N° 10–2024: Media invitation: Press conference on future Moon Mission control centre

On Wednesday, 13 March 2024, 14:45 hrs CET, the press-public signing of a Letter of Intent by ESA, DLR (German Aerospace Center) and the Free State of Bavaria (DE) is planned for a future Moon Mission control Centre (“Moon Mission control centre”) at the Oberpfaffenhofen site, close to Munich. The Bavarian Prime Minister Dr. Markus Söder, ESA Director General Dr. Josef Aschbacher and DLR CEO Prof. Dr.- Ing. Anke Kayser-Pyzalla will give press statements and answer questions right afterwards. The press briefing will take place at the Bavarian State Chancellery in Munich, in German language.

For over 20 years, ESA has been engaged at the DLR site in Oberpfaffenhofen (“GSOC”) with leading operations experts for the Columbus research laboratory which today represents Europe’s most important contribution to the International Space Station ISS. In this laboratory, numerous experiments are being carried out by ESA astronauts and astronauts of ISS partner countries. The new centre shall play an important role in preparing for and operating upcoming lunar missions, for ESA to contribute to NASA’s Artemis programme and to the “Lunar Gateway”, respectively.

More on Human Spaceflight and Robotic Exploration at ESA: www.esa.int/hre/@esaspaceflight

More detailed press briefings will follow within the next few days.

Date and location: 

Wednesday, March 13, 2024, from 14.45 pm

Bavarian State Chancellery
Foyer of the Prince Carl Palais
Franz-Josef-Strauß-Ring 5
80539 Munich, Germany 
(Access via Von-der-Thann-Straße)

Individual interviews can take place following the press conference, also in English, in Italian – and in German. Related remote interview requests can be considered as well.

Registration for the media

For organizational reasons, prior accreditation until 12 March is mandatory for participation (Email: medienbetreuung@stk.bayern.de).

The press conference in German will be broadcasted as a live stream, among others via www.bayern.de, on YouTube (youtube.com/bayern) and Facebook (facebook.com/bayern). The video can later be accessed via youtube.com/bayern.

Press contacts for further information

ESA: bernhard.von.weyhe@esa.int – ESA Media relations (on site in Munich)

DLR: falk.dambowsky@dlr.de DLR Media and Communication

Bavarian State Chancellery: Boris.Niklas@stk.bayern.de, Press Department

About the European Space Agency

The European Space Agency (ESA) provides Europe’s gateway to space.

ESA is an intergovernmental organisation, created in 1975, with the mission to shape the development of Europe’s space capability and ensure that investment in space delivers benefits to the citizens of Europe and the world.

ESA has 22 Member States: Austria, Belgium, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom. Latvia, Lithuania, Slovakia and Slovenia are Associate Members.

ESA has established formal cooperation with four Member States of the EU. Canada takes part in some ESA programmes under a Cooperation Agreement.

By coordinating the financial and intellectual resources of its members, ESA can undertake programmes and activities far beyond the scope of any single European country. It is working in particular with the EU on implementing the Galileo and Copernicus programmes as well as with Eumetsat for the development of meteorological missions.

Learn more about ESA at www.esa.int