Readout of NASA Administrator Bridenstine’s Visit to Farnborough – Day 2

Administrator Bridenstine kicked off Tuesday by meeting with the French National Space Agency (CNES). He met with Mr. Jean-Yves Le Gall, President of the French Space Agency (CNES) and they discussed the wide ranging partnership between France and the United States in space and earth science, and talked about opportunities for potential International cooperation on the Gateway. NASA and CNES are currently cooperating on a number of ongoing and upcoming operational Earth and space science missions, including Terra, Aqua, CALIPSO, InSight, and Juno. The Parker Solar Probe, which is scheduled to launch on August 4th from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, also has joint cooperation between NASA and CNES.

After meeting with CNES, the Administrator headed out to the Farnborough International Airshow. At Farnborough, he participated in the Agency Head Media Interactive Panel. The other participants included Jan Wörner – Director General of the European Space Agency, Graham Turnock – Chief Executive Officer of the UK Space Agency, and Andy Green – Chair of the UK space agency. He answered questions on the benefits of the International Space Station, the future role of commercial companies in low earth orbit, asteroid mining, and the US/Chinese relationship as it relates to space.

Following the Roundtable, he met with Dr. Graham Turnock, Chief Executive Officer of the UK Space Agency. NASA has over a dozen active agreements with the UK Space Agency. The UK Space Agency is a partner with NASA on the James Webb Space Telescope, and has expressed interest in cooperating with NASA on the Gateway, either bilaterally or through ESA.

Later, he met with the Italian Space Agency (ASI) for his first meeting with ASI President Roberto Battiston. Administrator Bridenstine congratulated ASI on the recent celebration of their 30th Anniversary.  During their meeting they discussed the significant bilateral cooperation currently underway between NASA and ASI.  President Battiston highlighted Italian commercial space industry and their ongoing support of U.S.-based aerospace companies. They also discussed NASA’s plans for human exploration including the NASA’s Gateway program and opportunities for Italian participation through the European Space Agency or on a bilateral basis.  President Battiston also discussed a new ASI initiative to foster public / private partnerships in space exploration in Italy and the potential this provides for cooperation with NASA and U.S. industry. 

In the afternoon he met with senior executives from Raytheon and Boeing. Raytheon is NASA’s 9th largest contractor by funding, and the bulk of its work is focused on the JPSS ground segment. Boeing is one of NASA’s largest contractors, performing major work on the ISS, Commercial Crew, and SLS missions.
 
He also had a meeting with representatives from L3 during which the topic of space traffic management was discussed.
 
Later in the day, he met with the Honorable Navdeep Singh Bains, Canada’s Minister of Innovation, Science, and Economic Development. Minister Bains oversees the Canadian Space Agency and the National Research Council of Canada, NASA’s principal partner in Canada for aeronautics research. NASA has a long and productive relationship with Canada that has resulted in Canadian involvement in almost all of NASA’s major initiatives dating back to the early 1960s. In addition to essential contributions to ISS, CSA is also making critical contributions to space science missions such as JWST, OSIRIS-Rex, and SWOT.

In the evening he attended the Royal Aeronautical Society Reception. The reception was attended by a wide range of aerospace professionals.