PARIS (CNES PR) — The week of June 27, 2022, on the occasion of the celebration of the 60th anniversary of the French space agency at the French Embassy in Japan, the President and CEO of CNES, Philippe Baptiste, met with Takayuki Kobayashi, Minister of Economic Security, in charge of Japan’s space policy, and Hiroshi Yamakawa, President of JAXA. This visit contributed to confirming Japan as one of CNES’s leading international partners, allowing discussions on current projects and cooperation prospects.

REIMS, France (Venture Orbital Systems PR) — Our company has shown steady progress toward the development of our orbital launcher over the past few months. To further our momentum, we have recently closed a major agreement in funding. Get to know the details in the video above with Stanislas Maximin, CEO.

Since moving in our first micro-launcher factory in Reims back in October 2021, our team at VOS has been achieving a lot toward the first flight of Zephyr.  

SILVER SPRING, Md. (NOAA PR) — This week, the United States joined the Space for Climate Observatory (SCO) initiative, fulfilling the commitment made by Vice President Kamala Harris during her November 2021 visit to France.

Richard Spinrad, Ph.D., Under Secretary of Commerce for Oceans and Atmosphere and Administrator of the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) signed the SCO Charter as the lead agency for the United States. He was joined for the signing ceremony by Philippe Étienne, the French ambassador to the United States; Philippe Baptiste, Ph.D., Chairman and CEO of the French National Center for Space Studies (CNES), along with representatives of the White House, NOAA and the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA).  

The Space for Climate Observatory is an initiative of the One Planet Summit under the leadership of CNES to combine satellite and in situ data with scientific research to model and track climate change and its impacts at global-to-local scales. It is also working to establish indicators and decision-support tools in a coordinated and cross-disciplinary fashion, including with social and economic sciences, to enhance the global community’s collective ability to mitigate the impacts of climate change.

WASHINGTON (NASA PR) — France is the latest country to sign the Artemis Accords, affirming its commitment to  sustainable space exploration that follows a common set of principles promoting beneficial use of space for all of humanity.

PARIS (CNES PR) — Rémy Rioux, Managing Director of the French Development Agency (AFD) and Philippe Baptiste, Chairman and CEO of CNES, today renewed a partnership agreement to promote AFD’s adoption of satellite technologies for its work. research and development projects.

Sizing energy production infrastructures and access networks, reducing the digital divide, quickly collecting epidemiological data in the field, anticipating the risks of coastal flooding, these are all examples of the challenges that technologies satellites make it possible to take readings in areas that are difficult to access and lack infrastructure and means of in situ observation.

The renewal of this partnership agreement will allow AFD to benefit from the expertise and support of CNES to raise awareness and train its teams in space, collect and analyze needs in order to support the integration of satellite technologies in its projects, one objective pursued by AFD being to eventually have a tool for monitoring and evaluating projects in developing countries.  

PARIS (CNES PR) — Karista announces the first closing of CosmiCapital, its venture capital fund initiated by CNES and entirely dedicated to NewSpace. Subscribed in particular by CNES, initiator of the fund, and the National Seed Fund 2 (FNA 2), managed on behalf of the State by Bpifrance, within the framework of the Future Investments Program (PIA), the fund will have an investment capacity of 38 million euros [US $43.9 million] to fulfill its main objective: take advantage of the unprecedented acceleration of the space economy and invest in French and European technology start-ups in the sector. With this closing, Karista completes its range of funds to become a European multi-fund venture management platform.

TOULOUSE, France (CNES PR) — After meeting in Munich in early September, SpaceFounders, CNES ‘100% space-based Franco-German acceleration program, moved to Toulouse, from October 11 to 15, for a week of intensive work with the 10 winning European startups. The program entered its “Boost” phase, which aims to accelerate each startup, in particular by establishing relationships with customers, partners, suppliers and key resources from European aeronautics and space capitals.

Soon, the winning startups will enter the third phase of the program, that of seeking funding, in particular through the organization of Demo Days. The Paris Demo Day will take place on November 25 at the Hôtel de la Marine and will be organized in two stages. Privileged meetings with investors, partners or large institutional clients will be followed by a sequence on CNES’s commitment to support the European ecosystem of space startups to face space giants and startups from the United States and from Asia.

KOUROU, French Guiana (ESA PR) — The new launch complex built for Europe’s upcoming Ariane 6 rocket is inaugurated at Europe’s Spaceport in French Guiana.

With this, ESA celebrates another important milestone in the Ariane 6 roadmap as it forges ahead with combined tests between launch vehicle and launch base and preparations towards the first launch campaign.

PARIS (CNES PR) — CNES, the National Space Studies Center, and the University of the Bundeswehr in Munich, are joining forces to launch SpaceFounders, the Franco-German accelerator dedicated to European space tech start-ups whose ambition is to help the best become the world champions of the next decade.

The SpaceFounders program, ultra-intensive and ultra-high quality, takes place over ten weeks, face-to-face, with meetings and workshops in Toulouse and Munich, European capitals of aeronautics and space, and online, with conferences and mentoring sessions. The program concludes with two “Demo Days” in Paris and Berlin, allowing start-ups to meet a wide range of venture capital funds, European Family Offices and public funders, and thus obtain the funding necessary for their development.