Articles for "Space policy"

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Space | 26. November 2012 | posted by Jan Wörner

ESA council meeting at ministerial level – a personal view

ESA-Ministerratskonferenz 2012. Bild: DLR/Thilo Kranz, CC-BY.

In my last blog entry, I referred to the preparations for the European Space Agency council meeting at ministerial level, to be held in Naples and the key topics 'the future of ESA', 'launch systems' and 'utilisation of the International Space Station'. Well, now that the conference has ended, it is time to take stock. At this point, I would like to highlight primarily my own personal experience, since the facts and agreed conclusions have already received plenty of attention in the media. read more

Space | 09. November 2012 | posted by Jan Wörner

A heated debate concerning 'a cold potato'

My blog has been quiet in recent weeks; the reason for this is that it has been hectic. Too many appointments and events – from the ILA Berlin Airshow and the International Astronautical Congress (IAC) in Naples, to internal appointments within DLR – have fully taken up the time allocated to me by Earth's rotation. One particularly important event is the upcoming ESA Council meeting at ministerial level, which will also take place in Naples, on 20 and 21 November 2012. This meeting is being built up as a directional decision-making session dealing with a range of open questions. read more

Space | 27. August 2012 | posted by Jan Wörner

A political week - with a sad ending

DLR got quite a bit of political attention last week, with a steady parade of three Federal ministers, a State minister and two State secretaries. Such contacts are very important for DLR because – rather than give a quantitative balance in terms of "what are you doing with the taxpayers' money?" – we are able to show them the work carried out at our research sites. Unfortunately, the weekend ended sadly with the death of a great man: Neil Armstrong.




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Space | 16. June 2011 | posted by Jan Wörner

One more time!

In my last blog entry, I focussed on a farewell to the shuttle fleet and some observations on the paradigm shift occurring in the space sector. Space Shuttle Endeavour has now landed safely and Atlantis is being prepared for launch. Images of the International Space Station (ISS) with Space Shuttle Endeavour and docked with the European space transporter ATV 'Johannes Kepler', taken from a Soyuz capsule as it was departing, already have historical value. This time, I would like to focus on my reappointment as Chairman of the DLR Executive Board and on the aspects that will be of central importance in my ongoing work. read more

Security | 31. March 2011

The final stage in the construction of the German-Indonesian tsunami early warning system

On 26 December 2004, a devastating tsunami destroyed large parts of the coastline of the Indian Ocean. It is estimated that 250,000 people lost their lives because there was no early warning system. Shortly afterwards, the German government decided to spend 50 million Euros to develop a tsunami early warning system in Indonesia, the most severely affected country. Scientists from major German research centres presented innovative concepts for such a system to the political decision makers. Convinced of the feasibility of the proposal, the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (Bundesministerium für Bildung und Forschung; BMBF) decided to support the project, now named the German-Indonesian Tsunami Early Warning System (GITEWS), as a joint development led by the German Research Centre for Geosciences (Deutsches GeoForschungsZentrum; GFZ) in Potsdam. read more

Space | 18. March 2011 | posted by Jan Wörner

ESA Council meeting and a reception at the German Ambassador's in Paris

An important meeting of the ESA Council took place on 16 and 17 March in Paris. Among other matters, it dealt with the International Space Station (ISS), ensuring European access to space, and the appointment of ESA Directors. On the first evening of the Council meeting, I was invited by the Ambassador of the Federal Republic of Germany in Paris, Reinhard Schäfers, to visit his official residence. It was a good opportunity to speak, not only about German space strategy in general, but also about the coordination of space activities at a time when we are all concerned regarding the news about the events in Japan. read more

Space | 18. February 2011 | posted by Jan Wörner

DLR, Europe and international cooperation

The topic of 'national activities versus international cooperation' has been discussed quite a bit recently. The 'either … or' question has become a fundamental issue for everyday politics. Our activities in the first two months of 2011 prove that we are not treating this as an 'either … or' issue; instead, we see the combination of national and European efforts and the activities arising from these efforts as a promising arrangement. read more

Space | 16. December 2010 | posted by Jan Wörner

Happy Holidays! Cooperation with partners in the United States

Shortly before Christmas, the DLR office in Washington DC invites our partners to attend a Holiday reception. This way, various DLR's various US aerospace sector partners are invited to take a look back at the past year in a convivial atmosphere, and also to make plans for the future. This year, the reception occurred at the end of what proved to be a fascinating business trip, one which took me right across the US and gave me the opportunity to meet many of our partners there. read more

Space | 18. November 2010 | posted by Jan Wörner

A special type of meeting: the IAA Heads of Space Agencies Summit

On 17 November 2011, the Heads of the world's Space Agencies met in Washington, D.C. on the 50th anniversary of the International Academy of Astronautics (IAA) to agree on a joint declaration, 'Space for Humanity', discuss related activities and possible future partnerships. The main meeting was chaired by Professor Walter Kröll, Former Chairman of the DLR Board for several years. read more

Space | 18. October 2010 | posted by Jan Wörner

Visiting Asia with the German Economics Minister – a very special experience

The German Economics Minister, Rainer Brüderle, travelled across Asia for a week, presenting German economic policy in China and Japan, and promoting cooperation between these countries and Germany. The delegation included journalists and a number of experts on the economy who either had special relationships in the region or were interested in acquiring them. As the representative of DLR, I had a special role within the group, and this became increasingly apparent over the course of the trip. read more