00:00 Science and technology is driving innovation, is driving economies.
00:03 We see it very well in China, but also in Europe.
00:06 We are really driving with a lot of innovation, a lot of projects.
00:09 And a lot is happening this year, 2024.
00:12 We have a number of satellite launches with international partners of ESA missions,
00:16 of the European Space Agency.
00:18 But one of the biggest milestones this year for us at ESA is the launch of Ariane 6,
00:23 which is the next generation of heavy launcher, which will launch in summer this year.
00:27 China just launched the Einstein probe, which is a fantastic satellite to look at the X-ray of our universe.
00:34 At ESA we have collaborated with China on the instrumentation.
00:39 There are two instruments on board, where we have really provided significant support together with our German partners.
00:45 And this, by the way, congratulations to China for its launch just a couple of days ago.
00:50 So now the satellite obviously is in calibration validation.
00:53 But also we have another mission where we work together with China, which is SMILE,
00:58 which is a mission where our scientists in ESTEC, which is our center in the Netherlands,
01:04 is just testing together with Chinese engineers the spacecraft, making it ready for launch.
01:11 Probably next year this is up to China to decide.
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