Dr. Salvador Landeros Ayala, who served as the general director of the Mexican Space Agency (AEM), submitted his resignation on January 24. This was communicated through a letter addressed to President Claudia Sheinbaum Pardo. In his letter, Landeros not only announced his departure from the position but also shared the news that the AEM, the body responsible for coordinating Mexico's space activities, will disappear.
The decision to close the agency is based on the lack of recognition of its importance, both budgetarily and administratively. The AEM was supposed to function as the integrating and coordinating entity for Mexico's space activities. The authenticity of the resignation letter and the verbal confirmation regarding the agency's disappearance were validated by internal sources from the AEM in information provided to Aristegui Noticias.
In his resignation statement, Landeros expressed regret for not having succeeded in conveying the relevance of the AEM for the scientific, technological, and educational development of the country, both to the president and to the head of the Digital Transformation and Telecommunications Agency, José Antonio Peña Merino. The director expressed his dissatisfaction with the decision to eliminate the agency, considering it an unfortunate measure due to the effort dedicated to its creation by the academic, scientific, and technological community, as well as by the Congress of the Union.
Landeros highlighted the fundamental role played by the AEM since its establishment, especially in areas such as telecommunications, agriculture, disaster management, security, climate change, infrastructure, urban development, cartography, and space exploration. Despite operating with limited budgets, the agency managed to establish itself nationally and internationally, making its disappearance even more lamentable.
