Lecture: 30 Years at the European Space Agency

This lecture is being organised by the Royal Aeronautical Society and will be given by Jean-Jacques Dordain, Director General at the European Space Agency.

During this lecture Mr Dordain will share his experiences of working at the European Space Agency (ESA) for nearly thirty years, the last twelve of which he has been the Agency’s Director General. Mr Dordain will step down from this position in June 2015. When Mr Dordain joined ESA in 1986 the organisation was made up of eleven member states and only had one partner which was NASA. Now, in 2015, the ESA has twenty-two member states and has plans to grow further. It is viewed as a leading scientific agency in terms of both Space and planet Earth, is a well-proven ‘player’ with a real economic dimension which supports competitiveness and growth, and is a reliable partner with European industry, operators and investors. It now has many more partnerships with countries including the USA, Russia, China and Japan.

The UK has featured in the changes that have taken place at ESA; having been involved in the first Public Private Partnerships of ESA, acting as the leader in Integrated Applications and Climate Change Initiatives and contributing to the build-up of an ESA Establishment with a Harwell Oxford Campus. This was a new model for ESA and provided them with a centre fully integrated in a campus of excellence for science and business.

There are however some commonalities between the ESA in 1986 and 2015. These include its objectives to expand knowledge, services and the competitiveness of the European sector, its mission success rate and the factors that led to this, such as cooperation, innovation, expertise and evolution. It has also remained committed to the human capital of ESA.

Please visit our website to find out more and to register. This lecture will also be streamed live via the Society's YouTube channel.