Enlargement of the European Space Agency

ESA member states, CA and ECA states:

  ESA member states

  ECS states

  Signed Cooperation Agreement

  Associated states

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.

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]	18 June 2024 [45]	1 January 2025 [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 three associate members: Latvia, Lithuania and Slovakia. ^{[24] [28] [41]}

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
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
Slovenia	28 May 2008	22 January 2010	30 November 2010	18 June 2024	1 January 2025	through MoHEST
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)

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