JERUSALEM (JTA) — Israel signed an agreement with the European Space Agency on space cooperation for peaceful purposes.
The agreement, the first of its kind between the two parties, was signed Sunday as part of the sixth International Ilan Ramon Conference.
It promotes projects of mutual interest in the fields of research and the peaceful use of outer space. The agreement facilitates the exchange of scientists, engineers and information, the holding of joint conferences and symposiums, and the promotion of communications and exchanges between research institutions and industries in related areas.
"The agreement constitutes an international recognition of Israel’s status as a space power," said Daniel Hershkowitz, Israel’s science and technology minister .
Israel has signed agreements in the past few years with the space agencies from France and Italy.
