June 24 2020, the Council of the European Space Agency (ESA) approved Latvia as an associated Member State of ESA.
This will open up new opportunities for Latvian scientists and entrepreneurs to cooperate with the European space industry, as well as to promote research and study base of universities.
The ESA Convention provides that the funding invested by Latvia as an associated Member State will return to Latvia at least 85% per year and will come to the disposal of Latvian high-tech companies and scientific institutions in order to further develop space technologies, innovation, services and their commercialization on the global market. Part of the Member States' contributions is the ESA budget, which is used for the maintenance of ESA infrastructure, the development and administration of new programs for the further development of the space sector.
