Greece signs cooperation agreement with NASA at Space Symposium
Greece's recently established space agency has signed a cooperation agreement with NASA on the sidelines of the annual Space Symposium, taking place in Colorado Springs, in the United States, running April 8-11.
The statement of cooperation was signed by Hellenic Space Agency (ELDO) CEO Georgios Mantzouris and NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine, in the presence of Greece's Telecommunications and Digital Policy Minister Nikos Pappas and ELDO President Christodoulos Protopappas, the Athens-Macedonian News Agency reported on Tuesday.
The agreement ushers a new “era of exchange” and “potential cooperation” in the area of space research and exploration, the Greek side was quoted by the ANA-MPA as saying, adding that under the agreement, the ELDO will be launching Greece's first exploration mission to the moon via robot in 2022.
“We have before us a significant development that will breathe new life into research but also into the country's international standing,” Pappas was quoted by the ANA-MPA as saying.
Under the deal, Greece will also take part in the Lunar Orbital Platform-Gateway (LOP-G), an international, NASA-led project to create a lunar-orbit space station in the 2020s. It also foresees exchanges of information and data for academic and scientific research, as well as the participation of Greek educational institutions in international programs, among other benefits.
The ELDO was established in March 2018.
