Belgium 2 Euro 2018 Esro-2B Coloured

May 1968 was an important milestone for European space travel. On May 16, 1968 the first European satellite was successfully put into orbit around the earth. This was the ESRO-2B. Previous attempts to launch a satellite successfully failed. The ESRO (European Space Research Organisation) was founded in 1964 and later merged into the ESA (European Space Agency). The Esro-2B satellite had a weight of more than 100 kilos and the purpose of the mission was to get a picture of the magnetic field and the cosmic radiation around the earth. In the year 2018 it will be 50 years since the ESRO-2B Satellite was launched and in memory of this, Belgium has issued a special 2 Euro coin. On the face of this coloured 2 Euro coin the brown Esro-2B Satellite is depicted in orbit around the earth. The earth is perfectly coloured. The solar cells on the outside of the Satellite and the cross dipole on the bottom of the Satellite are clearly shown. Below the satellite are the letters IRIS (International Radiation Investigation Satellite). At the top of the coin is the name of the satellite æESRO-2BÆ coloured red, below which are the coloured years 1968 (black) and 2018 (yellow). At the bottom of the coin are the letters BE, the abbreviation of Belgium. Next to these letters the mint marks are shown. The coin is packaged in a plastic coin capsule.