ESA-China Relations in Space: An Archival Analysis of the Cooperation on the ERS Data.

The article focuses on the cooperation between the European Space Agency (ESA) and the People's Republic of China (PRC) during the 1990s, particularly regarding the Earth Remote Sensing Programme (ERS). After a freeze in relations following the 1989 Tian'anmen repression, ESA and Chinese institutions, including the Chinese Academy of Science and the National Remote Sensing Centre, reinitiated dialogue centered on access to ERS-1 synthetic aperture radar data for environmental and oceanographic research. Despite challenges such as institutional rivalries within China and technical difficulties in data processing, the cooperation led to successful pilot projects in areas like rice mapping, oceanography, and flood monitoring, laying the groundwork for future collaborations including the Dragon earth observation programme launched in 2004. The study highlights how this scientific cooperation served as a form of "space diplomacy" that helped maintain ESA-China relations amid broader geopolitical tensions, a dynamic that remains relevant given current EU concerns about China's strategic ambitions and human rights record.