French President Emmanuel Macron (centre right), French European Space Agency astronaut Thomas Pesquet (centre) and Greece’s Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis (centre left) pose with aerospace professionals during the International Space Summit at the Grand Palais in Paris, on September 9, 2026.
| Photo Credit: AP
The two-day International Space Summit got underway in Paris on Wednesday (September 9, 2026) in the presence of French President Emmanuel Macron.Mr. Macron said that the summit will see the participation of 90 countries, and more than 50 projects are expected to be signed, bringing in billions of investments.“This space summit is a unique opportunity for all. More than 50 projects are expected to be signed during the summit. Projects between France and Germany and France and the UAE will be signed. There will be a lot of big investments. We also confirm the Infrastructure for Resilience, Interconnectivity and Security by Satellite (IRIS²), which is a very important big programme for us in Europe. We will have a series of meetings, common investments, common programmes and partnerships to strengthen European space,” Mr. Macron said. Greek astronaut Adrianos Golemis, a flight surgeon, was announced as the first astronaut from Greece to embark on a private mission to the International Space Station (ISS).
