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ESA ARGONAUT PRESS CONFERENCE, Nov 20, 2025, Cologne, Germany/online, 4:00 am ET
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ESA and Thales Alenia Space will hold a press conference on November 20, 2025 at 10:00 Central European Time (CET, which is 4:00 am Eastern Standard Time) at the European Astronaut Centre in Cologne, Germany following the signing of contracts between Thales Alenia Space Italy, UK and France, OHB system AG (Germany), and Nammo (UK) for ESA’s Argonaut lunar lander program.
The press conference will be livestreamed.
Participants are:
- Daniel Neuenschwander, Director for Human Spaceflight and Robotics, ESA
- Sara Pastor, Lunar Projects Group Leader, ESA
- Giampiero di Paolo, Senior Vice President Observation, Exploration and Navigation Domain & CEO of Thales Alenia Space Italy
- Richard Thorburn, CEO of Thales Alenia Space UK
- Chiara Pedersoli, CEO OHB System AG
- Yvan Baillion, Director of European Business at Thales Alenia Space France
- Roberto Angelini, Head of the Domain Exploration and Science Thales Alenia Space Italy
- Rob Selby, Vice President of Nammo Space
More information is in the ESA press release, which says:
About Argonaut
The European Space Agency (ESA) lunar lander programme, Argonaut, represents Europe’s autonomous, versatile and reliable access to the Moon.
The programme is a key part of ESA’s lunar strategy and will support future robotic and crewed missions, contributing to international efforts to establish a long-term human presence on the Moon.
Argonaut will play a key role in international lunar exploration, supporting NASA’s Artemis programme while providing Europe with independent access to the Moon. As part of ESA’s Explore2040 strategy, Argonaut is a fully European project designed to be flexible and resilient to changes in evolving global exploration efforts while contributing to Europe’s vision for lunar exploration.
Argonaut can transport a variety of cargo, including vital resources for astronauts such as food, water and air, as well as rovers, science instruments, and infrastructures for communication and power generation.