On 16 May, at ESA headquarters in Paris, a new Memorandum of Understanding was signed which establishes the collaboration between Daniel Neuenschwander, director of Human Exploration and Robotics at ESA, and Nicola Fox, co-administrator of NASA for the direction of the Scientific Mission. This new agreement requires NASA to provide essential components for the construction of the Rosalind Franklin roverwhich is intended to drilling into the Martian soil in search of traces of past life. The launch, initially scheduled for 2022 with the support of Roscosmos, has now been postponed to 2028 due to the restructuring of contributions to the Russian-Ukrainian war project. It’s also there in the new agreements confirmation of support for the Italian Space Agency mission with Thales Alenia Space Italiawho will be responsible for the construction of the entry, descent and landing module on the red planet.
At the same time, there are also developments in the space defense sector. During the first space symposium of the BORNheld in Toulouse, it emerged that the transnational organization is looking to work more closely with the commercial sector and more specifically with start-ups in the sector to strengthen its space defense ambitions.
However, secrecy remains a significant obstacle. French company Preligens demonstrated how their AI system processes space data from satellites to show what is happening anywhere in the world, an example of the kind of innovative technologies NATO is considering but could become itself provider of sensitive data.
“One of the first questions we ask is whether there are third parties involved. This is a fictitious company linked to a Chinese Communist Party companyor something?” he said Air Commodore Darren WhiteleyDeputy Director for Policy and Plans of the United States Space Command, during a press conference to a small group of journalists.
