Former head of ESA assessed cooperation between Russia and the West
Former head of ESA Dorden: Western cooperation with Russia is mutually beneficial
Former Director General of the European Space Agency (ESA) Jean-Jacques Dordain called the cooperation of the West and Russia mutually beneficial.
He stated that both parties will benefit from joint work in the space sphere. Dorden said that during his work in ESA, he headed the department of control over the International Space Station (ISS), which has only begun to be designed. Under him, the U.S. Freedom orbital station project merged with the ISS project and became its U.S. segment. According to him, the technology merger was a wonderful project that became a reality.
In addition, he also led the project to launch Soyuz launch vehicles from a launch site in French Guiana. These in turn launched European Galileo satellites into orbit. “So I worked on two important joint projects with Russia and I can say that both we and Russia have benefited from them,” Dorden said.
Regarding the potential cessation of cooperation with Russia, Dorden stressed that he always prefers to “import cooperation” from other countries on Earth than to “export conflicts” from Earth to space.
In July of this year, Yuri Borisov, general director of the state corporation Roskosmos, announced the decision to withdraw from the ISS project after 2024.
