Austrian industry, business and science in space-based technologies to achieve economic and technological development, as well as to look after the growth of the Austrian aerospace sector. One function of the agency is the implementation of national aerospace policy, as well as to represent Austria on various international aerospace committees. During 1975, Austria began actively participating in the European Space Agency (ESA), the successor to the ESRO. During 1981, Austria was recognised as an associate member of the ESA. On 1 January 1987, the country formally became a full member of the ESA. Austria's involvement with the ESA activities extended beyond mandatory activities, such as space science, technology, and study programmes, into various optional programmes, including Earth observation and microgravity research, space infrastructure and scientific experiment development, along with space navigation and telecommunications projects. Austria has pursued bilateral cooperative projects with various international partners. During 1989, Austria came to an agreement with the Soviet Union for a common Austrian-Soviet spaceflight; this led to engineer Franz Viehböck becoming the first Austrian citizen to experience space flight, having conducted a mission on board a Soyuz spacecraft to the Mir space station during the following year. Other Austrian-Soviet cooperative efforts resulted in Austria developing numerous scientific instruments for probes, leading to its involvement in a range of missions. Other nations that Austria has conducted bilateral projects with include Norway, Sweden, France, Switzerland, and Germany. See also List of government space agencies Austrian Research Promotion Agency References External links Website Austria in Space Government of Austria Scientific organisations based in Austria Space agencies 1972 establishments in Austria Space program of Austria