The pioneering years - the early history of European space programmes pre-1970; the Europa debacle - the failure of the Europa rocket programme; Ariane, from drawing board to launchpad - the development of the Ariane programme through the 1970s; early scientific satellites - scientific satellite projects pre-1980; early communications and weather satellites - communications and weather satellites pre-1980; Ariane, the commercial challenge - the commercialization of Ariane in the 1980s; Spacelab - Spacelab and the European manned space programme; remote sensing, comets and the lure of Mars - the Spot earth observation programme, the Giotto Halley probe and the exploration of Mars; the telecommunications satellites in the 1980s; satellite television - television satellites in the direct broadcast age; the French manned spce programme - French astronauts on the Soviet and US space programmes; satellites and probes in the 1990 - developments in telecommunications, scientific and military satellites and planetary probes; shuttles, space stations and politics - Ariane 5,Hermes, Columbus and the 1987 Hague ministerial meeting; the international scene and the way forward - international competition, hypersonic space plane projects and prospects for European space ventures beyond the year 2000.
