ESA signs agreements with Brazil, Poland and India
The European space agency (ESA) has begun the year by signing international cooperation agreements with Brazil, Poland and India. On 1 February, ESA signed a framework cooperation agreement with Brazil at ESA headquarters in Paris. The deal, signed by the Brazilian Minister for science and technology, Ronaldo Sardenberg, and ESA Director Antonio Rodotà, will allow ESA and Brazil to extend their cooperation in the fields of space science, Earth observation, telecommunications, experiments in microgravity, space systems and life science. The cooperation will also include the exchange of experts to participate in studies, the holding of joint conferences and symposiums and the awarding of fellowships for training and research to nominees from either party. ESA experts will visit Brazilian technical and scientific installations and industries shortly in order to define areas of cooperation. On 24 January, ESA signed the Poland Agreement in Warsaw to reinforce existing relations between Poland and ESA. The agreement was signed by Antonio Rodotà and the Polish science Minister, Professor Kleiber. Mr Rodotà also met with Poland's principal negotiator with the EU, Mr Truszynski, to introduce the ESA/EC space strategy and stress the need to work in close relation with the candidate countries. Earlier in January, ESA renewed its framework agreement with the Indian space research organisation (ISRO). The renewal of the deal will allow the two sides to explore possible areas of joint cooperation in areas such as radio navigation, Earth observation and space science. A meeting will be held in the near future to bring together experts from both organisations to discuss the details.