Enlargement of the European Space Agency

The European Space Agency (ESA) was founded in 1975 when the European Space Research Organisation (ESRO) merged with the European Launcher Development Organisation (ELDO). The ESA Convention was signed by the ESRO and ELDO members on 30 May 1975 and by Ireland on 31 December 1975. Canada signed a Cooperation Agreement on 9 December 1978. The Convention entered into force on 30 October 1980 after the ratification procedures in the 10 ESRO/ELDO members were finalised.

ESA member states, CA and ECA states:

  ESA member states

  ECS states

  Signed Cooperation Agreement

  Associated states

Current membership

The current membership of the European Space Agency includes 22 member states, four associate members and one cooperating state:

State	Cooperation Agreement	ECS Agreement	PECS Charter	ESA Convention signature	Ratification[1]	National Program
Austria	1979 for associate membership			12 April 1984[2]	30 December 1986	FFG
Belgium	ESA Founding member			30 May 1975	3 October 1978	BELSPO
Canada [3]	9 December 1978[4] January 1984 May 1989 January 2000 15 December 2010[5]					CSA
Czech Republic	1996	24 November 2003	24 November 2004	8 July 2008[6]	12 August 2008	through MoT
Denmark	ESA Founding member			30 May 1975	15 September 1977	DTU Space
Estonia	20 June 2007[7]	10 November 2009[8]	22 September 2010[9]	4 February 2015	1 September 2015[10]	ESO
Finland	1987 for associate membership			22 March 1994[11]	1 January 1995	through MoEAE
France	ESA Founding member			30 May 1975	30 October 1980	CNES
Germany	ESA Founding member			30 May 1975	26 July 1977	DLR
Greece	January 2001	N/A	N/A	19 July 2004[12]	9 March 2005	HSC
Hungary	April 1991[13][14]	7 April 2003[15]	1st: 5 November 2003[16] 2nd: 26 September 2008[17] 3rd: 17 October 2013[18]	24 February 2015	4 November 2015[19]	HSO
Ireland [20]	ESA Founding member			31 December 1975	10 December 1980	Enterprise Ireland
Italy	ESA Founding member			30 May 1975	20 February 1978	ASI
Latvia	23 July 2009[21]	19 March 2013[22]	30 January 2015[23]	30 June 2020[24]	9 July 2020[24][25]	LSO
Lithuania	7 October 2010[26]	7 October 2014[27]	28 September 2015[28]	28 April 2021[28]	20 May 2021[28]	LSO
Luxembourg	September 2000	N/A	N/A	6 May 2004[29]	30 June 2005	LSA
Netherlands	ESA Founding member			30 May 1975	6 February 1979	NSO
Norway	1981 for associate membership			12 December 1985[30]	30 December 1986	NSA
Poland	28 January 1994[31]	27 April 2007[32]	28 April 2008[33]	13 September 2012[34]	19 November 2012	POLSA
Portugal	1996	N/A	N/A	4 October 2000[35]	14 November 2000	PT Space
Romania	December 1992[31][36]	17 February 2006[36]	16 February 2007[37]	20 January 2011[38]	22 December 2011	ROSA
Slovakia	28 April 2010[39]	16 February 2015[40]	4 February 2016[41]	14 June 2022[41]	12 October 2022[41]	SSO
Slovenia	28 May 2008[42]	22 January 2010[43]	30 November 2010[44]	5 July 2016[45]	1 December 2016[46]	through MoHEST
Spain	ESA Founding member			30 May 1975	7 February 1979	AEE
Sweden	ESA Founding member			30 May 1975	6 April 1976	SNSA
Switzerland	ESA Founding member			30 May 1975	19 November 1976	SSO
United Kingdom	ESA Founding member			30 May 1975	28 March 1978	UKSA

