The handover ceremony was attended by Professor and Academician Le Truong Giang, Vice President of VAST; Olivier Brochet, French Ambassador to Viet Nam; and Stéphane Vesval, Senior Vice President and Head of Satellite Systems at Airbus. The event occurred in the presence of Vietnamese President Luong Cuong and French President Emmanuel Macron.
According to VAST, the cooperation agreement confirms the parties' readiness to deepen their collaboration in developing a new generation of satellites for Viet Nam. This includes technological solutions, human resource training, and shared applications to support sustainable development. The partnership builds on the success of the VNREDSat-1 satellite project – a landmark in high-tech cooperation between Viet Nam and France.
Designed and successfully launched by Airbus in 2013, VNREDSat-1 is Viet Nam’s first Earth observation satellite. Now operated by VAST, it has delivered more than 170,000 remote sensing images, effectively supporting disaster monitoring, climate change, territorial planning, and natural resource management.
Building on this foundation, the parties agreed to jointly develop the next satellite, leveraging VNREDSat-1’s operational experience and advanced technology within multilateral cooperation frameworks such as the CO3D programme and the Space for Climate Observatory (SCO), led by CNES with the participation of major space agencies including NASA and JAXA.
On the same day, at VAST headquarters, Professor and Academician Le Truong Giang received Stéphane Vesval to discuss the technical status of VNREDSat-1 and implementation plans for the newly signed cooperation agreement as well as Airbus’ support for the University of Science and Technology of Hanoi (under VAST) in developing an aerospace engineering training programme under the European standards.
The cooperation between VAST, CNES and Airbus proves a comprehensive strategy from research and design to the development of high-quality human resources in advanced technologies for Viet Nam. This contributes practically to the implementation of the Viet Nam–France Action Plan for the 2024–2028 period and to the realisation of the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership of the two countries.
