Regional integration and cooperation in Central and Eastern Europe. Cooperation as an essential perspective from the past to present

Space policy and programmes in Central and Eastern European countries (CEE) have developed the following different cooperation models. Before the 1990s, CEEs countries had built up a strong heritage of expertise in space activities via the Intercosmos programme. This has provided a solid basis for cooperation with other European countries and organisations, and particularly with the European Space Agency (ESA), since the 1990s. The objective of this chapter is to provide an overview of the past and present developments in the evolution of space related activities in the CEE region with a special focus on the integration process to ESA. The chapter provides a brief historical analysis of the CEE regional space policy and collaboration evolution before the 1990s, and comprehensive insights on the ESA accession process by analysing the industrial performance of the CEE region. In this chapter we demonstrate how cooperation is indispensable for the CEE region in order to translate their space scientific heritage into successful industrial participation in European space programmes.