The International Academy of the History of Science History has bestowed the prestigious Alexandre Koyr Medal on the European Space Agency Project (ESA). Professor John Krige was the lead historian for the project.

The ESA "traces the history of the European collaborative space programme from its beginnings in the late 1950s to the creation of a single space agency in the early 1970s and up to recent developments, in the light of its main actors and policies."

Krige (PhD, Physical Chemistry, Pretoria, 1965; PhD, Philosophy, Sussex, 1979) is Kranzberg Professor and Director of Graduate Studies, School of History, Technology, and Society. He will attend a ceremony in September in Paris where the 2009 medal will be presented to the Director General of the ESA.