Image: European Space Agency
Esa leader hails “milestone” for agency and country alike
Slovenia is to join the European Space Agency, having already signed an accession agreement that now just needs to be ratified by national politicians.
On 19 June, Esa announced that Slovenia would become its 23rd member state, after the country’s prime minister Robert Golob (pictured left) and the agency’s director-general Josef Aschbacher (pictured right), signed the agreement at the Esa headquarters in Paris a day earlier.
“This signature is a key milestone, not only for Slovenia but also for Esa, which proves to still be attractive 50 years after its creation,” Aschbacher said.
New opportunities
Slovenia has been working with Esa since it signed a first cooperation agreement with the agency in 2008. It achieved association status in 2016.
But being an Esa member state will bring “advantages and new opportunities, as well as additional obligations in terms of funding and workforce management”, according to the agency.
It will allow Slovenia to participate in Esa programmes it has previously been excluded from, including on space science and technology.
The country has been growing its space sector, which has more than 40 small and medium-sized companies, according to Esa. It added that some of them are “taking leading roles in several space fields”, including Earth observation and materials.
Last year, Slovenia prepared a national space strategy to support the commercialisation of space research and innovation.
Source link : https://www.researchprofessionalnews.com/rr-news-europe-innovation-2024-6-slovenia-to-join-european-space-agency/
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Publish date : 2024-06-21 07:00:00
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