Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.uz) — Representatives of Uzbekistan’s Uzbekcosmos agency took part in the first International Space Summit, held on 9–10 September at Paris’s Grand Palais at the initiative of French President Emmanuel Macron.
The summit brought together representatives of 90 countries and international organizations, around 60 senior government officials, more than 1,000 space companies and 19 astronauts from 14 countries.
Uzbekcosmos representatives held a series of meetings and talks during the event. Discussions focused on sharing best practices, identifying new areas of cooperation and exploring prospective projects in the space sector.
High-level participants included Rwandan President Paul Kagame, President of the Republic of the Congo Denis Sassou Nguesso, Djiboutian President Ismail Omar Guelleh, Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, European Commission Executive Vice-Presidents Henna Virkkunen and Stéphane Séjourné, and EU Commissioner for Defence and Space Andrius Kubilius.
On the first day, Emmanuel Macron, Kyriakos Mitsotakis, Petr Fiala and other officials addressed the summit. Their speeches covered the development of the space sector, international cooperation, space security and Europe’s strategic priorities. A roundtable involving astronauts was also held, with the participation of the French president.
The official programme on the second day featured addresses by Emmanuel Macron and Ursula von der Leyen. The programme also included a live link-up with the International Space Station involving French astronaut Sophie Adenot and a presentation by the European Space Agency.
The summit featured roundtables on the development of the space sector amid global changes, space security and future space infrastructure. A separate discussion focused on African leaders’ views on the development of the space sector.
Panel discussions were also held on the global space economy, security and cooperation, science and research. A discussion on the transformation of historic space organizations amid changes in the industry was held with the participation of European Space Agency Director General Josef Aschbacher.
The summit was attended by 19 astronauts from 14 countries, including French astronaut Thomas Pesquet, Italian astronauts Samantha Cristoforetti and Luca Parmitano, German astronauts Alexander Gerst and Matthias Maurer, United Arab Emirates astronaut Sultan Al Neyadi and Turkish astronaut Alper Gezeravcı.
The summit served as an international platform for discussing cooperation in the space sector, developing new technologies and establishing common approaches to the peaceful and sustainable use of outer space.
