[SatNews] The Council of the European Space Agency today announced that Jean-Jacques Dordain will continue as the Director General of ESA for a further period of four years. Mr. Dordain has served as Director General of ESA since 2003 — this third mandate extends his term to June 2015.

Before joining ESA in 1986, Frenchman Jean-Jacques Dordain held several positions at the Office National d'Etudes et de Recherches Aérospatiales (ONERA): first, from 1970 to 1976, as a researcher in propulsion and launch vehicles; then, from 1976 to 1986, as a coordinator of space activities; and finally, from 1983 to 1986, as Director of Fundamental Physics. In 1977 he was selected by the French space agency, CNES, as one of the first French astronaut candidates.

When he joined ESA in May 1986, he was appointed Head of the new Space Station and Platforms Promotion and Utilisation Department. He then became Head of the Microgravity and Columbus Utilisation Department, managing about 80 staff and overseeing numerous industrial activities. In 1993 he was appointed Associate Director for Strategy, Planning and International Policy. In May 1999 he was appointed Director of the new Directorate of Strategy and Technical Assessment. On February 15, 2001, he took up the post of Director of Launchers.

Jean-Jacques Dordain is a member of the International Academy of Astronautics and the Académie des Technologies, and an associate member of the Acadmie Royale de Belgique (Royal Academy of Belgium). He has also held professorships at the Ecole Polytechnique, the Ecole Nationale Supérieure des Techniques Avancées and l'Ecole Nationale de l'Aeronautique et de l'Espace.