asteroids, and also monitor space weather, citing solar eruptions. He also spoke of the new encrypted European communications programme, GovSatCom.
He said that he did not want to repeat past mistakes and so announced that he wanted to prepare for the ministerial meeting as early as possible. He has, therefore, put in place a range of initiatives, including a programming advisory group to gather the views and suggestions of the Agency’s various directorates and also of players outside the Agency, such as industry and politicians. The goal, he said, was to make preparations for a meeting that is successful in terms both of numbers and content.
The last ESA ministerial meeting, in Lucerne in December 2016, brought a a budget slightly below the €11 billion initially sought by the Agency (see EUROPE 11681) and rejected the Asteroid Impact Mission (AIM) (see EUROPE 11682). (Original version in French by Pascal Hansens)