Associate members

The ESA Convention does not require acquisition of the status of an associate member in order for a state to become a full member. The association status is envisaged to allow associate member states to take part in ESA's deliberative bodies and decision-making and also in ESA's programmes and activities. Associate member state firms can bid for and receive contracts to work on programmes. The accord has a provision ensuring a fair industrial return to the associate members.^[47]

Previously, associate members were Austria, Norway and Finland (through its Ministry of Trade and Industry^[48]), all of which later joined ESA as full members.^[49] Portugal, Greece and Luxembourg skipped associate membership and moved from Cooperation Agreements to full ESA membership. The Czech Republic also skipped associate membership, but it went through the new enlargement process via Cooperation Agreement, ECS Agreement and PECS Charter implementation.

Currently there are four associate members: Latvia, Lithuania and Slovakia and Slovenia.^{[24][28][41][45]}

Despite that the provisions in the ESA Convention do not show restrictions that only European states can join,^[50] the ESA Council implements such rule de facto and that is why Canada has only the status of a cooperating state.^[3] However, it is as tightly integrated with the ESA institutions as possible for a non-member state.

The ELDO associate member Australia (CSIRO) decided not to continue as an associate member of ESA. Nevertheless, on 5 March 2003 the first of ESA's deep space ground stations in the world opened in Western Australia in an inauguration ceremony.^[51]

Enlargement

  ESA member countries

  2nd stage: ECS states

  1st stage: signed Cooperation Agreement

  Observer state negotiating cooperation agreement

  ESA associate members

After the decision of the ESA Council of 21/22 March 2001 the procedure for accession of the European states was detailed as described here.^[52] Nations who want to become a full member of ESA do so in 3 stages. First a Cooperation Agreement is signed between the country and ESA. In this stage the country has very limited financial responsibilities. If a country wants to cooperate more fully with ESA it signs a European Cooperating State (ECS) agreement.

The ECS Agreement makes companies based in the country eligible for participation in ESA procurements. The country can also participate in all ESA programmes, except for the Basic Technology Research Programme. While the financial contribution of the country concerned increases, it is still much lower than that of a full member state. The agreement is normally followed by a Plan for European Cooperating State (or PECS Charter).

This is a 5-year program of basic research and development activities aimed at improving the nations' space industry capacity. At the end of the 5-year period, the country can either begin negotiations to become a full member state or an associated state or sign a new PECS Charter.^[53] ESA is likely to expand quite rapidly in the coming years. Many countries, most of which joined the EU in both 2004 and 2007, have started to cooperate with ESA on various levels.

Progress of all the states that have taken or are taking part in the enlargement process

Applicant state	Cooperation Agreement	ECS Agreement	PECS Charter	ESA Convention signature	Full Membership[1]	National Program
Austria	1979 for associate membership			12 April 1984	30 December 1986	FFG
Norway	1981 for associate membership			12 December 1985	30 December 1986	NSA
Finland	1987 for associate membership			22 March 1994	1 January 1995	through MoEAE
Portugal	1996	NA	NA	4 October 2000	14 November 2000	PT Space
Greece	January 2001	NA	NA	19 July 2004	9 March 2005	HSC
Luxembourg	September 2000	NA	NA	6 May 2004	30 June 2005	LSA
Czechia	1996	24 November 2003	24 November 2004	8 July 2008	12 August 2008	through MoT
Romania	December 1992	17 February 2006	16 February 2007	20 January 2011	23 December 2011	ROSA
Poland	28 January 1994	27 April 2007	28 April 2008	13 September 2012	19 November 2012	POLSA
Estonia	20 June 2007	10 November 2009	22 September 2010	4 February 2015	1 September 2015	ESO
Hungary	April 1991	7 April 2003	1st: 5 November 2003 2nd: 26 September 2008 3rd: 17 October 2013	24 February 2015	4 November 2015	HSO
Slovenia	28 May 2008	22 January 2010	30 November 2010	5 July 2016	1 December 2016	through MoHEST
Latvia	23 July 2009	19 March 2013	30 January 2015	30 June 2020	27 July 2020	LSO
Lithuania	7 October 2010	7 October 2014	28 September 2015	28 April 2021	21 May 2021	LSO
Slovakia	28 April 2010	16 February 2015	4 February 2016	14 June 2022	13 October 2022	SSO
Bulgaria	NA	8 April 2015[54]	4 February 2016[55]			SRTI
Cyprus	27 August 2009[56]	6 July 2016[57]	2017[58]			through MoCW
Croatia	19 February 2018[59]	23 March 2023[60]	16 August 2023[61]			through MoSE
Turkey	15 July 2004[62]					TUA
Ukraine	25 January 2008[63]					SSAU
Israel	30 January 2011[64]					ISA
Malta	20 February 2012[65]					MCST[66]

