Airbus, France & Vietnam Sign EO Satellite Agreement

Insider Brief

• Airbus Defence and Space, CNES, and Vietnam’s VAST have signed a new agreement to advance Earth observation capabilities in Vietnam, building on the decade-long success of the VNREDSat-1 program.
• The Declaration of Intent signed in Hanoi aims to support climate monitoring, disaster response, and resource management by developing next-generation satellite systems leveraging CO3D technologies and enhanced scientific collaboration.
• The partnership includes ongoing support for VNREDSat-1, exploration of a future satellite initiative, and a commitment to training and technology transfer to strengthen Vietnam’s sovereign space capabilities.

PRESS RELEASE – Airbus Defence and Space, the French Space Agency (CNES), and the Vietnam Academy of Science and Technology (VAST) have signed a Declaration of Intent (DoI) to strengthen their longstanding cooperation in the field of Earth observation, building on the success of the VNREDSat-1 space programme.

This agreement was signed in Hanoi in the presence of French President Emmanuel Macron and Vietnamese President Lương Cường, during an official visit to the country by the French Head of State. It reaffirms the three parties’ shared ambition to develop and implement the next generation of Earth observation satellite systems in support of Vietnam’s climate change mitigation, disaster monitoring, and natural resource management.

Airbus and VAST will pursue deeper technical cooperation to ensure the continued performance of VNREDSat-1, while jointly exploring a future programme, using advanced satellite technologies developed by CNES and Airbus under the CO3D constellation. The DoI also paves the way for comprehensive definition of a training and transfer of technologies solution as part of this programme.

Stéphane Vesval, Senior Vice President Sales Space Systems, Airbus Defence and Space said: “The renewed cooperation between Airbus, CNES and VAST reflects a clear dedication to long-term partnerships that build sovereign capabilities and deliver meaningful societal value. We are proud to continue supporting Vietnam’s vision of becoming a leading spacefaring nation in Southeast Asia, and we look forward to enabling the future evolution of the VNREDSat programme.”

As part of this broader collaboration, CNES and VAST intend to expand their scientific and technical exchange in areas such as Earth observation data  while exploring the development of targeted applications based on shared data sets, and supporting capacity-building programmes

The partnership continues the spirit of collaboration established with the launch of VNREDSat-1 by Airbus in 2013. The satellite, which has doubled its expected lifetime, under the operation of VAST, marked a major milestone in Vietnam’s space journey and continues to deliver valuable Earth observation data for scientific and environmental applications.