Sfarsitul lunii mai a marcat jumatate de secol de existenta pentru ESA, Agentia Spatiala Europeana.
In urma cu 50 de ani, pe 30 mai 1975, la nivel diplomatic si ministerial, se semna conventia ESA intre cele 10 state fondatoare (Belgia, Germania, Danemarca, Franta, Marea Britanie,Italia, Olanda, Suedia, Elvetia si Spania), pentru unificarea a doua organizatii europene ce fusesera create in anii 60 (European Launcher Development Organisation - ELDO si the European Space Research Organisation - ESRO), sub o singura umbrela, ESA sau European Space Agency, care trebuia sa preia toate activitatile spatiale pe continent.
La vremea respectiva, Franta era cea mai avansata tara in domeniul spatial din Europa, astfel ca, in mod natural, ESA a fost inspirata din procedurile si modul de lucru al Agentiei Spatiale Franceze, CNES – similitudini care se regasesc pana astazi.
In cei 50 de ani, ESA a devenit insa nu un organism politic la dispozitia Europei ci mai mult, un club spatial, in care rand pe rand au fost atrasi si alti membri, inclusiv din afara continentului, depasind astfel structura formala a UE.
Agentia si-a pastrat, desi este condusa de un consiliu politic, format din ministrii de resort ai tarilor membre, o pozitie de neutralitate, ramanand o agentie civila.
A doua ca buget dupa NASA si probabil in aceasta ordine, la fel de cunoscuta publicului, ESA a pastrat o cooperare buna in proiecte stiintifice, atat cu agentiiile spatiale nationale din UE, cat si cu cele internationale: SUA (NASA), India (ISRO), Rusia (Roskosmos), China (CNSA), Coreea de Sud (KARI) sau Japonia (JAXA).
Materializata intr-o serie de succes de proiecte spatiale: ISS, Hubble, James Webb Telescope etc.
ESA al carui cartier general se gaseste la Paris, are mai multe centre distribuite in Europa : ESTEC-European Space Research and Technology Centre (Olanda), ESRIN-ESA Centre for Earth Observation (Italia), ESOC-European Space Operations Centre (Germania), ESAC-European Space Astronomy Centre (Spania) sau EAC-European Astronaut Centre (Germania).
Mai jos un paragraf din tratatul de aderare (care intre timp a evoluat, ajungand la editia a opta).
CONVENTION FOR THE ESTABLISHMENT OF A EUROPEAN SPACE AGENCY
The States parties to this Convention,
CONSIDERING that the magnitude of the human, technical and financial resources required for activities in the space field is such that these resources lie beyond the means of any single European country, CONSIDERING the Resolution adopted by the European Space Conference on 20 December 1972 and confirmed by the European Space Conference on 31 July 1973, which decided that a new organisation, called the ‘European Space Agency’, would be formed out of the European Space Research Organisation and the European Organisation for the Development and Construction of Space Vehicle Launchers, and that the aim would be to integrate the European national space programmes into a European space programme as far and as fast as reasonably possible, DESIRING to pursue and to strengthen European cooperation, for exclusively peaceful purposes, in space research and technology and their space applications, with a view to their being used for scientific purposes and for operational space applications systems, DESIRING, in order to achieve these aims, to establish a single European space organisation to increase the efficiency of the total of European space efforts by making better use of the resources at present devoted to space and to define a European space programme for exclusively peaceful purposes, HAVE AGREED as follows:
Article I
ESTABLISHMENT OF THE AGENCY
1. A European organisation, called the ‘European Space Agency’, hereinafter referred to as ‘the Agency’, is hereby established.
2. The members of the Agency, hereinafter referred to as ‘Member States’, shall be the States which are parties to this Convention in accordance with Articles XX and XXII.
3. All Member States shall participate in the mandatory activities referred to in Article V, 1 a, and shall contribute to the fixed common costs of the Agency, referred to in Annex II.
4. The Headquarters of the Agency shall be situated in the Paris area.
The purpose of the Agency shall be to provide for and to promote, for exclusively peaceful purposes, cooperation among European States in space research and technology and their space applications, with a view to their being used for scientific purposes and for operational space applications systems:
a. by elaborating and implementing a long-term European space policy, by recommending space objectives to the Member States, and by concerting the policies of the Member States with respect to other national and international organisations and institutions;
b. by elaborating and implementing activities and programmes in the space field;
c. by coordinating the European space programme and national programmes, and by integrating the latter progressively and as completely as possible into the European space programme, in particular as regards the development of applications satellites; d. by elaborating and implementing the industrial policy appropriate to its programme and by recommending a coherent industrial policy to the Member States.
Astazi, ESA are 23 de membri, 3 membri asociati, 4 in acordul PECS de preaderare (Slovacia, Slovenia, Lituania si Letonia) si Canada, cu care este in vigoare un acord special de cooperare.
Romania este din 2011 membra cu drepturi depline al ESA, dupa cativa ani de PECS. De cativa ani este si cel mai mare contributor din fostul bloc estic, contractand un numar de programe optionale, in afara pachetului de baza pe care si l-a asumat legal.
In total, in acesti aproape 15 ani de apartenenta, tara noastra a adus cateva sute de milioane de euro la programul spatial european, insa, conform conventiei ESA, mare parte din acesti bani, se intorc, pe principiul repartizarii geografice, inapoi catre industria de profil autohtona.
Articole mai vechi:
Actul de ratificare al Romaniei
Credit ESA