Last week's trade mission led by Luxembourg's Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of the Economy, Etienne Schneider, was to the west coast of the USA and focused on the space sector.

With the Hereditary Grand Duke and Hereditary Grand Duchess accompanying the trip, the high-profile delegation also included representatives of a number of companies already active in the space industry in Luxembourg. The trip took in Seattle, the largest city in the state of Washington and northwestern United States, as well as San Francisco, California. The west coast of the United States, and especially Silicon Valley, California, is considered one of the most dynamic poles in the field of technological innovation in space, including new space, the space industry private sector.

The four-day programme included events presenting Luxembourg as a location for potential investors, as well as visits to US companies and scientific institutes to learn about the latest trends and the developments and opportunities of Space sector. The mission was to find new business opportunities and to promote the SpaceResources.lu initiative, which aims to position Luxembourg as a European platform for the exploration and use of resources in space.

Monday, 10 April 2017: The economic mission began in Seattle, where the Hereditary Grand Duke and the Hereditary Grand Duchess with Minister Schneider visited the headquarters of Planetary Resources, one of the American companies that have chosen Luxembourg from where to conduct its European operations within the framework of the SpaceResources.lu initiative.

Wednesday, 12 April 2017: The delegation visited the NASA Ames Research Center in Moffett Field, in the heart of Silicon Valley. The Ames Research Center is a major institute of NASA, the US government agency responsible for the civil space programme and aeronautics research.

After a guided tour, the delegation held meetings with senior representatives of US companies specialising in the development of advanced space technologies. The companies Made In Space, Skycorp, Astro Digital, Audacy, Leolabs and Spire presented their activities.

The Ministry of Economy participated in the space seminar entitled "Developing New Markets in Space". The keynote speech to the round table on this topic was delivered by Simon Pete Worden of the Breakthrough Prize Foundation, former director of the Ames Research Center and a member of the Advisory Board of the SpaceResources.lu initiative. The event was followed by a reception.

Thursday 13 April 2017: On the last day of the mission, the delegation visited the SETI research institute in Mountain View. Scientists from this private institute supported by NASA presented various experimental projects relating to space resources and space meteorology in an international context.

Photo (L-R): the Hereditary Grand Duchess, the Hereditary Grand Duke, Étienne Schneider, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of the Economy

Photo by Jean-Christophe Verhaegen © SIP, all rights reserved