The Austrian Space Agency, officially known since 2005 as the Aeronautics and Space Agency (German: Agentur für Luft- und Raumfahrt), is an

organization An organization or organisation (Commonwealth English; see spelling differences), is an entity—such as a company, an institution, or an association—comprising one or more people and having a particular purpose. The word is derived from ...

whose purpose is to coordinate Austrian

space exploration Space exploration is the use of astronomy and space technology to explore outer space. While the exploration of space is carried out mainly by astronomers with telescopes, its physical exploration though is conducted both by robotic spacec ...

-related activities. It has been involved in both national programs and multinational efforts coordinated via the

European Space Agency , owners = , headquarters = Paris, Île-de-France, France , coordinates = , spaceport = Guiana Space Centre , seal = File:ESA emblem seal.png , seal_size = 130px , image = Views in the Main Control Room (1205 ...

(ESA). The Austrian Space Agency was established in 1972, its headquarters is located in

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

. On 1 January 1987, Austria became a member state of the ESA. The agency is notable for coordinating the first space flight of an Austrian, that of

engineer Engineers, as practitioners of engineering, are professionals who invent, design, analyze, build and test machines, complex systems, structures, gadgets and materials to fulfill functional objectives and requirements while considering the l ...

Franz Viehböck Franz Artur Viehböck (born 24 August 1960 in Vienna) is an Austrian electrical engineering, electrical engineer and cosmonaut, who became the first Austrian to fly in space. He visited the Mir space station in 1991 aboard Soyuz TM-13, returning ...

with a

Soviet The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...

Soyuz spacecraft Soyuz () is a series of spacecraft which has been in service since the 1960s, having made more than 140 flights. It was designed for the Soviet space program by the Korolev Design Bureau (now Energia). The Soyuz succeeded the Voskhod spacecraf ...

, during 1990.

History

Background

Prior to the formation of the Austrian Space Agency, Austria had been actively involved in space activities. During the late 1950s and 1960s, the nation opted to increasingly involve itself in numerous international space-orientated committees, typically via the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and international security, security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be ...

. Austrian delegates coordinated with international counterparts to formulate numerous early treaties and establish laws related to the use of space. The Austrian government also developed an interest in promoting space-based activities, particularly its domestic efforts. During early 1961, the nation was involved in talks towards founding the

European Space Research Organisation The European Space Research Organisation (ESRO) was an international organisation founded by 10 European nations with the intention of jointly pursuing scientific research in space. It was founded in 1964. As an organisation ESRO was based on a ...

(ESRO); upon its founding three years later, Austria opted for observer status. This was reportedly due to a lack of an agreement on the nation's financial contributions. The Austrian government did not involve itself in the

European Launcher Development Organisation 250px, Europa II 200px, Rolls-Royce''RZ-12'' 200px, ''Coralie'' 200px, ''Astris'' The European Launcher Development Organisation (ELDO) is a former European space research organisation. It was first developed in order to establish a satelli ...

(ELDO) initiative; this is primarily due to it being a violation of the

Austrian State Treaty The Austrian State Treaty (german: Österreichischer Staatsvertrag ) or Austrian Independence Treaty re-established Austria as a sovereign state. It was signed on 15 May 1955 in Vienna, at the Schloss Belvedere among the Allied occupying po ...

. While the nation was not a full member of the ESRO, several figures within Austria were keen to pursue a more active role in space activities. In May 1962, the Austrian Astronautical Society was established to launch scale model rockets with a vision towards future programmes. Between 1967 and 1972, the society represented Austria at the

International Astronautical Federation The International Astronautical Federation (IAF) is an international space advocacy organization based in Paris, and founded in 1951 as a non-governmental organization to establish a dialogue between scientists around the world and to lay t ...

, ceasing in this role following its replacement by the Austrian Space Agency. The formation of the Austrian Space Agency had been first proposed in 1962. In May 1968, the

Austrian Federal Ministry for Foreign Affairs Austrian may refer to: * Austrians, someone from Austria or of Austrian descent ** Someone who is considered an Austrian citizen, see Austrian nationality law * Austrian German dialect * Something associated with the country Austria, for example: ...

established a committee to investigate the possibility. Following the establishment of the Federal Ministry for Science and Research in 1970, a task force to realise the envisioned agency was put together. During 1972, the Austrian Space Agency was established.

Active years

The Austrian Space Agency's stated long-term goal has been to strengthen the international standing of Austrian industry, business and science in space-based technologies to achieve economic and technological development, as well as to look after the growth of the Austrian aerospace sector. One function of the agency is the implementation of national aerospace policy, as well as to represent Austria on various international aerospace committees. During 1975, Austria began actively participating in the

(ESA), the successor to the ESRO. During 1981, Austria was recognised as an associate member of the ESA. On 1 January 1987, the country formally became a full member of the ESA. Austria's involvement with the ESA activities extended beyond mandatory activities, such as space science, technology, and study programmes, into various optional programmes, including

Earth observation Earth observation (EO) is the gathering of information about the physical, chemical, and biological systems of the planet Earth. It can be performed via remote-sensing technologies (Earth observation satellites) or through direct-contact sensors ...

and

microgravity The term micro-g environment (also μg, often referred to by the term microgravity) is more or less synonymous with the terms ''weightlessness'' and ''zero-g'', but emphasising that g-forces are never exactly zero—just very small (on the I ...

research,

space infrastructure Human presence in space is about humanity in space, particularly about all anthropogenic presence in space and human activity in space, that is in outer space and in a broader sense also on any extraterrestrial astronomical body. Humans have ...

and scientific experiment development, along with space navigation and telecommunications projects. Austria has pursued bilateral cooperative projects with various international partners. During 1989, Austria came to an agreement with the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...

for a common Austrian-Soviet spaceflight; this led to

becoming the first Austrian citizen to experience space flight, having conducted a mission on board a

to the

Mir ''Mir'' (russian: Мир, ; ) was a space station that operated in low Earth orbit from 1986 to 2001, operated by the Soviet Union and later by Russia. ''Mir'' was the first modular space station and was assembled in orbit from 1986 to&n ...

space station A space station is a spacecraft capable of supporting a human crew in orbit for an extended period of time, and is therefore a type of space habitat. It lacks major propulsion or landing systems. An orbital station or an orbital space station i ...

during the following year. Other Austrian-Soviet cooperative efforts resulted in Austria developing numerous scientific instruments for probes, leading to its involvement in a range of missions. Other nations that Austria has conducted bilateral projects with include Norway,

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...

, France, Switzerland, and Germany.

References

External links

Website

Austria in Space
{{Public sector space agencies Government of Austria Scientific organisations based in Austria Space agencies 1972 establishments in Austria Space program of Austria

History

Background

Active years

See also

References

External links