Pedro Duque, Minister for Science and Innovation, candidate to Directorate-General of European Space Agency

Thursday 30 July 2020

The Minister for Science and Innovation, Pedro Duque, will be a candidate to the Directorate-General of the European Space Agency (ESA) - an intergovernmental organisation engaged in the research and development of space programmes, which pools the economic and intellectual resources of its 22 members to implement space programmes and activities.

The minister, Pedro Duque, has formalised his candidature to run this body, which he been a member of since 1992, after passing the tests to become an astronaut. Subsequently, and before he joined the government, he practised his whole professional career at this European agency and in the sector industry, holding several positions of responsibility.

The government considers that it would be an honour for a Spaniard to run the European Space Agency for the first time. This candidature is in line with this government's decisive commitment to science and innovation as pillars of the economic reconstruction of our country and of Europe as a whole.

Non official translation