Today at the Grand Palais in Paris, President Paul Kagame joined fellow Heads of State and Government for the opening of the International Space Summit co-hosted by France and Germany. The Summit brings together global leaders and key stakeholders to advance dialogue and cooperation on the future of space, including the space economy, scientific exploration and the sustainable use of space.
The two-day gathering, running through September 10, convened nearly 120 foreign delegations and approximately 2,000 participants including ministers, space agency officials, scientists, astronauts and industry leaders.
The summit is organized by French President Emmanuel Macron and structured around four core priorities: security and sustainability in orbit, the growing global space economy, rules and governance, and scientific exploration ranging from low-Earth orbit to the Moon and Mars.
Macron has framed the gathering as a moment for shared governance of space, describing it as an opportunity to “bring Europeans together around a common ambition” and develop “a shared vision of Europe’s place on the map of global space powers by 2035.”
The timing reflects a strategic turning point for Europe’s space sector. Europe has historically invested 0.07% of GDP into space programmes compared with 0.24% by the US, but 2025 marked a watershed moment as the European Space Agency approved a record €22.3 billion budget for 2026–2028, with an additional €35 billion for space security and defence.
During the summit, more than 50 projects were signed involving partnerships between France and Germany, France and the United Arab Emirates, and major agreements with private companies including Loft Orbital, The Exploration Company and Amazon’s Ariane launches.
Ahead of the summit opening, Kagame met with UNESCO Director-General Khaled El-Enany on Wednesday to discuss Rwanda’s cooperation on education, science and technology, cultural heritage and the preservation of memory, building on Rwanda’s two UNESCO World Heritage sites inscribed in 2023.
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