Special envoy to Washington,
Emmanuel Macron began his visit to Washington on Wednesday morning with a "space sequence" intended to highlight this
"area of strategic cooperation",
where
"France is a leading partner"
of the United States.
He was joined by Vice President Kamala Harris, who also chairs the US National Space Council.
The French National Center for Space Studies (CNES) does not claim to compete with the powerful NASA, but it boasts of
“close cooperation for sixty years”
.
"France is on board all the Martian missions",
underlined in particular Philippe Baptiste, president of CNES, who accompanies the president.
Read alsoEmmanuel Macron in the United States to defuse tensions
This Franco-American partnership, which Ms. Harris considers
"vital"
, has been highlighted in three areas: Earth and climate observation - in particular through the SWOT mission, which monitors the level of the oceans and the courses of water –, space exploration with the Artemis mission, which should send Americans back to the Moon by 2025, and industrial cooperation.
The latter, materialized by an agreement with Arianespace for the launch of 18 Amazon satellites, is coupled with fierce competition with Elon Musk's SpaceX.
Thomas Pesquet proposed by France
In this context, there is a
“strong demand from France”
for astronaut Thomas Pesquet, veteran of the international space station, to be embarked on board Artemis and become the first European to set foot on the Moon.
“We would be very happy to have a French astronaut on the Moon,
admits an adviser to the president.
We are not there yet, but it is discussed.
We hope for a strong commitment from the United States.
If NASA opens the door, the choice will belong to the European Space Agency (ESA), where France now has two active astronauts, Thomas Pesquet since 2009 and Sophie Adenot, just named (who also accompany the head of the State in Washington).
But it's likely that a word from President Joe Biden on the matter would do much to propel a Frenchman to Earth's satellite.
