France is commemorating the 50th anniversaries of International Geophysical Year (IGY) and the "conquest" of space by Sputnik with a special philatelic issuance.

To commemorate the fiftieth anniversary of IGY, which was launched July 1st 1957, France has produced a special pre-stamped envelope with a special temporary cancellation that was in use July 1st, 2007.

On October 4, 2007, a stamp will be issued in France to commemorate the fiftieth anniversary of the beginning of the "space conquest" by Sputnik.
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The "space race" really started in October 1954, when the International Council of Scientific Unions (ICSU) - the initiator of IGY - adopted a resolution calling for artificial satellites to be launched during the IGY to map the Earth's surface and study the upper atmosphere. On October 4th 1957, the Soviet Union successfully launched the Sputnik. Some months later, the United States launched the Explorer, on January 31, 1958. The space age had begun.

An international exhibition on polar philately will take place in Dinard (Brittany, France) in November 2007. A special part will focus on the "postal" history of the last three International Polar Years.

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