Airbus, CNES and VAST Reaffirm Commitment to Strengthening EO Capabilities in Vietnam
May 27, 2025 | AirbusEstimated reading time: 1 minute
Airbus Defence and Space, the French Space Agency (CNES), and the Vietnam Academy of Science and Technology (VAST) have signed a Declaration of Intent (DoI) to strengthen their longstanding cooperation in the field of Earth observation, building on the success of the VNREDSat-1 space programme.
This agreement was signed in Hanoi in the presence of French President Emmanuel Macron and Vietnamese President Lương Cường, during an official visit to the country by the French Head of State. It reaffirms the three parties' shared ambition to develop and implement the next generation of Earth observation satellite systems in support of Vietnam’s climate change mitigation, disaster monitoring, and natural resource management.
Airbus and VAST will pursue deeper technical cooperation to ensure the continued performance of VNREDSat-1, while jointly exploring a future programme, using advanced satellite technologies developed by CNES and Airbus under the CO3D constellation. The DoI also paves the way for comprehensive definition of a training and transfer of technologies solution as part of this programme.
Stéphane Vesval, Senior Vice President Sales Space Systems, Airbus Defence and Space said: “The renewed cooperation between Airbus, CNES and VAST reflects a clear dedication to long-term partnerships that build sovereign capabilities and deliver meaningful societal value. We are proud to continue supporting Vietnam’s vision of becoming a leading spacefaring nation in Southeast Asia, and we look forward to enabling the future evolution of the VNREDSat programme.”
As part of this broader collaboration, CNES and VAST intend to expand their scientific and technical exchange in areas such as Earth observation data while exploring the development of targeted applications based on shared data sets, and supporting capacity-building programmes
The partnership continues the spirit of collaboration established with the launch of VNREDSat-1 by Airbus in 2013. The satellite, which has doubled its expected lifetime, under the operation of VAST, marked a major milestone in Vietnam’s space journey and continues to deliver valuable Earth observation data for scientific and environmental applications.
Testimonial
"Our marketing partnership with I-Connect007 is already delivering. Just a day after our press release went live, we received a direct inquiry about our updated products!"
Rachael Temple - AlltematedSuggested Items
I-Connect007 Editor’s Choice: Five Must-Reads for the Week
08/29/2025 | Nolan Johnson, I-Connect007This week, we bring you Global Electronics Association’s Chris Mitchell’s government relations column on—you guessed it—trade deals. TTM is balancing its facilities between East and West. The Global Electronics Association released July numbers for North American PCB shipments, and the news is good. Meanwhile, the corresponding report for EMS might seem like bad news, but that’s misleading. Be sure to look deeper for the rest of the story. Finally, for a bit space-science palate cleansing, I’m sharing news of the latest launch of NASA’s X-37B.
Boeing-built X-37B Spaceplane Launches, Beginning Eighth Mission
08/26/2025 | BoeingThe Boeing-built X 37B Orbital Test Vehicle launched its eighth mission, lifting off aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 from Kennedy Space Center, Florida. The vehicle is healthy on orbit and proceeding with standard checkout.
TI Semiconductors Enable Advanced Earth-observation Capabilities of ISRO’s First-of-its-kind NISAR Mission
08/25/2025 | Texas InstrumentsTexas Instruments (TI) semiconductors are enabling the radar imaging and scientific exploration payloads for the NASA-Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) synthetic aperture radar (NISAR) satellite, which was recently launched into orbit.
Rocket Lab Announces Expanded U.S. Investments for National Security Programs and Semiconductor Manufacturing
08/25/2025 | BUSINESS WIRERocket Lab Corporation, a global leader in launch services and space systems, announced it is boosting its U.S. investments to expand semiconductor manufacturing capacity and provide supply chain security for space-grade solar cells and electro-optical sensors for national security space missions.
L3Harris Expands Florida Facility to Support America’s Golden Dome
08/22/2025 | L3Harris TechnologiesL3Harris Technologies has completed a $100 million expansion at its satellite integration and test facility in Palm Bay to support the Department of Defense’s (DOD) urgent need for on-orbit technology for the Golden Dome for America.