1997

1 January 1997 : establishment of the new structures for telecommunications regulations (ART, ANF...)

1 January 1997 : Bruno Lasserre is assigned an international mission

From 1 January 1997 : granting of licenses to operators of non-mobile telephone services. These licenses can be used from 1 January 1998.

9 January 1997 : France Télécom signed its first social accord as a limited company

9 January 1997 : an interministerial group restrains SPOT. Return to operation of the SPOT 1 satellite.

14 January 1997 : the new version of the draft decree on interconnection is made public

25 January/1 February 1997 : François Fillon in China: telecommunications and Franco-Chinese cooperation in the space sector

28 January 1997 : launch of GE 2 (USA) and Nahuel 1 A (Argentina) satellites by Ariane V93

Mid-February 1997 : meeting of the Senior Official Group, GNSS in Brussels

19 February 1997 : meeting of the Board of directors of the CNES in Toulouse

20 February 1997 : draft audiovisual bill adopted by the Senate after its first read

28 February 1997 : the Authority for the regulation of telecommunications (ART) made public its considerations on the interconnection decree

1 March 1997 : launch of Intelsat 801 satellite by Ariane V94 (23rd launch in 23 months!)

3 March 1997 : results of the Inquiry Board on the loss of the SPOT 3 satellite

4 March 1997 : publication in the Official Journal of the interconnection decree

4 March 1997 : meeting of the ESA Board at ministerial level in Liege, Belgium. Continuation and conclusion of the ESA Board meeting in Toulouse in October 1995

5 March 1997 : draft of a National Internet Charter presented to F.Fillon by A.Beaussant

6 March 1997 : Council of European telecommunications ministers

11 March 1997 : release of J.C. Bourdier's report, "Multimedia and the press"

13 March 1997 : Governmental seminar on measures announced (including those concerning multimedia) by Jacques Chirac 10 March

17-19 March 1997 : 2nd conference on space debris at the ESOC, a European Space Agency establishment.

19 March 1997 : presentation of the new ordinary stamp, "Marianne du 14 juillet"

17-20 March 1997 : 3rd ERS (Earth Resource Satellite) in Florence, Italy

19-20 March 1997 : meeting of the Board of the European Space Agency (ESA) in Paris

20 March 1997 : draft audiovisual bill adopted, after its first reading by parliament

27 March 1997 : launch of the STS-83/Microgravity Science Lab shuttle, with a European Space Agency (ESA) load. Duration 16 days.

April 1997 : publication of interconnection tariffs for France Télécom's networks

11 April 1997 : launch of the Thaicom 3 (Thailand) and B SAT 1A (Japan) satellites by Ariane V95

6 May 1997 : launch of the Panamsat 6 (USA) satellite by Ariane V96

6 May 1997 : sale of France Télécom shares, beginning of reservation period

15-24 May 1997 : mission STS-84, Shuttle-Mir, with a European Space Agency (ESA) astronaut

9 June 1997 : sale of France Télécom shares, first quote on the Paris and New York stock exchanges

29 May 1997 : launch of the InMarchat 3-F4 and INSAT 2D (India) satellites by Ariane V97

29 May 1997 : Council of European telecommunications ministers

27 May 1997 to 2 June : sale of France Télécom shares, fixed price offer

15-22 June 1997 : Bourget 1997 trade fair

mid-September 1997 : second Ariane qualification flight (Ariane 502) (A502)

10 September 1997 : launch of the STS-86 shuttle with an ARP load (3rd and final demonstration flight)

6 October 1997 : launch of Cassini/Huygens by a Titan IV rocket of the Kennedy Space Centre (KSC) in Florida (USA)

27 November 1997 : launch of the first ISS element, the Russian Energy module by a Proton rocket.

© Secretary of State for industry - France