1 December - Intergovernmental conference at Meyrin, Switzerland, setting up a European Preparatory Commission for Space Research (COPERS)

1962

29 March - Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom and Australia (associate member) sign in London the Convention creating the European Launcher Development Organisation (ELDO)

14 June - Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom sign in Paris the Convention creating the European Space Research Organisation (ESRO)

1968

17 May - Launch of ESRO 2B intended to study cosmic rays and solar X-rays, the first successful satellite launch by ESRO

1971

20 December - First Package Deal which permitted ESRO to pursue application programmes

1973

12 and 31 July - Second Package Deal: The European Space Conference (ESC) meeting in Brussels decides the start of three new programmes: Spacelab, Ariane and Marots and the creation of the European Space Agency (ESA)

1975

30 May Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany (Federal Republic), Italy, the Netherlands, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom sign the Convention on the establishment of ESA

9 August - Launch of COS-B, first ESA mission to study gamma-ray sources

31 December - Ireland signs the ESA Convention and becomes ESA's 11th Member State

1977

Establishment of the EUTELSAT (European Telecommunications Satellite Organization), an intergovernmental organisation by PTT administrations in Europe

23 November - Meteosat-1 was launched on a Thor Delta rocket from Cape Canaveral

1978

11 May - Launch of OTS-2 (Orbital Test Satellite-2), ESA's first comsat

1979

1 January - The first five-year cooperation agreement between Canada and ESA came into effect

24 December - The first Ariane is launched from the Guiana Space Centre  
 
1980

26 March - Arianespace, the world's first commercial space transportation company is created

3 July - Decision to upgrade Ariane to Ariane 3 designed to launch two satellites into GTO

1983

28 November - First Spacelab launch with Ulf Merbold, ESA's first astronaut on board the US Space Shuttle

1985

30-31 January - ESA Ministerial Council in Rome: ministers approve the start of preparatory work on the Ariane 5 launch vehicle

1986

13-14 March - Successful historic encounter of Giotto with Comet Halley

June - The Eumetsat Convention enters into force

1987

1 January - Austria and Norway become the 12th and 13th ESA Member States

9-10 November - ESA Ministerial Council in The Hague: ministers approve the development of Ariane 5

1988

29 September - Memorandum of Understanding on cooperation in the design, and development of the Space Station Freedom signed by ESA and NASA in Washington

15 June - Ariane 4 launched for the first time
 
 
1991

17 July - Launch of ERS-1

1995

1 January - Finland becomes the 14th ESA Member State

20 April - Launch of ERS-2

18-20 October - ESA Ministerial Council in Toulouse, France: ministers agree on the funding of Europe's contribution to the ISS

1996

4 June - Ariane 5's first test flight (Flight 501) fails and causes the loss of four Cluster spacecraft

1997

15 October - Cassini-Huygens launched from Cape Canaveral

1999

11-12 May - ESA Ministerial Council in Brussels which approved investments in major new programmes in the areas of telecommunications, navigation including the definition phase for the Galileo programme (in partnership with the European Union), and Earth observation

10 December - Launch of XMM-Newton by Ariane 5
 
 
2000

1 January - Portugal becomes ESA's 16th Member State

15 December - Approval of the development of the small launcher Vega

2002

1 March - Launch of Envisat by Ariane 5

28 August - Launch of MSG-1 by Ariane 5

11 December - First launch of Ariane 5 ECA (failure)

2003

15 February - Last flight of an Ariane 4 after 116 flights

7 April - Hungary becomes first European Cooperating State

2 June - Mars Express, Europe's first mission to the 'Red Planet', launched from Baikonur

27 September - SMART-1, Europe's first mission to the Moon, launched by Ariane 5

25 November - Signature of the Framework Agreement between ESA and the European Community in Brussels

2004

4 February - Approval of the programme to build a complex at the Guiana Space Centre for commercial Soyuz launches

2 March - Launch of Rosetta from Kourou

24 November - Czech Republic becomes second ESA European Cooperating State

25 November - First ESA/EU 'Space Council' in Brussels

2005

14 January - Historic landing of Huygens probe on Titan

12 February - First successful launch of Ariane 5 ECA

16 March - Greece becomes ESA 16th Member State

30 June - Luxembourg becomes ESA’s 17th Member State

9 November - Venus Express launched from Baikonur on a Starsem Soyuz-Fregat launcher

5/6 December - ESA Ministerial Council meeting in Berlin

28 December - Launch of first Galileo test satellite (GIOVE-A)

2006

27 February - Romania becomes third ESA European Cooperating State

19 October - Launch of MetOp-A from Baikonur

2007

26 February - Inauguration of Soyuz launch pad in Kourou. BepiColombo, the mission to explore planet Mercury, definitively 'adopted' by ESA’s Science Programme Committee

4 May - Poland becomes fourth ESA European Cooperating State

22 May - A consensus of 29 ESA/EU countries adopt a Resolution on European Space Policy

23 October - ESA astronaut Paolo Nespoli and Node-2 module launched to ISS
 
 
2008

11 February - Columbus installed on ISS

9 March - ESA launches first ATV resupply spacecraft to ISS

27 April - Launch of ESA's second Galileo In-Orbit Validation Element satellite GIOVE-B

9 June - Slovenia signs Cooperation Agreement with ESA

12 November - Czech Republic becomes 18th official ESA Member State

25/26 November - ESA Ministerial Council in The Hague

2009

20 May - Six new ESA astronauts selected: two Italian, one French, one Dane, one German and one British.

29 May - Sixth 'Space Council', Brussels
 
 
Last update: 17 June 2009