Poland on Thursday becomes the 20th member of the European Space Agency, the country's economy ministry announced.

Polish Economy Minster Waldemar Pawlak and ESA head Jean-Jacques Dordain were to sign an entry deal in Warsaw later Thursday, the ministry said in a statement on its website.

Poland, which has been cooperating with the ESA since 2007, is the third country from behind the former Iron Curtain to join the agency after the Czech Republic and Romania.

The 17 other members of the ESA are Austria, Belgium, Britain, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, The Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Sweden and Switzerland.