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The Atsrophilately website has changed as part of the FIP multi-web project.
The new address is: astrophilately.f-i-p.ch/
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European Stamp Exhibition & Polar Salon LIBEREC 2022 13 - 16 October 2022
Liberec 2022 wiil be a Specialised European Stamp Exhibition and Polar Salon to be held at the Wellness hotel Babylon, Nitranska 1, 460 07 Lberec, Czech Republic. You will be able to enter your astrophilately exhibit into either Class 10 Astrophilately or into Class 9E Astrophilately.
FIP Astrophilately Commission Chairperson
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Luxembourg
Welcome to Andree Trommer-Schiltz our new delegate from Luxembourg.
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Vale Ben Ramkissoon
Dear friends,
This morning I got the sad notice that our friend, Dr Reuben Ramkissoon passed away at the age of 91.
Ben was the foundation US delegate to the Astrophilately Section and was an active member in the Section from 1986 to 2014.
Ben, Beatrice, Peter & George the 1st Astrophilately Section Bureau Members
He exhibited his award winning US space collection at many national and international exhibtions. His exhibit The Devlopment of the United States Lunar Exploration was invited to the Court of Honour in the Washington 2006 FIP World Exhibtion.
Ben was the leading light for Astrophilately in the US, as the president of the ATA Space Unit for many years and he wrote the Astrophilately Exhibiting section of the American Philatelic Society's Manual of Philatelic Judging.
He was a true gentleman, always ready to help.
Our thoughts are with his family.
Charles Bromser
FIP Astrophilately Commission Chairperson
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Happy 50th Birthday to KOSMOS
Congratulations to the Czech space philately society KOSMOS on its 50th anniversary. KOSMOS was founded in 1971, as a section in the Union of Czech Philatelists (SČF) and is one of the oldest space philatelic groups in the world.
KOSMOS has held four national exhibitions since 1995, three had international participation and one with FEPA recognition. The group holds regular promotional displays and produces and award winning journal.
Well done
Charles Bromser
FIP Astrophilately Commission Chairperson
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ASTROPHILATELY ONE-FRAME ENTRIES NEEDED!!!
Entries are now invited for CAPEX 22, the first International One-Frame Exhibition to be held in Toronto Canada, June 9-12, 2022 at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre.
CAPEX 22 will have up to 400 One Frame exhibits. The exhibition will also include a Literature class with both Print and Digital Literature exhibits welcome. Further information is available at www.capex22.org . A copy of the IREX is attached. (Not to be confused with the virtual exhibition Canpex 21, CAPEX 22 will be a face-to-face exhibition). CAPEX 22 is a FIAF exhibition with FIP Recognition.
As an international exhibition, exhibits entered must meet the following criteria:
- Entries awarded at least 75-points (vermeil medal) at national exhibitions since Jan 1, 2015 or which have been exhibited at exhibitions with, FIP, FIAF, FEPA or FIAP patronage, will be eligible.
- Entries awarded at least 75-points (vermeil medal) at national virtual exhibitions since Jan 1, 2020, will be eligible.
One Frame Classes: Traditional, Postal History, Postal Stationery, Aerophilately, Astrophilately, Thematic, Maximaphily, Revenue, Modern (21st Century in Traditional, Postal History, Postal Stationery or Revenue), Picture Postcard, Open, Youth and Other Non-FIP formats (First Day Covers, Charity Seals and other Cinderellas, Illustrated Mail, etc.)
CAPEX 22 frame fees are: US$125 per exhibit (one-frame), Youth entries Free and Literature entries US$80.
Entries need to be submitted using the on-line form at www.capex22.org by 30 November.
Charles Bromser
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The International Stamp Exhibition IBRA has been postponed to 2023 due to the COVID 19 virus.
Charles Bromser
FIP Astrophilately Commission Chairperson
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IBRA 2021
The next FIP International Stamp Exhibition that will have an Astrophilatelic Class is the International Stamp Exhibition IBRA 2021. The exhibition will be held in Essen (Germany), from 6-9 May. Now is the time for you to enter, I have attached the IBRA2021 ApplicationForm_engl for your convenience. We need as many exhibits as possible so please enter.
Charles Bromser
FIP Astrophilately Commission Chairperson
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London 2020 International Stamp Exhibition Postponed
In line with UK Government guidelines, it is now impossible for the London 2020 exhibition to happen in May 2020. Although all the details are not fully defined, the exhibition will
go ahead at the same venue on the earliest feasible dates available:
19 to 26 February 2022.
