— A new coin encapsulates Switzerland's contributions to Europe's efforts to expand beyond the planet.

The "European Space Agency ESA" 20-franc silver coin was released Thursday (June 11) by Swissmint, the official mint of the Swiss Confederation. The limited issue is part of the mint's "special" coin series, which "illustrate the life, history and memories of Switzerland" and are aimed at collectors.

The obverse, or heads side, of the ESA coin depicts Earth, the moon and Mars surrounded by "European Space Agency" and the motto of the agency's Strategy 2040, "Elevating the future of Europe."

Earth has Europe in view with Switzerland at its center. Switzerland is a founding member of the European Space Agency and is active in almost of its programs.

Switzerland's contribution to the ESA enables Swiss universities and industrial companies to take part in international space missions and to play leading roles in them," reads a Swissmint release announcing the availability of the new coin.

Perhaps most prominently, two Swiss citizens have been selected for ESA's astronaut corps. Claude Nicollier became the first person from Switzerland to fly into space in 1992 and he is a veteran of four U.S. space shuttle missions. Marco Sieber was selected in 2022 with ESA's fourth class of candidates and is awaiting his first assignment.

The coin was released the same week that the first ESA astronaut (Luca Parmitano of Italy) was named to fly as part of NASA's Artemis program, which aims to establish a moon base with its commercial and international partners.

The reverse of the coin shows the upper section of an Ariane 6 rocket, including the payload fairings that were developed and manufactured by Beyond Gravity Switzerland. The protective nose cone shields satellites and other payloads from being damaged during the ascent to space and then divide into sections (in the case of the Ariane 6, two halves) as they jettisoned.

Arianespace, the aerospace company that operates the Ariane 6, is about a week out from the scheduled eighth launch of the heavy-lift rocket, this time in a more powerful configuration. The LE-03 mission will place 36 satellites for the Amazon Leo constellation into low Earth orbit.

In addition to Beyond Gravity (with sites in Zurich, Emmen and Nyon), Aigle-base APCO Technologies also provides components for the Ariane 6 and its ground support equipment.

Around the border of the coin's reverse is inscribed the face value of CHF 20; the official Latin name for the Swiss Confederation, "Confoederatio Helvetica"; 2026 and the mint mark "B" for Swissmint.

The ESA coin is the second space-themed special coin since 1936, according to Swissmint's online archive. In 2019, a similar 20-franc silver coin was issued in honor of the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing.

The European Space Agency ESA coin will be released as a limited edition, including 8,000 in uncirculated quality in the blister for CHF 65 (about $81 U.S.) and 3,500 coins in proof quality in presentation cases for CHF 110 (about $137.50 U.S.). The 33mm-diameter coins are struck from 20 grams of 99.9% pure silver.

Sales begins at 8:00 a.m. Central European Time (2:00 a.m EDT or 0600 GMT) on Thursday via the Swissmint online shop. Swissmint does ship to the U.S., but it may become available through the mint's exclusive distributor, Parthava Coin.