JAXA Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency

Adoption of the Joint Statement at the 4th Japan/France Space Cooperation Symposium

National Space Development Agency of Japan

The National Space Development Agency of Japan (NASDA) and the French space agency, Centre National d'Etudes Spatiales (CNES) held the 4th Japan/France Space Cooperation Symposium at Kyoto International Conference Hall on 7-8 July 2003.

The Symposium focused on the six cooperative fields, such as Earth Observation/Disaster Monitoring, Telecommunications, Space Transportation, International Space Station Utilization, Space Science, and Space Parts. These were separately discussed under respective working groups.
At each working group session, current status of space activities of the two countries were introduced, and possible future cooperation was discussed.
The Advanced Earth Observing Satellite-II (ADEOS-II), dubbed in Japan "Midori-II", was cited as one of the good examples for Japan/France partnership. ADEOS-II was successfully lifted off by the Japanese H-IIA launch vehicle on 14 December 2002, carrying the French sensor, Polarization and Directionality of the Earth's Reflectances (POLDER), and ARGOS Data Collection System.

For further steps towards strengthened cooperation between the two countries, NASDA and CNES Presidents emphasized the three areas of Earth Observation, Future Space Transportation Systems and Space Parts, and agreed to specify new cooperative items by December 2003.

The Joint Statement adopted at the Symposium is as per enclosure.

Joint Statement at the 4th Japan/France Space Cooperation Symposium

4th Japan/France Space Cooperation Symposium took place in Kyoto on 7-8 of July, hosted by NASDA. It attracted more than 180 participants including leaders and experts from NASDA, CNES and associated research centers and industry.

This Symposium focused on six fields of cooperation dealt with through the working groups: Earth Observation/Disaster Monitoring, Telecommunication, Space Transportation, International Space Station Utilization, Space Science, and Space Parts. In each session, status of both Japanese and French space activities were introduced, followed by a discussion on the possibilities of the future cooperation between Japan and France. Also the cooperation on Earth observing satellite, ADEOS-II, which was successfully launched on 14th of December 2002 with French sensors POLDER and ARGOS-next by the H-IIA rocket, was highlighted as one of the success of Japan/France partnership. The ongoing work was jointly assessed as very satisfactory.

As a further step, NASDA and CNES presidents highlighted 3 specific areas; Earth Observation, Future Space Transportation Systems and Space parts. Based on the working group reports, it was agreed that one or two concrete cooperative projects should be worked out with detailed contents and the associated planning, cost estimate and modalities of cooperation to be submitted for approval by December 2003. In addition a list of mutual exchanges regarding ISS utilization will be jointly prepared in the same time frame. Also NASDA and CNES agreed to promote the staff exchange program.

In this Symposium, both NASDA and CNES confirmed that the cooperative relationship would be continued and intensified after the merger of three space related organizations into Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) in October this year.

NASDA and CNES continue to work together after this Symposium and the 5th symposium will be hosted in France in 2005.