Belgium · 50 years of the European satellite ESRO 2B (Iris 2)

Issue date17 Sept 2018

Total mintage257,500

EU maximum260,000

Editions4

Edge lettering2 ★ ★ × 6, alternating upright/inverted

InscriptionESRO-2B / 1968 / 2018 / IRIS / BE

DesignerLuc Luycx

mintKoninklijke Nederlandse Munt, Utrecht

Issue occasion

The coin commemorates the 50th anniversary of the launch of the ESRO 2B research satellite, the first successful satellite of the European Space Research Organisation. The design depicts ESRO 2B, which was placed into Earth orbit in May 1968 and later given the name “IRIS” (International Radiation Investigation Satellite). Its task was to observe solar radiation, cosmic radiation and the radiation belts of the Earth.

The design

The coin’s design features the research satellite ESRO 2B, the first successful satellite of the European Space Research Organisation, which was placed into orbit around the planet Earth in May 1968. The task of ESRO 2B, later also called “IRIS” (International Radiation Investigation Satellite), was to observe solar radiation, cosmic radiation and the Earth’s radiation belts.

At the bottom, there are the mint mark of the Royal Dutch Mint in Utrecht (the caduceus) and the Belgian mint master’s mark, the coat of arms of the municipality of Herzele, the country code BE and the initials of the coin designer Luc Luycx, LL.

The outer ring of the coin depicts the twelve stars of the European flag.

Background on the topic

The European Space Research Organisation (ESRO) was established in the 1960s, when several Western European states pooled their scientific and financial resources for space exploration. At that time, individual European countries could scarcely compete with the major space programmes of the United States and the Soviet Union. ESRO therefore focused on the scientific exploration of space, while the separate organisation ELDO worked on European launch vehicles. Belgium was one of ESRO’s member states.

ESRO 2B was part of an early programme of scientific small satellites. Its predecessor, ESRO 2A, was lost in an unsuccessful launch. The success of the second version therefore demonstrated that the still young organisation could carry out a joint satellite project. The satellite was not launched with a European rocket, but with an American Scout launch vehicle from Vandenberg in California. This also illustrates that, at that time, Europe’s space programme was still heavily dependent on cooperation with the United States for launches.

The radiation phenomena studied were a relatively new field of research at the time. Earth’s radiation belts had only been discovered at the beginning of the space age. Measurements of energetic particles and radiation originating from the Sun helped improve understanding of the interactions between the Sun, Earth’s magnetic field and near-Earth space. Such findings were relevant not only to basic research, but also to the protection of spacecraft, measuring instruments and, later, crewed missions.

In 1975, ESRO and ELDO were merged into the newly established European Space Agency (Europäische Weltraumorganisation, ESA). Today’s ESA is therefore institutionally rooted in that early cooperation. The fiftieth anniversary gave Belgium an occasion to commemorate its participation in the beginnings of coordinated European space exploration. The subject connects Belgian science policy with the development of joint European research structures.