On April 10, 2017, Naoki Okumura, President of JAXA and Jean-Yves LE GALL, President of CNES, the Centre National d'Etudes Spatiales made an Implementing Arrangement on MMX, Martian Moons Exploration. This Implementing Arrangement confers JAXA and CNES the platform for collaboration. In the Agreement, JAXA expects CNES to share technical expertise and to render assistance in the following three research topics for MMX reseach and development phase;
- Near-infrared Spectrometer (MacrOmega)
- Flight Dynamics
- Feasibility of the Small Lander to be equipped
The Arrangement is based on the Inter-Agency Agreementbetween JAXA and CNES Concerning the Cooperation in the Field of Space Programmes, signed on October 5, 2015.
The signing ceremony of the MMX Implementing Arrangement was held in JAXA Tokyo Office in the presence of Masaaki Tanaka, Director-General of the Research and Development Bureau, Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology（MEXT）and Paul-Bertrand Barets, Minister, Embassy of France in Japan.
JAXA President Naoki Okumura (right) and CNES President Jean-Yves LE GALL (left) shake hands after the signing ceremony.
