Does the desire to send humans back to the moon mean the return of space conquest?
It is above all the idea of a great exploration, because we come from a 50-year journey through the desert. The American Artemis program, whose goal is to put a crew on the moon by 2025, marks the return of this phase of the expedition. We should therefore occupy our satellite for fifty years and hope to have a base established on Mars by the year 2100.
Is the ideological competition of the Cold War giving way to greater cooperation between space powers?
The scenario is increasingly turning towards international cooperation, even if this spirit already existed during the Cold War. As evidenced by Apollo-Soyuz in 1975, this was the first joint space mission by the Soviet Union and the United States. The participating astronauts and cosmonauts continue to see each other. Also since the beginning
When building the International Space Station (ISS in 1998), NASA worked largely with the Russian space agency Roscosmos. Despite the war in Ukraine, cooperation continues to work, perhaps a little less easily than before. But one day things will calm down. It is desirable that Gateway, the future ministation orbiting the Moon, be international. The European Space Agency as well as the Canadians and Japanese will likely be involved.
Is the systemic rivalry between China and the United States likely to give way to greater space cooperation?
So far there are no connections between NASA and China. And setting up the scarecrow of a communist country to not initiate cooperation has always been a strong argument for Americans. Nevertheless, we can imagine that China will be part of the first mission to Mars. Especially since the American-Chinese rivalry is primarily theatrical in nature
makes it possible to satisfy part of public opinion. I think things will become more flexible and China will become a partner. The Western world has an interest in this because otherwise it would find itself in the minority. We don’t have the strength, volume or influence of 50 years ago.
The failure of the LUNA 25 program, the Russian lunar probe that was supposed to reach the southern side of the moon, did not go unnoticed. Does Russia want to show that it is not giving up?
The Russians had all the skills to put this machine on the moon, and in the case of LUNA 25, it is certain that a small event became a major event and led to this failure. Obviously, space is no longer a priority for Russia as it has other problems to solve. Since there are no major announcements on the moon, Moscow still retains its competence in the ISS.
After the success of its mission to the Moon, India will launch a satellite to study the Sun. Is this the beginning of a new era?
It is encouraging that one country after another is following this model. It is a form of moral justification of the virtues of our desire to explore space. There are great minds in India who have the perfect skills to carry out these missions. As in medicine and artificial intelligence, Indians work discreetly.
And France is now fully connected to Europe, although it still has its Guyanese space center in Kourou.
Everything France does in the space sector is now primarily the responsibility of the European Space Agency. We didn’t just think from a French-French perspective. France was able to gain altitude and that’s a good thing.
Aerospace has historically been dominated by the military sector. So what influence do new, very powerful private players like SpaceX have in the US?
Private groups do not operate for the same reasons as space agencies. Some simply suggest that billionaires fly into orbit around the Earth. Others plan to go to the southern phase of the moon to dig for minerals. That far west side is going to be a problem. It is therefore high time that countries provide aerial surveillance resources to regulate the private sector.
The question also arises for satellites, of which several thousand will be deployed in the coming years, particularly by private groups such as Amazon and SpaceX…
Above all, there is a commercial problem. Putting satellites into low orbit is technically equivalent to deploying 5G antennas on land. These satellites pose a problem because if one satellite collides with another, a chain reaction could occur, even if there were no human consequences. There are too many satellites.
Do you still live in the United States today?
I plan to come back next year and settle in Morlaix. And I still work in Houston, at a company run by NASA that runs a medical space program and models medical procedures on an ultrasound system using artificial intelligence and virtual reality. Space remains my motivation. And I also give conferences focused on the future of space. Because young people are attracted to heights. For them, it is a refuge that allows them to escape the problems of platitude.