Possible future cooperation

The political perspective of the European Union (EU) had been to make ESA an agency of the EU by 2014,^[67] however, this date was not met. The EU is already the largest single donor to ESA's budget and non-ESA EU states are observers at ESA.

Three non-EU nations — Israel, Turkey and Ukraine — have cooperation agreements with ESA. Agency officials consider the prospects of full membership for these three countries as remote at the current time.^[when?]

However, ESA ministers instructed agency officials to begin discussions with Australia, Israel and South Africa on future association agreements with ESA. The ministers noted that “concrete cooperation is at an advanced stage” with these nations and that “prospects for mutual benefits are existing”.^[68]

Besides EU countries, the EFTA members Norway and Switzerland are also members of ESA. Neither the remaining EFTA member states of Iceland and Liechtenstein nor the EU candidates not listed above have publicly expressed their intention to participate in the European Space Agency's activities.

In 2016, certain ESA programs were extended to Eastern Partnership member states. Armenia, Georgia and Moldova joined the ESA's Earth Observation for Eastern Partnership initiative. This move brought new perspectives to develop cooperation between the ESA and Eastern European countries. The project aims to achieve an increase in the uptake of satellite-based environmental information, while promoting regional cooperation and knowledge exchange.^[69][70]

See also

• Spaceflight portal

• European Launcher Development Organisation (ELDO)
• European Space Agency (ESA)
• European Space Research Organisation (ESRO)

