Luxembourg celebrates 20 years of ESA membership
Government leaders, ESA representatives, researchers, engineers and space industry executives gathered for a special double anniversary last week: Luxembourg's 20 years of European Space Agency membership and ESA's own 50th birthday.
The Minister of the Economy, SMEs, Energy and Tourism, Lex Delles, attended the celebration at the Kinepolis Kirchberg in Luxembourg City on 5 June 2025, along with more than 750 people and many distinguished guests. Participants also watched the attempted Moon landing of the iSpace M2 mission, which carried the Tenacious rover developed in Luxembourg.
In his speech, Lex Delles highlighted how Luxembourg's space sector has grown remarkably over the past decade, becoming a thriving hub of innovation and entrepreneurship. He said, "Luxembourg's collaboration with ESA has been instrumental in the development of our sector, and I would like to thank ESA for its support and contribution. I am convinced that continuing our partnership will lead to even greater results in the future."
He also outlined his vision for the sector's future, "Europe must strengthen its space leadership through innovation for the benefit of citizens and collective security. By aligning civil and military technologies through a dual-use policy and promoting collaboration, we are boosting competitiveness and ensuring that Europe has a leading role in global space innovation."
The celebration received supportive messages from Luxembourg's Prime Minister Luc Frieden and ESA Director General Josef Aschbacher, after which a panel reflecting on the last 20 years of collaboration with ESA brought together space figures such as former ESA Director General Jean-Jacques Dordain, Chairman of the HITEC Luxembourg Advisory Board Yves Elsen, ESA Director of Commercialisation, Industry and Procurement Geraldine Naja and CEO of the Luxembourg Space Agency Marc Serres.
The agreement for accession of the Grand Duchy to the ESA Convention was signed on 6 May 2004 and, following its ratification, Luxembourg became ESA's 17th Member State on 30 June 2005.