N° 19–1997: ESA and RSA launch "Partnership Charter"

At the Paris Air Show today, in the ESA pavilion, M Jean Marie Luton, Director General of the European Space Agency (ESA), and Mr Yuri Koptev, Director General of the Russian Space Agency (RSA), initialled a "Partnership Charter" which all organisations, institutes and industrial suppliers in the Russian and West European aerospace sectors are being invited to subscribe. The aim is to strengthen the many links that have been developed in space cooperation over the past decade through the arrangement of exchanges of information on working methods and training for staff from both sides.

The initial programme of activities, starting in the second half of this year, calls for seminars and presentations, specifically designed for high-level Russian personnel, on international law, industrial contracts and management of space projects. These will be held in Moscow and will be run primarily by International Space University (ISU, Strasbourg, France) teaching staff, with expertise contributed by Western space industry professionals.
Seminars and round table discussions are also envisaged in fields in which Russia has outstanding first-hand experience (space transport, manned flight ...).

The Partnership, to be run under the joint auspices of the ESA and RSA Directors General, is aiming to secure membership fully representative of institutions and industry with an interest in the development of exchanges between Western Europe and Russia in the aerospace sector. It is also receiving active support from the European Commission, in the framework of its TACIS cooperation programmes with Russia.

It has an Executive Secretariat and a consultative body on which all partners will be represented. The overall cost of activities envisaged in 1997 amounts to some 200 000 ECU, to be shared by all the partners.

For further information, please contact: ESA, Public Relations Division Tel: +33.(0)1.53.69.71.55 Fax: +33.(0)1.53.69.76.90

Note: To learn more about ESA, visit the ESA homepage on the World Wide Web at the new address: http://www.esa.int