Within the framework of the twenty-third edition of the International Air and Space Fair, FIDAE, on Tuesday, April 9, took place the III version of the Space Summit, which represents a meeting point between the international, national and sectorial space community, along with the organizations involved in Chile’s National Space System.

The opening speech was delivered by the Commander-in-Chief of the Chilean Air Force (FACH), General Hugo Rodríguez González, who stated: “For the Chilean Air Force it is a challenge to organize FIDAE every two years, and an extraordinary opportunity to host this select Space Summit. In this occasion, the event has the wonderful participation of academics, scientists, political scientists and representatives from academic institutions and national and international space and science organizations.”

He also mentioned that “During this Summit we will attend presentations with papers and positions that cover topics as diverse as Remote Sensing, Space and Economic Technology, Satellite Communications and Space Exploration Opportunities, among other very interesting topics".

Among the authorities attending the event there were the President of FIDAE, Lieutenant General Máximo Venegas Raggio, Space Director Luis Sáez Collantes, the Chief of General Staff, Lieutenant General Leonardo Romanini Gutiérrez, and the Congressman and President of the Defense Committee of the Chamber of Congressmen and Congresswomen, Francisco Undurraga; Italy Ambassador Valeria Biagiotti; the Governor of the Magallanes Region, Jorge Flíes; the Governor of the O'Higgins Region, Pablo Silva, and the Governor of the Bio-Bío Region, Rodrigo Díaz, among other authorities.

After General Rodriguez’s speech, the defense minister Maya Fernández Allende, highlighted that: “The development of technology has been exponential during the last decades. The space capabilities that a nation can create, can’t be achieved by improvising, nor does it happen spontaneously as a natural consequence of the development achieved. It is necessary to generate and execute long-term plans and that resist the ups and downs of the economy and political alternation, and that express the national will to achieve collective development.”

The objective of this Space Summit is to exhibit, learn, analyze, and discuss the new challenges, problems, and solutions in an ever-changing world, from the aerospace perspective that today is part of the agenda of our country”.