| THE ESA'S ROLE IN SPACE | ||
Contributions from the ESA played a large role in the construction of Spacelab, an important predecessor to the world’s first International Space Station. On Sept. 24, 1973, a memorandum of understanding was signed between the ESA, then known as the European Space Research Organization, and NASA with NASA's George C. Marshall Space Flight Center as lead center for ESA to design and develop Spacelab. The ESA had 11 member nations at the time of Spacelab development: Belgium, Denmark, France, Ireland, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, the United Kingdom and West Germany. All except Sweden participated in the Spacelab program. |
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