ESA has signed an agreement with the Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias (IAC), the organisation operating international observatories on the Canary Islands, to expand the role of their facilities in laser-based communication for space missions, as well as space debris monitoring. Seen left to right, Rolf Densing, ESA Director of Operations; Rafael Rebolo, Director of the IAC; Günther Hasinger, ESA Director of Science and Franco Ongaro, ESA Director of Technology, Engineering and Quality. The signing took place at ESTEC in Noordwijk, the Netherlands on 22 May 2019.