Ibadan, 21 June 2024. – Slovenia will become the latest European Space Agency (ESA) member state after the ESA Council unanimously approved the agreement concerning the accession of Slovenia to the convention and related terms and conditions. ESA Director-General Josef Aschbacher and Dr Robert Golob, Prime Minister of Slovenia signed the accession agreement during the Council meeting which held in Paris on 18 and 19 June 2024.
Speaking on Slovenia’s accession, Tanya Permozer, head of the Slovenian Space Office, said, “This agreement paves the way for Slovenia’s succession to the convention for the establishment of a European Space Agency, a crucial step towards full membership in ESA which we anticipate to achieve at the beginning of next year. This momentous achievement for Slovenia is a testament to the unwavering support of ESA and its member states.”
Permozer also added, “The Slovenian government also confirmed a civilian action plan setting further steps until 2030 It is crucial to say that it confirmed that the financial resources would gradually increase, becoming more comparable to the contributions to other member states.”
ESA also announced partnerships with the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), UAE’s Muhammed Bin Rashid Space Center (MBSRC) and the government of Ukraine. As a result of the partnership, ESA and MBRSC have agreed to cooperate on training astronauts using ESA facilities on the International Space Station (ISS) and running joint scientific human eye and biomedical research experiments.
ESA DG Aschbacher also announced that the EU Space Council has approved the third amendment of the contribution agreement between the European Union and ESA on the implementation of the EU space program at Horizon Europe. He also disclosed that ESA had approved three implementation arrangements with the European Organization for the Exploitation of Meteorological Satellites (EUMETSAT) and NASA.
