AEM Signs Agreement with ESA to Train Mexican Talent

The Mexican Space Agency (AEM) signed an agreement with the European Space Agency (ESA) in a “historical” alliance that aims to support Mexican talent, as both agencies highlight their commitment to develop new projects. 

The Ministry of Infrastructure, Communications and Transportation (SICT), through AEM and ESA signed an agreement to develop new projects to train Mexican talent. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (SRE) played a key role in the creation of this agreement, which was initially outlined in 2021 during a bilateral meeting at the 72nd International Astronautical Congress with Josef Aschbacher, Executive Director, ESA.

The accord was led by SICT’s Rogelio Jiménez Pons, AEM’s Salvador Landeros Ayala and ESA’s Eric Morel de Westgaver. SICT explained via a press release that ESA deemed Mexico as, “a very important space actor in the region." However, SICT has not specified the requirements for Mexicans seeking to participate. 

“Today, history was made with the signing of this agreement, which opens the door to push Mexican ingenuity toward world-class projects with the support of ESA and strengthens ties for the use of space in priority social tasks for our populations,” says Landeros. 

ESA offers space science and human and robotic exploration programs and has participated in missions such as: Juice, Euclid, Webb and Exomars, among others. The agency also participates in numerous space programs, including the International Space Station, the Orion Service Module and Concordia, according to ESA’s science and exploration division. ESA provides support for building missions, space transportation and flying missions. 

The agreement was approved by ESA’s 22 member states, which include France, Germany, the UK, Spain and Italy, among others. The ESA delegation explained via a press release that it began identifying future projects in education, Earth observation and integrated applications during its visit to Mexico. 

ESA explained that during the last five years, its relationship with AEM has intensified through meetings, exchanges, training and space application projects. For example, AEM has supported Earth observation projects for the monitoring of the Sargassum algae devastating the Mexican coast, among others. 

Both agencies also worked in integrated applications that included ESA’s TransparentSea project, which has pushed for sustainable management of fishery resources worldwide. ESA explained that supporting fishery certification issuers, while enforcing the value and credibility of certified seafood products using space-based technologies, has allowed the industry to advance. 

ESA experts and European doctors have also been sharing telemedicine experiences in astronaut training with Mexico for the past few years. Since February 2019, ESA has also been working with AEM via a GNSS sensor station in Queretaro. “ESA is looking forward to developing new joint activities with Mexican space entities,” concluded the agency.