Leading the way in supporting space exploration, Luxembourg is the first European state with a legal framework on the use of space resources and comes only second in the world in doing so, after the United States.

The Chamber of Deputies is soon to vote on the draft law dedicated to the appropriation of space resources, which follows international law and the Outer Space Treaty.

"We want to be first movers and we are now talking to many governments to continue the discussion on a legal framework for space exploration at a UN level," stated Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy Etienne Schneider while visiting Luxembourg's Science Centre in Differdange to launch Asteroid Day on June 30.

Credited for supporting the Asteroid Day live streaming to take place from Luxembourg this year, on the day of the event Etienne Schneider also shared his ambitious vision to make Luxembourg one of the biggest world players for the extraction of space resources, attracting private investors and experts.

Deputy Minister and Minister of Economy Etienne Schneider discussed Luxembourg's future as global "space hub" with Particle Physicist Brian Cox, Law Advisor and Professor Jean-Louis Schiltz,Space Law Professor Frans Von Der Dunk, and Kyle Acierno, Managing Director of ispace Europe.

"The potential of space exploration is huge and the question is not if, but rather when we will be able to exploit more space resources," he argued.

Participating in discussions that were live streamed from Luxembourg for Asteroid Day, he went on to say "there is business activity, that's why we put infrastructure in place and want to have a venture capital fund to support start-ups active in this field".

Also attending the event was the Apollo 9 astronaut and co-founder of Association of Space Explorers, Rusty Schweickart, who spoke to Luxemburger Wort.

"Once we will be able to extract resources from asteroids, this will change the whole concept of economy" he said, outlining that asteroids contain water, can be seen as "gas stations" and are made of several metals worth extracting".

Hailed as a "new economy, in a new place" by particle physicist Brian Cox , space resources have been part of the Luxembourg government's focus for a long time. Schweickart goes on to explain that "Luxembourg has been very creative in thinking outside the box in terms of supporting space exploration and mining".

And it seems that Luxembourg's efforts to lead the way and position the Grand Duchy as a global hub have started to pay off.

"We are here today due to Luxembourg's commitment and willingness to support causes such as Asteroid Day," Danica Remy, co-founder of Asteroid Day, said. "We are incredibly grateful for Luxembourg's help to tell the story of asteroids."

Held on June 30 each year to mark Earths largest asteroid impact in recorded history, Asteroid Day is a global movement aimed at raising awareness about asteroids among the general public.

The event also brings together leading figures in space exploration and research and this year saw the participation of American NASA astronauts, Ed Lu and Nicole Stott, Romanian astronaut, Dumitru Prunariu, French planetary scientist, Patrick Michel, as well as Ian Carnelli, General Studies Programme Manager at the European Agency among many others.

"Bringing Asteroid Day in Luxembourg fits with our strategy," Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy Etienne Schneider explained. "You might see asteroid as a threat, but we see opportunity and huge value for the human kind."

Looking towards the future, he pointed out that "although these initiatives sound like science-fiction today, in 10-15 years, this will no longer be the case.

"We want to create this interesting community of space exploration," Schneider concluded.

(Roxana Mironescu, roxana.mironescu@wort.lu,+325 49 93 748)

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Making Luxembourg a global space hub - Luxemburger Wort - English Edition