Frank Walton RDP FRPSL
Chairman, London 2020 Organising Committee
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Astrophilately Commission National Delegates’ Reports 2019
Australia – Charles Bromser – December 2019
Exhibitions
The China 2019 World Stamp Exhibition that was held in Wuhan had 8 Astro exhibits, that included one of the best Astrophilatelic exhibits to be shown to date, that received a Large Gold medal. The Bunbury 2019 Stamp, Coin, Banknote and Postcard Show was a National One-Frame exhibition with some 60 exhibits including 3 entries in the Astrophilately Class which received medal ranging from Large Vermeil to Large Silver. Other Astro related exhibits were from the following classes 1 Open and 2 Coins. The Singpex 2019 36th Asian International Stamp Exhibition included 1 entry in the Astrophilately Class. The Aeropex 2019 Stamp Exhibition that was held in Adelaide, with exhibits from Australia, New Zealand, China, India, Indonesia, the USA and the UK. It included three Astrophilately exhibits that were awarded 1 LG, 1 G and 1LS respectively.
Judging
I judged Astrophilately, Aerophilately, Open and One-frame exhibits during the China 2019 World Stamp Exhibition. I was the jury president for the Australian One-frame exhibition held in Bunbury. The exhibition included a One-frame Astro-Challenge that attracted three exhibits, two of which were new to the Class. During the judging at Stockholmia 2019 and Singpex 2019, I was asked to help the Astro teams with expert advice regarding their Astrophilatelic exhibits.
Mentoring
During the year, I have been mentoring exhibitors from Victoria, China, India and the USA.
Belgium – Stefan Bruylants – February 2020
After a period ‘ad interim’, I was appointed officially as the National Commissioner for Astrophilately in Belgium in May 2019. After43 years being passionate for Astrophilately, taking part in philatelic exhibitions and trained to be a FEPA jury member for Astrophilately, this was a very beautiful award for all my efforts towards Astrophilately, as well in Belgium as abroad.
My nomination as National Commissioner for Astrophilately in Belgium allows me to be heard in the international world of Astrophilately. I have very good relations with the foreign National Commissioners for Astrophilately and being part of the Board of FISA, which goal it is to defend Aerophilately and Astrophilately in these difficult periods where the number of participants in a class in previous exhibitions determines whether or not the class Astrophilately is included.
As national commissioner for Astrophilately, I try to attend as many exhibitions with Astrophilately allowed in Belgium, as well as abroad. I always motivate our Belgian astrophilatelists to take part in these exhibitions, like in 2019:
--Wetteriana2019, Wetteren(B)on15-16 June 2019
--NutsPhila, Bastogne(B)on19 October 2019
During our meetings with BFV Cosmos, I have monthly contact with the regional commissioners for Astrophilately.
For Belgian jury members, I could go along with Bart Van Oppens and he has now been appointed as apprentice-national jury member in2019.
Correspondence is done by personal contact, email, the website of BFV Cosmos and the distribution of Cosmos Express, contacts with National Commissioners Astrophilately and Astrophilately clubs in France, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Italy, Spain, Russia and the United States and the participation in international meetings of FIP, FEPA and FISA.
I sincerely want to show my gratitude to the Belgian Philatelic Federation for their trust in me and their well-appreciated support and cooperation.
China - Lin Da-An – December 2019
In 2019, the 70th anniversary of the founding of New China, the All-China Philatelic Federation and many provincial philatelic associations in China widely held philatelic exhibitions.
From June 11 to 17, 2019, the China 2019 World Stamp Exhibition was held in Wuhan, China. A total of 8 Astrophilately exhibits (4 exhibits from China) and 3 exhibits with one frame Astrophilately (all from China) were entered the World Stamp Exhibition. Walter Hopferwieser’s exhibit from Austria, From Rocket mail to Space mail, won Large Gold, from China’s Lin Da An’s exhibit, From Spaceflight Precursors to Space mail, won Gold. In the last decade or so, the China 2019 World Stamp Exhibition is the largest exhibition with Astrophilately exhibits.
From 31 July to 4 August 2019, Singpex 2019 the 36th Asian International Stamp Exhibition, was held in Singapore. Zheng Ji’s exhibit from China Launch activity of China Xichang Satellite Launch Centre won Large Silver.
