Romania Becomes Third ESA European Cooperating State

European Space Agency, On 17 February 2006 Romania strengthened its relations with ESA by signing the European Cooperating State Agreement, becoming the third European country to join this status. Hungary was the first in April 2003 followed by the Czech Republic in November of the same year. 
 
The ceremony took place in Bucharest with the participation of Calin Popescu-Tariceanu, Prime Minister of Romania, Jean-Jacques Dordain, ESA Director General, Anton Anton, Romanian Secretary of State for Science and Technology, Marius-Ioan Piso, President and CEO of the Romanian Space Agency, and cosmonaut Dumitru Dorin Prunariu, Chairman of the Board of the Romanian Space Agency. 
 
The signed agreement defines the legal basis for developing a Plan for European Cooperating State (PECS) Charter, describing activities, projects and budget for Romania's cooperation with ESA. It is expected that the PECS Charter will be signed within the next 12 months. 
 
Romania has a long aerospace tradition and has contributed to more than 30 scientific and technological space missions. During the 1970s and 1980s Romania was an active member of the Soviet Union's INTERCOSMOS space programme to involve fellow socialist nations in space exploration. 
 
Romanian instruments to measure cosmos radiation, as well as magnetometers to acquire data on the Earth