References

1. "ESA Convention / Law at ESA / About Us / ESA". Esa.int. 2014-02-07. Retrieved 2016-02-11.
2. "BUNDESGESETZBLATT FÜR DIE REPUBLIK ÖSTERREICH" (PDF). Esa.int. Retrieved 2016-02-11.
3. Lydia Dotto. "Canada and The European Space Agency Three Decades of Cooperation" (PDF). Esa.int. Retrieved 2016-02-11.
4. "Canada and ESA: 20 Years of Cooperation" (PDF). Esa.int. Retrieved 2016-02-11.
5. media, Government of Canada, Canadian Space Agency, Directions of communications, Information services and new. "Cooperation Agreement between Canada and the European Space Agency (ESA)". Canadian Space Agency website. Retrieved 2018-02-20.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
6. "Rozeslána dne 6. října 2009" (PDF). Esa.int. Retrieved 2016-02-11.
7. "Estonia signs Cooperation Agreement with ESA". European Space Agency. 26 June 2007. Retrieved 6 September 2014.
8. "Estonia becomes fifth ESA European Cooperating State". European Space Agency. 12 November 2009. Retrieved 6 September 2014.
9. "Dozen Estonian companies to create solutions for European Space Agency". Estonian Investment Agency. 22 September 2010. Retrieved 2 July 2014.
10. "Estonia is a full member of ESA starting from 1st of September 2015 | Estonian Space Office". Eas.ee. Retrieved 2016-02-11.
11. "Asetus Suomen liittymisestä Euroopan avaruusjarjestöa koskevaan yleissopimukseen ja sen liitannaisehtoihin tehdyn sopimuksen voimaansaattamisesta" (PDF). Esa.int. Retrieved 2016-02-11.
12. "Hellenic Republic : Ratification" (PDF). Esa.int. Retrieved 2016-02-11.
13. "Hungary and ESA sign PECS Agreement for another five years". European Space Agency. 11 November 2008. Archived from the original on 9 February 2010.
14. "ESA/Poland cooperation agreement" (Press release). European Space Agency. 28 January 1994. Retrieved 6 September 2014.
15. "Agreements 2003" (PDF). ESA Annual Report 2003. European Space Agency. pp. 112–113.
16. "Hungary and the Czech Republic sign ECS agreements with ESA". European Space Agency. 4 December 2003. Retrieved 6 September 2014.
17. "Hungary and ESA sign PECS Agreement for another five years". European Space Agency. 11 November 2008. Retrieved 30 January 2013.
18. "Extension of ECS Agreement between ESA and Hungary". National Innovation Office. 11 November 2008. Archived from the original on 9 March 2014. Retrieved 21 October 2013.
19. "Hungary becomes ESA's 22nd Member State / Welcome to ESA / About Us / ESA". Esa.int. Retrieved 2016-02-11.
20. Ireland is considered initial signatory, but since it was not member of neither ESRO nor ELDO (the precursor organisations to ESA) the convention entered into force when the last of the other 10 founders ratified it.
21. "Līgums ar Kosmosa aģentūru liks tiekties pēc augstākiem rezultātiem". Diena.lv (in Latvian). 23 July 2009. Retrieved 24 July 2009.
22. "Latvia becomes seventh ESA European Cooperating State". esa.int. ESA. Retrieved 19 March 2013.
23. "Signature of the PECS Charter between ESA and Latvia". ESA. 31 January 2015. Retrieved 31 January 2015.
24. "Latvia becomes ESA Associate Member State". www.esa.int. Retrieved 2022-10-14.
25. "Saeima ratificē līgumu par asociētās dalībvalsts statusu Eiropas Kosmosa aģentūrā" [The Saeima ratifies the European Space Agency Associated Member State treaty]. www.lsm.lv (in Latvian). 2020-07-09. Retrieved 2020-07-09.
26. "Lithuania signs Cooperation Agreement". www.esa.int. Retrieved 2022-10-14.
27. "Lithuania becomes eighth ESA European Cooperating State". www.esa.int. Retrieved 2022-10-14.
28. "Lithuania becomes ESA Associate Member state". www.esa.int. Retrieved 2022-10-14.
29. "RECUEIL DE LEGISLATION A –– N° 79" (PDF). Esa.int. 2005-06-17. Retrieved 2016-02-11.
30. "St.prp. nr. 8 (1986-87)" (PDF). Esa.int. Retrieved 2016-02-11.
31. "ESA/Poland cooperation agreement" (Press release). European Space Agency. 28 January 1994.
32. "Poland becomes the fourth ESA European Cooperating State". European Space Agency. 4 May 2007.
33. "Poland and ESA sign the Plan for European Cooperating State". European Space Agency. 5 May 2008. Retrieved 2022-11-24.
