Posted on 12 March 2018
The European Space Agency (ESA) has transferred a considerable amount of files to the Historical Archives of the European Union (HAEU) in Florence for archival treatment and opening to the research community.
HAEU and ESA Archivists will now process and describe the 300 linear meters of documents in order to assess the material for further research.
The dossiers contain documents that address a large spectrum of activities of the European Space Agency from the ESA International Relations department, the Science Department, and the ESA administration. Additionally, there are also files from the Legal department, the ESA’s representation in Washington and the Director General’s office and cabinet.
While the ESA’s official documents - referred to as "blue papers” – continue to be regularly shipped to the HAEU, this new transfer will provide additional information and further details, such as the working files of the departments in question, to the material information already available at the Archives on subjects including the following: international cooperation, cooperation with the EU and ESA member states, environmental policies and European educational programmes in the space sector.
In line with the deposit contract with ESA, there will be a general 15-year delay between the creation of the files and their opening to the public. Another shipment of a similar amount of archives is expected to arrive in Florence before summer 2018.