ESA – Today, 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 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).
