Fifth Consecutive Agreement Between The Two Agencies
Jean-Jacques Dordain, Director General of ESA, and Steve
MacLean, President of the Canadian Space Agency, signed a new
Cooperation Agreement between ESA and Canada on Thursday that will
extend their partnership for a further 10 years, until 2020. ESA
and Canada have enjoyed a 30-year partnership that has led to many
successful space projects. They will now continue to build on their
shared interests. Their focus will continue to be on space
applications.
ESA and Canada have joined forces in telecommunications,
including Olympus, Artemis and Advanced Research in
Telecommunications Systems (ARTES); Earth observation, including
ERS, Envisat and Global Monitoring for Environment & Security
(GMES); navigation, including Galileo; and related technologies,
such as the General Support Technology Programme.
The benefits of the ESA-Canada relationship extend beyond good
cooperation between the two space agencies. European and Canadian
companies have forged strong alliances, creating teaming
arrangements and opportunities for new markets. The scientific and
academic communities have developed a close relationship of their
own that has enabled, for example, cooperation in utilisation of
the International Space Station or the current discussion on the
use of space data and services for the benefit of Arctic
regions.
ESA and Canada are also both involved on a multilateral or
global scale. They are two of the five partners in the
International Space Station and key players in the International
Charter on Space and Major Disasters, the Committee on Earth
Observation Satellites (CEOS) and Global Earth Observation System
of Systems (GEOSS).
The partnership dates back to the beginning of the European
space programme. In the early 1970s, ESA and Canada started working
together in the telecommunications area, jointly developing the
Communications Technology Satellite. Based on that success, they
intensified their collaboration and the first cooperation agreement
between ESA and the Government of Canada was signed in 1979. Since
then, Canada has been a closely cooperating state with ESA, which
allows Canada to contribute to ESA programmes as a Participating
State.
This is the fifth consecutive Agreement between ESA and Canada.
"With this signature today, we are opening a new chapter that will
offer opportunities for Canadian contributions to ESA's programmes
and ESA contributions to Canadian programmes," stated Jean-Jacques
Dordain.
"It will build a bridge across the Atlantic that is even more
solid, and that will allow us to draw on our respective strengths
and expertise while taking into account our respective
evolutions."
"Through this new 10-year Cooperation Agreement with ESA, Canada
will continue to leverage its scientific and technological
knowledge to further advance space-based expertise and strengthen
our relations in support of the mutual interests and priorities of
our space programmes," said Steve MacLean, President of the
Canadian Space Agency.
NTSB Final Report: Michael G Darby DARD 1
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