At the International Aerospace Exhibition (ILA), which takes places from Wednesday the 1st to Thursday the 4th, june 2016, in Berlin, Jean-Yves Le Gall, President of CNES, the French space agency, and Pascale Ehrebnfreund, Chair of the DLR Executive Board (Deutsches Zentrum für Luft und Raumfahrt), renewed the framework agreement for bilateral cooperation between CNES and DLR.
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Brigitte Zypries, Parliamentary State Secretary at the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy (BMWi) and also German Aerospace Coordinator ; Gerd Gruppe, Member of the DLR Executive Board responsible for the German Space Administration ; CNES President Jean-Yves Le Gall ; Pascale Ehrenfreund, Chair of the DLR Executive Board and Thierry Mandon, French Minister of State for Higher Education and Research. Credits: DLR.
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At the International Aerospace Exhibition (ILA) in Berlin, the German Aerospace Center (Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt; DLR) and the French space agency (CNES) in the presence of Brigitte Zypries, Parliamentary State Secretary at the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy (BMWi) and also German Aerospace Coordinator, and Thierry Mandon, French Minister of State for Higher Education and Research, renewed their 2002 cooperation agreement on 2 June 2016. The agreement was signed by Pascale Ehrenfreund, Chair of the DLR Executive Board, Gerd Gruppe, Member of the DLR Executive Board responsible for the German Space Administration, and CNES President Jean-Yves Le Gall.
Jean-Yves Le Gall pointed out: “France and Germany are at this time a strong team, in Brussels through Copernicus, Galileo and Horizon 2020; at ESA through launch vehicles, the ISS and science; and in our bilateral relations through MERLIN: an excellent basis to shape successfully future space projects.”
Prof Ehrenfreund underlined: "Together, DLR and CNES have developed significant space projects in Europe. We will continue this close cooperation in the future in order to actively meet the global challenges that we face.”
In particular, DLR and CNES commit to continuing the close cooperation and coordination in research and technology collaborations, projects at the national level and within the European Space Agency (ESA) and in EU research programmes, as well as in satellite missions and in the operation and use of the International Space Station ISS. The agreement provides for regular meetings, as well as the option of personnel exchanges. The cooperation agreement has a term of five years and will be renewed automatically.
“The two countries will continue to play a leading role in Europe and worldwide in satellite applications, system developments and space exploration,” said Thierry Mandon. “With this agreement, DLR and CNES emphasise the excellent and long-standing cooperation between Germany and France in space,” Brigitte Zypries welcomed the agreement renewal.