34. "Agreement Between the European Space Agency and the Government of the Republic of Poland" (PDF). Esa.int. Retrieved 2016-02-11.
35. "Decreto do Presidente da República n.o 42/2000" (PDF). Esa.int. Retrieved 2016-02-11.
36. "Romania becomes third ESA European Cooperating State". European Space Agency. 27 February 2006. Retrieved 2008-07-17.
37. "Romania". ESA PECS. European Space Agency. Archived from the original on 2008-07-16. Retrieved 2008-07-17.
38. "Monitorul Oficial al Romaniei" (PDF). Esa.int. Retrieved 2016-02-11.
39. "Slovak Republic signs Cooperation Agreement". www.esa.int. Retrieved 2022-10-14.
40. "Slovakia becomes ninth ESA European Cooperating State". www.esa.int. Retrieved 2022-10-14.
41. "Slovakia becomes ESA Associate Member state". www.esa.int. Retrieved 2022-10-14.
42. "Slovenian Government and ESA Sign Cooperation Agreement". Slovenian Government Communication Office. 28 May 2008. Archived from the original on 8 June 2008.
43. "Slovenia becomes sixth ESA European Cooperating State". ESA. 25 January 2010. Retrieved 6 September 2014.
44. "European Space Agency selects and confirms ten Slovenian proposals". Ministry of Higher Education, Science and Technology of Slovenia. 3 December 2010. Archived from the original on 10 May 2011. Retrieved 6 December 2010.
45. "Slovenia signs Association Agreement". www.esa.int. Retrieved 2022-10-14.
46. "ESA Director General visits Slovenia". Retrieved 2018-02-20.
47. "ESA and Canada renew cooperation agreement, building on long-term partnership / Press Releases / For Media / ESA". Esa.int. Retrieved 2016-02-11.
48. "FINLAND BECOMES 14TH MEMBER OF EUROPEAN SPACE AGENCY". Archived from the original on November 3, 2012. Retrieved September 12, 2009.
49. "Enlarging ESA?" (PDF). Esa.int. Retrieved 2016-02-11.
50. "Convention of the European Space Agency" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on November 22, 2010. Retrieved September 12, 2009.
51. "ESA's first deep space ground station opens in Western Australia / Welcome to ESA / About Us / ESA". Esa.int. 2003-03-05. Retrieved 2016-02-11.
52. "Plan for European Cooperating States Overview". ESA. Retrieved November 24, 2022.
53. "General Overview". Archived from the original on May 23, 2009. Retrieved September 12, 2009.
54. "Bulgaria becomes tenth ESA European Cooperating State". Esa.int. Retrieved 2016-02-11.
55. "Bulgaria signs PECS Charter". www.mi.government.bg. 4 February 2016. Retrieved 2016-02-04.
56. "Cyprus signs space agreement". Famagusta Gazette Online. 28 August 2009. Archived from the original on 2 January 2013. Retrieved 30 August 2009.
57. "Cyprus becomes 11th ESA European Cooperating State".
58. "Εθνική Στρατηγική Διαστήματος | Τμήμα Ηλεκτρονικών Επικοινωνιών". dec.dmrid.gov.cy. Retrieved 2022-10-14.
59. "Croatia signs Cooperation Agreement". www.esa.int. Retrieved 2022-10-14.
60. "Croatia becomes 12th ESA European Cooperating State". www.esa.int. Retrieved 2023-08-03.
61. "Croatia becomes ESA European Cooperating State". www.esa.int. Retrieved 2023-11-08.
62. "ESA signs Cooperation Agreement with Turkey". European Space Agency. 6 September 2004. Retrieved 6 September 2014.
63. "A cooperation agreement between the Government of Ukraine and the European Space Agency was signed in Paris". State Space Agency of Ukraine. Retrieved 25 January 2008.
64. "Israel signs Cooperation Agreement". ESA.int. 31 January 2011. Retrieved 6 September 2014.
65. "Malta signs Cooperation Agreement". ESA. 23 February 2012. Retrieved 6 September 2014.
66. "Malta exploring ways of collaborating with European Space Agency". EARSC. 20 June 2009. Archived from the original on 27 June 2009. Retrieved 12 December 2009.
67. "Agenda : A Document by the ESA Director General and the ESA Directors – October 2006" (PDF). Esa.int. Retrieved 2016-02-11.
68. "ESA Welcomes New Members, Deepens Ties With Other States at Parabolic Arc". Parabolicarc.com. 2015-04-13. Retrieved 2016-02-11.
69. "Expanding EO4SD scope to EU eastern neighbourhood | earth observation for sustainable development".
70. "Welcome to earth observation for eastern partnership | earth observation for eastern partnership".