ABSTRACT:
The study aims to summarise the space (-related) activities performed over the last few centuries by individuals, small groups of enthusiasts and the Austrian society as a whole. It is by no means complete, but it does attempt to summarise the historical knowledge on the subject scattered across the country and lodged in people’s minds.
The first chapter traces activities starting in the 16th Century, culminating in the early twenties of the 20th Century with the mathematical proof that it is possible to reach space with rockets, to 1955 when Austria attained full sovereignty again. The second chapter follows the activities from the time when Austria, after World War II, established herself again in the community of states, to the end of the 1960s. Following the launch of Sputnik, various activities were initiated, both at the administrative level and at the science policy level. The third chapter, starting with the launch of the first hardware developed in Austria as part of the payload of a sounding rocket in Norway, is devoted to the period when Austrian scientists and engineers actively performed space research.
