ESRO, the European Space Research Organisation, was founded in 1964 by 10 European nations with the intention of jointly pursuing scientific research in space.
ESRO operated from 1964 to 1975 when it was merged with ELDO to form the European Space Agency in May 1975. In accordance with the requirements of its Convention to publish an annual report (Article 10.4i), ESRO produced a General Report, published in English and French. In the words of Alexander Hocker, Chairman of the ESRO Council, in his foreword to the first report, this would ‘show how the Organisation’s programme is being carried out’. The reports included a review of the year’s activities and the relevant financial statements, acting as both a tool for official communication on its activities to stakeholders, and as a promotional asset, helping ESRO to demonstrate its accomplishments to the public.
The physical ESRO General Reports are held in the ECSR in Frascati. The master collection was created by the Director General’s Cabinet in ESA HQ, with additional copies being added to this on their transfer to the Archives from ESTEC and ESOC. As a result, the Archives were able to use duplicate copies for the digitisation.
This collection comprises the digitised versions of the all the General Reports produced by ESRO in the ECSR holdings, covering the period 1964 to 1974. There is an English-language and French-language report for each of these years (please note that 1964 and 1965 are covered in one report and that the French-language report for 1964-65 will be added to the collection imminently). The last report, for 1974, underwent a change of name and was published as an ‘Annual Report’, the name henceforth used from 1975 by ESA.
To browse the collection of ESRO General Reports, enter the SHIP database and search for ‘General Report’.
Once you have selected a copy, SHIP’s image viewer allows you to select your preferred viewing mode by clicking the 'image viewer' icon on the right of the top header bar.
You can download pdf copies of the reports directly from the SHIP image viewer screen. Simply select ‘download pdf’ from the top menu bar of the viewer.
Year by year highlights of ESRO activities and programmes
1964-1965: the first senior appointments (Director General, Chairman of Council), first sounding rocket launches, construction of ESTEC and installation of the HBF3 vacuum test facility, ELDO and ESSO agreement to set up a joint documentation service
1966: ESRIN begins operations, solar-eclipse sounding rocket campaign, inauguration of ESRANGE (Kiruna, Sweden) sounding rocket launching range, loss of legislative powers of ESRO Council with its failure to unanimously agree on three-year resourcing, ESRO agrees to conduct a study on behalf of the European Conference on Satellite Communications (CETS), first European Space Conference (ESC), signature of a cooperation agreement with NASA (for launch of ESRO satellites)
1967: launch (and loss) of first ESRO satellite, ESRO-2A, inauguration of ESDAC (later ESOC), development and publication of the Causse report, presenting a comprehensive long-term European space programme
1968: ESTEC and ESRIN inaugurations, difficulties with escalating costs and cancellation of industrial contracts, ESRO-2B becomes first ESRO satellite in orbit, the third ESC agrees on creation of a single European space organisation out of ESRO and ELDO
1969: approval of a new ESRO satellite programme, discussions with NASA on cooperation on post-Apollo programmes (including development of a space shuttle and space station), ELDO/ESRO Space Documentation Service’s Remote control system (RECON) becomes operational
1970: Endorsement of the European Communications Satellite (ECS) programme, second session of the fourth ESC breaks up over disagreements on a European launcher
1971: ESRO agrees to contribute to the joint NASA/UK SAS-D satellite for ultraviolet astronomy (IUE - International Ultraviolet Explorer), first ESRO ‘package deal’ – a new institutional framework making only the Science Programme mandatory
1972: launch of 3 ESRO satellites (HEOS-A, TD-1A and ESRO-4), last ESRO sounding rocket campaign, crisis in US-Europe negotiations on post-Apollo programme - Spacelab emerges as the only colloboration, ESRANGE handed over to Sweden, ESRO-CNES agreement to develop Meteosat, the fifth ESC agrees to undertake the Spacelab project and the French LIIIS launcher project that will become Ariane
1973: new scientific satellite missions approved, the second ‘package deal’ is agreed at the sixth ESC, paving the way for ESA, beginning of the first phase of the ESRO telecommunications programme and development of the experimental Orbital Test Satellite, adoption of the European launcher programme and agreement on a new name - Ariane, NASA-ESRO Spacelab Agreement, agreement to undertake the Maritime Satellite Programme (MAROTS, later MARECS)
1974: ESRO-US-Canada Aerosat agreement, creation of the European Space Agency postponed from 1974 to the first half of 1975