14 DAY TRIAL // On January 20, 2011, officials from the Romanian government and representatives of the European Space Agency (ESA) witnessed the signing of the Accession Agreement to the ESA Convention. The East European nation is now posed to become the 19th Member State in the organization.
Even though the European Union (EU) contains 27 countries, not all are members of ESA. Through the singing of this treaty, Romania is to be added to the existing 18 nations that get to decide the direction that the space agency should take in observing Earth, and exploring the solar system and beyond.
Meetings between government officials from ESA Member States establish the budget the organization operates with, its priorities for coming years, which missions get approved and which are sacked, and are responsible for a host of administrative decisions.
The Accession Agreement was signed yesterday in the Romanian capital Bucharest, in the presence of cosmonaut Dumitru Dorin Prunariu, the Chairman of the Board of the Romanian Space Agency (RSA).
Prunariu flew to space aboard the Soyuz 40 spacecraft, back in 1981. He is the Chairman of the UN Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space (COPUOS), an assignment that will end in June 2012. The former cosmonaut is also the president of Association of Space Explorers (ASE) Europe.
At the signing ceremony, which took place at the Romanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, ESA Director General Jean-Jacques Dordain, Romanian Minister of Foreign Affairs Teodor Baconschi, and RSA president and CEO Marius-Ioan Piso also attended.
The Eastern European country is not new to space exploration. During the 1970s and 1980s, it was an active part of the Interkosmos program coordinated by the Soviet Union. Over the years, it contributed to more than 30 scientific and technological space missions.
Back in 1992, just three short years after the Communist dictatorship was overthrown, Romania was one of the first Eastern Bloc nations to sign a Cooperation Agreement with ESA, concerning the peaceful use of outer space.
Seven years later, in October 1999, the country signed the five-year Framework Cooperation Agreement with the space agency. The relationship was further strengthened in 2006, with the signing of the European Cooperating State Agreement.
Over the years, Romania participated in a variety of ESA missions, such as Cluster, SOHO and Gaia. It was also involved with the development of Herschel and Planck, the most sensitive and complex astronomical observatories ever deployed to space.
The ratification process that will see the country entering ESA fully is scheduled to conclude later this year, when the government gives its seal of approval. Once the necessary documents are delivered to the French Government, Romania will become the 19th ESA Member State.