The 22 national delegations of the European Space Agency (ESA) will meet in a new format due to Covid-19: half will be physically present at the meeting and half remotely on Tuesday 23 and Wednesday 24 June to discuss, among other things, the succession of the Director-General, Jan Wörner.
In fact, the Director-General, who has been at the head of the Agency since the end of 2014, announced last February in an internal memo that he did not wish to request a two-year extension of his term of office (see EUROPE 12417/12), which is therefore due to end in June 2021.
Several candidates to succeed him are expected, including Jean-Yves Le Gall, the current President of the Centre national d'études spatiales (National Centre for Space Studies), Pedro Duque, a former Spanish astronaut and Spanish Minister for Science and Innovation, Etienne Schneider, the former Deputy Prime Minister of Luxembourg, who is known for his political action in supporting industry in the exploitation of space mining resources (see EUROPE 12252/16), and Josef Aschbacher, the current Director of ESA's Earth Observation Programme. Italy will also have an opinion on who should take up the role.
Successors to other posts will also be discussed, including who will replace Magali Vaissiere, ESA Director of Telecommunications.
Other topics due to be discussed include cooperation with the United States over the Lunar Gateway project and, more generally, financial issues in connection with the last ministerial meeting held in Seville. In addition, the impact of Covid-19 on space activity could be under discussion. Some are of the opinion that postponing the first launch of Ariane 6 to next year could be brought up by some national delegations. (Original version in French by Pascal Hansens)