ESRO logo

The logo of the European Space Research Organisation (ESRO). ESRO's draft convention was laid before an intergovernmental conference in Paris on the 14 and 15 June, 1962. It entered into force on 20 March 1964, the official birth date of ESRO. The first ESRO Council meeting took place on 23/24 March 1964. The ten founding states were Belgium, Denmark, France, the Federal Republic of Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom. Two other countries that were originally engaged in the deliberations over the formation of ESRO, Austria and Norway, retained observer status.