Spokesman Alexander Yakovenko said the European Space Agency's decision on May 27 to open up its space base at Kourou in French Guiana to Russia's tried-and-tested Soyuz launchers provided the basis for long-term collaboration in space.

"The ESA decision is not only important for the (space-launch) project, it can also be considered a key factor paving the way to achieving a global partnership between Russia and Europe, including prospects for creating the space transport systems of the future," he said in a statement.

Yakovenko's comments came as ESA officials noted that the Mars Express probe, launched Monday from the former Soviet cosmodrome at Baikonur, Kazakhstan with Russian assistance, had reached the moon's orbit on its six-month journey to the red planet.

Russian space technicians have played a key role in planning the mission, Europe's first venture into interplanetary exploration.

The foreign ministry spokesman noted that ESA countries had allocated some 314 million euros (370 million dollars) to building a new launchpad at Kourou to accommodate the Russian launcher, with France picking up most of the tab.

European space experts had welcomed the decision to boost Russia-European cooperation as "strategically justified and politically important for Europe," Yakovenko said.

Noting the role played by French President Jacques Chirac in promoting the "Soyuz at Kourou" plan, Yakovenko said that the project showed Russia and France were set to become "strategic and commercial partners in such high-technology areas as space exploration, ... with long-term prospects in a wide range of Russo-French relations."

SPACE.WIRE