First 'Space Rarities' auction
The countdown has begun! For the inauguration of the 'Spacebrains' foundation, the first ever official auction of ESA space-related items will be held in Paris, France, on Yuri's Night, 12 April 2019.
On Yuri's Night, at 19.00, the Spacebrains foundation has directed Paris-based auction house Artcurial to sell a set of 16 lots related to the European space adventure, gathered by ESA, with most items having flown on space missions.
This is an unusual way to celebrate the 58th anniversary of Gagarin's Vostok 1 mission, the first flight of a human in space, because this will be a new opportunity to acquire items with the heritage of international space missions.
Spacebrains is a new initiative supported by ESA, a non-profit association created in August 2018 with a new approach, aiming to be the beacon that monetises such wealth to offer a unique opportunity for daring ideas that link space to disruptive technologies, supporting young European researchers and entrepreneurs with futuristic projects in the space field.
For this first auction, 16 lots of a wide range of items are presented, each unique and accessible only in the context of this sale, be it a space stamp franked on board the Mir space station, flown space patches, one of Ariane 5's booster bolts recovered from the Atlantic Ocean, the full scale model of Cupola (the European-built panorama window module installed on the International space station), one of the five flown Omega Speedmaster X33 Skywalker watches, or an official manufacturer's Exomars spacecraft model.
The auction will be preceded by a public exhibition from 30 March to 9 April at Artcurial, 7 rond-point des Champs-Elysées, Paris. Download the catalogue.
The auction is organised by the Spacebrains foundation and all profits generated by this sale will be used by the foundation to support young European researchers and entrepreneurs with projects in the space field. ESA receives no financial compensation from this auction and subsequent sales.
