On Thursday 14 December, the Director General of the European Space Agency, Josef Aschbacher, announced that the EU and ESA had signed two agreements to strengthen EU support for ESA.
EU support of €47.9 million will be used by the agency to work on new activities linked to the second phase of DestinE (Destination Earth), which will build digital models of the Earth to provide a better understanding of weather and climate dynamics and their impact on society.
The Director General also emphasised “a contribution to implementing the Union’s space programmes, in particular Galileo. €413.6 million is planned for ESA.”
Mr Aschbacher also announced a “new event at ministerial level”, with a session between ESA and EU countries. This Council could take place on 23 May.
In addition, as part of the ‘zero debris’ approach, ESA has announced the updating of its debris mitigation requirements and standards, which will govern how the agency’s missions are designed, built, flown and disposed of, and set the rules for any companies or institutions working with the agency on its missions.
In addition, according to the ESA, around 100 entities have signed up to the ‘zero debris’ charter (see EUROPE 13287/6).
Mr Aschbacher’s term of office extended to 2029
In addition, Mr Aschbacher’s term of office has been extended for a further four years, from 1 March 2025. He was appointed on 17 December 2020 for an initial period of four years commencing on 1 March 2021.
The ESA Council has also appointed Laurent Jaffart, currently Vice-President of Airbus and responsible for strategy, corporate development and new activities for space systems, as Director of Connectivity and Secure Communications. He is due to join ESA in the first half of 2024.
Marco Ferrazzani, ESA’s principal legal adviser, will become the agency’s Director of Internal Services on 1 April 2024. (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant)