The second part of the working visit by Xavier Bettel, Minister for Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade, and Lex Delles, Minister for the Economy, SME, Energy and Tourism, to California in the United States focused on the space sector.
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(fr. l. to r.) Lex Delles, Minister of the Economy, SME, Energy and Tourism; Xavier Bettel, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade; Nicole Bintner-Bakshian, Luxembourg Ambassador to the United States; Daniel Da Cruz, Consul General, Executive Director, Consul General of Luxembourg and LTIO - San Francisco; Mario Grotz, Director General of Industry, New Technologies and Research, Ministry of the Economy; M. Shawn Villaron, VP & GM for PowerPoint, executive sponsor of the MTC Silicon Valley
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(fr. l. to r.) n.c; Dr. Eugene Tu, Center Director; Xavier Bettel, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade; Lex Delles, Minister of the Economy, SME, Energy and Tourism
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(fr. l. to .r) Dr. Eugene Tu, Center Director; Xavier Bettel, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade; Lex Delles, Minister of the Economy, SME, Energy and Tourism; n.c; n.c.
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(fr. l. to r.) Dr. Eugene Tu, Center Director; n.c.; Lex Delles, Minister of the Economy, SME, Energy and Tourism
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(fr. l. to r.) Dr. Tony Colaprete, VIPER Project Scientist; Dr. Eugene Tu, Center Director; Lex Delles, Minister of the Economy, SME, Energy and Tourism.
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Illustration
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(fr. l. to r.) Dr. Tony Colaprete, VIPER Project Scientist; Dr. Eugene Tu, Center Director; Romain Martin, Senior Government Advisor, Ministry of Research and Higher Education; Françoise Schlink, Head of Cabinet, Ministry of the Economy; Lex Delles, Minister of the Economy, SMEs, Energy and Tourism; Xavier Bettel, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade.
The delegation visited the Ames Research Center of NASA, the US government agency in charge of the civil space programme and aeronautical research. Located in Silicon Valley, this research centre has been active in aeronautics, exploration technology and science since 1939. The Ames Research Center houses unique facilities, including the world's largest wind tunnel and NASA's fastest supercomputers.
It should be noted in this context that the space sector is one of the priorities of the Luxembourg government, which aims in particular to further promote the use of space technologies and applications to meet societal challenges and to bring Luxembourg technologies to the surface of the moon. The fruitful collaboration between NASA and the Luxembourg Space Agency (LSA) has a number of objectives, including the commercial use of space through the sharing of scientific data and the sustainable use of space resources. Luxembourg was also one of the first signatories to the 'Artemis' agreements under NASA's manned space programme, which aims to lay the foundations for a permanent human presence on the moon. During their visit to the Ames Research Center, ministers Bettel and Delles underlined the close ties between Luxembourg and NASA and expressed their support for deepening the existing cooperation. Eugene Tu, Director of the Ames Research Center, is planning to visit space-related sites in Luxembourg in April 2024.
Minister Delles stated in this context that he is convinced that "the use of space technologies has enormous potential. Space has a major role to play in meeting societal challenges and in resolving problems specific to other sectors. To promote Luxembourg's space sector, it is important for the country to be visible and competitive at international level. Close cooperation with the major space nations will be particularly beneficial for Luxembourg's space ecosystem.
The delegation also visited Microsoft, one of the world's leading information technology companies. During this meeting, Microsoft and the Luxembourg Post Group signed a Memorandum of Understanding defining the principles of their cooperation and aimed at promoting innovation and facilitating the use of artificial intelligence technology in Luxembourg.
Press release by the Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs, Defence, Development Cooperation and Foreign Trade