The Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine has prolonged the intergovernmental agreement of cooperation signed with the European Space Agency (ESA) in January 2008 until 2019, the press service of the State Space Agency of Ukraine (SSAU) has reported.
According to the report, the term of the intergovernmental agreement on cooperation in the exploration and use of space for peaceful purposes was prolonged until February 24, 2019.
According to the document, the spheres of cooperation are the following: space exploration – astronomy and astrophysics; solar system exploration and solar-terrestrial physics, exploration of the Earth (environmental monitoring, meteorology, geodesy, disaster prevention); telecommunications (provision of services and satellite navigation); microgravity research (space biology and medicine), data processing, and the development and use of ground bases and launch vehicles.
Cooperation also extends to the allocation of scholarships to enable each party to get training or participate in the scientific or technical activities in the institutions, proposed by a party, which assign scholarships, exchange of experts to participate in the researches, and holding of joint conferences and symposia.
Under the agreement, the bilateral promotion of the use of products and services developed under ESA programs, the promotion of educational activities in the area of space research and technology and the provision of expert assessments and assistance in the management of space projects was agreed.
The document also foresees the attraction of the parties to cooperation in the area of law education in the spheres of mutual interest during the exploration and use of outer space.
The ESA includes 17 European counties. ESA, along with Russia, the United States, Brazil and China, is among key partners of Ukraine in the space exploration area.
Among key top-priorities of long-term cooperation with European partners is cooperation in the creation of the European Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) EGNOS/Galileo, the global monitoring in the interests of environment safety, in particular, under the GMES project, and in the Earth remote sensing (ERS).
Among the most promising directions of cooperation is Ukraine’s participation in the modernization of European Ariane-5 launch vehicle. The Europeans have expressed their interest in Ukrainian launch vehicle engines: the new European Vega launch vehicle, which was designed as a part of European cooperation under an order from ESA, has a Ukrainian engine.
