European Launcher Development Organization
The European Launcher Development Organization ( ELDO ) was founded in 1962 by six European countries and Australia. Their convention came into force on February 29, 1964. The purpose of ELDO was to develop a European launcher, the Europa . With this, Europe wanted to gain access to space independent of the USA .
In 1972, ELDO's budget was around 79.3 million US dollars, 90 percent of which came from Germany and France. Italy stopped paying contributions as early as 1969.
On May 1, 1973, the remaining contributors France, Germany and Great Britain stopped paying. After the unsuccessful launch of the Europa II rocket, most recently on May 5, 1971, the commitment of the member states decreased more and more, which is why ELDO ceased its activities in 1973 and transferred its tasks to the European Space Research Organization (ESRO), with the it merged in 1975 to form the European Space Agency (ESA).
Australia was a member because Woomera already had a rocket launch site that could be used to launch the Europa rocket.
Founding members
- Germany
- Australia
- Belgium
- France
- Great Britain and Northern Ireland , from 1972 only as an observer
- Italy
- Netherlands
See also
National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)
literature
- ESA History Advisory Committee: A history of the European Space Agency 1958–1987, Volume 1: The story of ESRO and ELDO (= ESA special publication 1235). European Space Agency 2001, ISBN 92-9092-536-1 , ISSN 1609-042X
- Niklas Reinke: History of the German space policy. Concepts, influencing factors and interdependencies: 1923–2002 , Munich 2004, ISBN 3-486-56842-6
Web links
- ESA: The history of ESRO and ELDO from 1958 to 1973 (English, PDF, 3.08 MB)