Belgium 20 Euro ‘ESRO-2B’ 2018 Silver Proof PF 70

Half a century of European spaceflight

Russia had its Sputnik in 1957, America its Explorer in 1958, but in Europe it took a little longer to put the first successful satellite into orbit. On 17 May 1968, the time had finally come and the ESRO-2B (aka IRI S) could be launched as a scientific research satellite. The 85-kg ESRO-2B carried seven instruments to study the ionosphere, cosmic rays and the sun, among other things. The satellite orbited the Earth in less than 100 minutes at an altitude of 1086 km. ESRO-2B stayed in space for almost three years until it was retrieved back to the atmosphere on 8 May 1971.

2018 marks just over half a century since this European space milestone was reached. Meanwhile, our old continent has long since caught up and a lot of ambitious space projects were successfully completed by the European Space Research Organisation (ESRO, that is) and its successor, ESA. 

The Belgian contribution

As Belgium was one of the 10 founding countries of ESRO and played a pioneering role from the very beginning, this 50th anniversary should definitely not go unnoticed. A prestigious commemorative issue is therefore in order. This is why today we present you with two fine commemorative coins that will forever remind us of this great European premiere.

The silver ESRO-2B 20-euro coin

The first issue is a beautiful 20-euro silver coin. The obverse shows the ESRO-2B in its orbit around Earth and bears a name and anniversary inscription. The reverse features the map and stars of Europe, the trilingual country indication, the year 2018 and the face value.