U.S. and Europe sign space agreement

WASHINGTON, Sept. 14 (UPI) -- U.S. space agency Administrator Charles Bolden and European Space Agency Director General Jean-Jacques Dordain have signed a new space agreement.

The memorandum of understanding signed Friday calls for cooperation between the two agencies in the field of space transportation. The agreement was signed at NASA Headquarters in Washington.

"From shuttle Spacelab missions to the International Space Station, ESA has a long history of participating with NASA in human spaceflight," Bolden said. "With this agreement, it is our intent to continue to build this relationship, sharing valuable engineering analyses and technology concepts that will help transport humans to low Earth orbit and beyond."

The agreement allows the National Aeronautics and Space Administration and ESA to exchange technical information and personnel, which will aid the eventual development of new transportation systems. NASA officials said it's expected ESA's Ariane 5 development and flight experience will provide valuable engineering analyses and technology concepts for NASA's new launch and spacecraft systems.

"The memorandum of understanding marks a new milestone in the already very strong and long-lasting cooperation between ESA and NASA," said Dordain. "The exchange of technical information this document allows in the fields of space transportation will be beneficial to both agencies and will facilitate our work toward future launch systems, human spaceflight and exploration missions."