“Where are Thomas Pesquet, Sophie Adenot and the other European astronauts going to fly?”

2023-06-23 09:16:23
“Over the past few years, the costs of ensuring a human presence in space have dropped dramatically,” explains Philippe Baptiste. François BOUCHON/Le Figaro

INTERVIEW – For Philippe Baptiste, president of CNES, Europe cannot remain dependent on the Americans to send its own astronauts into space.

Philippe Baptiste has been the president of the French Space Agency since 2021.

LE FIGARO. – How is the space sector doing?

Philippe BAPTISTE. – We are experiencing tremendous acceleration in all space sectors. Space has been built around unique pieces, technological jewels dedicated to science or defence. With telecom applications, we have gradually entered a new era, between industry and goldsmithing. Today, new players are arriving with new ways of doing things and they are disrupting the ecosystem. Technological breakthroughs, risk-taking, industrial efficiency, pragmatism and lower costs are the key words of the moment.

The role of CNES today is both to support our great champions, such as Airbus Defense & Space and Thales Alenia Space in the field of satellites, but also to help new players who arrive with new ideas. , by making available to them…

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