A-Z of European Space

The first decades: 1959-1994

Personalities Organisations Projects
  • 1946 - Doctorate (in physics/astronomy) from the University of Utrecht
  • 1946-1948 – Postdoctoral Fellowship at the University of Chicago, USA
  • 1948 - Lecturer at the University of Leiden, Professor of Astronomy from 1952 until retirement in 1984
  • 1958-1962 - First President of COSPAR
  • 1959 - Chairman of the Netherlands Commission for Geophysical and Space Research, and from 1984 the scientific board of the Space Research Organisation Netherlands — SRON, into which it was incorporated
  • 1960-1964 - Vice Chairman of COPERS
  • 1960s-1980s - Delegate to various ESRO and ESA committees, Chairman of the ESRO Council from 1968-1970

On the creation of ESRO, van de Hulst became a Netherlands delegate to its Scientific and Technical Committee, and to the ESRO Council (1964 to 1973; Chairman, 1968 to 1970). From 1972 to 1975, he was also Chairman of the Launching Programme Advisory Committee. Subsequently, he continued to be active within ESA as the Dutch delegate to the Science Programme Committee from 1974 to 1986.

Within ESA, he was most involved with the Cos-B satellite, launched in 1975 with a mission to study gamma-ray sources, and chaired the steering committee of the Cos-B project from 1968 to 1977. Until 1990, he was active on several ESA and NASA space telescope study groups, including the ESA Space Telescope Instrument Science Team which he chaired from 1977 to 1983.

  • 1946-1952 – Studies in civil engineering and Doctorate in Law from the Catholic University of Louvain
  • 1953-1962 - Attorney at the Bar in Antwerp, specialising in maritime and commercial law
  • 1962-1964 - Legal Expert in the NATO Starfighter Monitoring Office in Koblenz
  • 1964-1971 - Head of the ESRO Contracts Service at ESTEC and, from 1968, Head of the Contracts Department
  • 1972 - Administrative director of ELDO and ESA Director of Administration from 1975 to 1992
  • On retirement from ESA: President of the International Space University (1991-1994), President of the International Astronautical Federation (1988-1990), Vice-President of the Committee for Space Law of the International Bar Association (1987-1989)

In 1964 Van Reeth was appointed by ESRO to head the Contracts Service at ESTEC. He was instrumental in defining its industrial policy and setting up some of the first European industrial consortia. In 1972 he became Administrative Director of ELDO and in April 1973 its Acting Secretary General following the resignation of Robert Aubinière. When ELDO and ESRO were merged to form ESA in 1975 he was appointed Director of Administration in Paris. Here, in addition to overall responsibility for the budget and procurement, he was involved in all aspects of European space policy, and in particular, international relations, industrial policy and relations with other space organisations, notably NASA.

See also: Interview 1 and Interview 2 with George Van Reeth from the Oral History of Europe in Space Collection

  • 1954 – Master of Science in Mechanical Engineering at California Institute of Technology
  • 1962 - Doctorate in Applied Sciences at the University of Brussels
  • 1952 - Assistant in the Aeronautical Institute of the University of Brussels (1952-1960) and then Lecturer on satellite technology and rocket propulsion
  • 1960-1962 – Technical Advisor to the Belgian Delegation during negotiations leading to the creation of ESRO and ELDO.
  • 1962-1985 – Joined COPERS and subsequently ESRO and worked in various positions and at various establishments for ESRO and later ESA until retirement in 1985

Vandenkerckhove’s long career with COPERS, ESRO and ESA began in 1962, when he was the second engineer to join COPERS in Paris. He transferred to ESTEC from 1964 to 1969, first as Assistant to the Director of Satellite Projects, and from 1965 to 1969 as Deputy Director of the Sounding Rockets Division and Project Manager of the scientific satellite HEOS-A, launched in December 1968. He then moved to Paris in 1969, where he was Assistant Director for Space Applications in the Directorate of Programmes and Plans until 1971.  
Back at ESTEC, from 1971 to 1977 he was Project Manager for mobile telecommunications satellites, playing key role in the definition and design of maritime   satellites. From 1978 to 1985 Vandenkerckhove was Assistant Technical Director at ESA HQ in Paris, participating in the preparation of ESA’s programmes, especially its Technology Research Programme and its Industrial Policy.  His special tasks included being a member of the Ariane L5 Failure Enquiry Board, and afterwards member of the Flight Readiness Boards for flights V6 to V14 and of the Ariane 3 Qualification Board, a member of the committee which, in 1984, prepared ESA’s Long-Term Programme 1985-1995, and studies on the economy of space programmes (both GEO satellites and LEO platforms).