European Launcher Development Organisation - Launch of a Europa rocket in Woomera, Australia

A photograph from the collections of the European Launcher Development Organisation (ELDO) showing the launch of a "Europa" rocket in Australia. With ink stamp "Werkaufnahme…" on the reverse. This is a rare color photograph from the 1960s, still on real (Agfa) paper, and not on plastic paper.

AGE: c. 1964
PROCESS: chromogenic print on fiber-based AGFA paper
DIMENSIONS: 23.8 x 17.5 cm
CONDITION: very minor corner wear, otherwise very good to excellent.

The Europa rocket was an early expendable launch system of the European Launcher Development Organisation (ELDO), which was the precursor to the European Space Agency (ESA). It was developed with the aim to delivering space access technology, and more specifically to facilitate the deployment of European-wide telecommunication and meteorological satellites into orbit.