President Chau Van Minh received representatives of Airbus Group, France

19/07/2022

On April 26, 2022, Professor, Academician Chau Van Minh, President of Vietnam Academy of Science and Technology (VAST), met with Mr. Olivier Chalvet, Regional Director of Airbus, France, about cooperation activities in the field of satellite technology. On the Airbus side, there was Mr. Francis Royer, Sales Director; and Ms. Hoang Tri Mai, General Director of Airbus in Vietnam. Joining the delegation were also Dr. Le Quynh Lien, Head of International Cooperation Department; and Dr. Bui Trong Tuyen, Director of the Institute of Space Technology.

At the meeting, the two sides reviewed the activities between Airbus and VAST, especially the cooperation in the VNREDSat-1 satellite project, Vietnam's first earth observation satellite designed by Airbus, implemented by Airbus. funded by the French government's ODA, and chaired by VAST. This is a typical science and technology event of VAST in particular and Vietnam in general, a symbol of the Vietnam - France friendship cooperation relationship. By design, VNREDSat-1's lifespan is 5 years in orbit, however, after nearly 9 years, VNREDSat-1 satellite is still maintained and operates effectively.

Photo at the meeting

Within the framework of the official visit to the UK and France by Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh, on November 3, 2021, Vietnam Academy of Science and Technology signed a Letter of Intent on cooperation in the field of important satellites. Earth observation with the French National Center for Space Research (CNES) and Airbus Group in the presence of the Prime Ministers of the two countries; this showed the desire of the parties to strengthen cooperation in the implementation of Vietnam's Earth observation satellite projects in the coming time. This letter of intent is the basis for the parties to conduct research and training, effectively exploit the Earth observation satellite project, as well as strengthen cooperation in research on issues related to climate change.

Within the framework of the satellite-based Earth Observation Observatory project, Mr. Olivier Chalvet and the representative of Airbus introduced new technical features of the Airbus satellite system, and made a proposal to continue to cooperate with VAST in the project of developing, training and transferring technology of earth observation satellites in the future.

The two sides hope that the cooperation results between VAST and Airbus will contribute positively to the celebration of the 50th anniversary of diplomatic relations and the 10th anniversary of the establishment of a strategic partnership between Vietnam and France.

Translated by Phuong Ha
Link to Vietnamese version