Editor’s note: These brief extracts are paraphrased from live webcast and may not be fully correct.

Watch a replay of this presentation:

    • It is time to share the benefits together. International partnership is already a great benefit. The partnership formed with the ISS agencies will last longer than the ISS will. Cooperation is much slower than competition, but more sustainable.
    • Problems were overcome together. The result today is worth the effort. This is the right time to hold the ISS symposium. We have an astronaut on the ISS. The Mars500 mission finished recently. We launched ATV-3 on 23 March.

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  • This symposium will focus on results and benefits. We are using the Space Station more and more for research. We are using the ISS as a platform for fast information on natural disasters and to track ships.
  • The ISS is a model for the future of humanity.
  • Exploring beyond planet Earth includes three stages: low Earth orbit, the Moon and Mars. ESA is developing plans to explore these destinations with space agency partners.
  • Everything we do in space is focused on planet Earth.
  • Space is not a cost — space is an investment. 750 jobs have been created by young entrepreneurs.
  • I am fully committed to ISS. Missions are our ‘raison d’etre’. We need to shorten the time between our missions. We need to say yes to the ISS, but we need to manage the ISS in view of a wider part of future exploration.