From October 17 to 18, 2019, the Hunan Province Philatelic Association of China held its 18th Stamp Exhibition in Changsha. Lin Da An’s Astrophilately exhibit, From Spaceflight Precursors to Space mail, was shown in the Court of Honour.
From October 18 to 20, 2019, the Chongqing Space Philatelic Research Association hosted its 10th National Association of non-governmental Philatelic Organisations in Chongqing, in which the development of China’s space philatelic collections was discussed.
On November 23 to 24, 2019, the Tianjin Space Post Office organised a development seminar on Tianjin Base of China Aerospace Science and Technology Group Co. Ltd. Lin Da’ An made special suggestions for the post office in China’s future space station. China Post- Space Post Office and Hainan Wenchang Space Post Office and some astrophilatelic experts participated in the event. During this event, the Wen Tian 1 large simulation rocket developed by Tianjin Space Post Office carried more than 50 pieces of rocket mail, all of which were recovered successfully.
From November 29 to December 2, 2019, the Beijing Philatelic Association held the 2019 Beijing Stamp Exhibition. Huang Yuntao’s Astrophilately exhibit China’s Recoverable Spacecraft and Space mail won a Large Vermeil and Special Prize.
As of 16 December 2019, China now has 8 Space Philatelic-focused internet exchanges, bringing the total number to 2,102 members (there is some overlap between the number of personnel). Private space philatelic exchanges are also very active.
Demark - Morten Pieper- December 2019
In Denmark, we have no exhibitors collecting Astrophilately at the exhibition level. At our last national exhibition, we did not offer the Astrophilately Class as there is not registered any demands.
At the Nordia 2017, we had a large propaganda exhibition with Astrophilately but unfortunately, we have not registered any new Danish collectors for this area.
The Czech Republic – Julius Cacka – January 2020
The Society KOSMOS of the Union of Czech Philatelists caters for not only astrophilatelists but also thematic collectors and other people interested in space flight issues. The society currently has 25 members. It publishes the KOSMOS newsletter (A5 format, 44 pages, full colour) for its members three times a year, and is also sent to Italy, Austria, Germany, Slovakia and some other countries. Members of this group meet once a year in Prague. Since 1995 it has been led by Julius Cacka.
The members of the KOSMOS society are very active exhibitors, in 2019 they participated in several exhibitions both at home and abroad. Examples include the Czech national philatelic exhibition LIBEREC 2019, BELFILA 2019 Brest (Belarus), HUNFILA 2019 (Hungary), EXFILNA 2019 Santander (Spain), the European thematic philatelic championship ECTP 2019 in Verona, Italy and some others. Given the number of members, the Czech KOSMOS society is one of the most active exhibiting groups in the Czech Republic and the rest of Europe.
To promote philately, the KOSMOS society organised a total of three promotional philatelic exhibitions in 2019, dedicated to the 50th anniversary of the first human landing on the Moon. Other promotional exhibitions are being prepared for 2020, the first already on the 4th of February.
Julius Cacka, Chairman of the KOSMOS society and the Czech National Delegate of the FIP Astrophilately Section, is also the main author of the expert articles for the KOSMOS newsletter, his articles are published steadily also abroad (e.g. in Ad Astra, Italy). He is also a member of the Committee of Experts of the Union of Czech Philatelists (for the field of astrophilately) and in 2019 he was accepted as a member of the AIEP (for the field of astrophilately). He is also a member of the AIJP. He worked on the jury in 2019 at the National Philatelic Exhibition LIBEREC 2019 and at the National Philatelic Exhibition in Gmünden (Austria). In both cases, he judged the astrophilately class. In 2019, he also gave a professional lecture on astrophilately for Czech philatelists, which received a very positive response. Currently, Mr Cacka is secretary-general of the Union of Czech Philatelists and, since June 2019, also the acting chairman of the Union of Czech Philatelists.
France – Luc Delmon - December 2019
Philatelic exhibitions
French competitive exhibitions: Regional level 5 exhibitors with 6 collections (1 Vermeil, 1 Large Silver with felicitations, 4 Silver). National level: no collection this year but the Astrophil club has prepared 6 collections for 2020.
A great effort was made towards new exhibitors, i.e. Astrophil club is able to show at least 12 collections in competition and at least 4 new collections for the futures exhibitions.
Non-competitive exhibitions to promote Astrophilately
- Non-competitive exhibition during the FFAP congress in Montpellier city with the holding of a stand.
- Non-competitive exhibition during a week with a specific astrophilately area in St Medard en Jalles (33) for forty years of the Ariane launch.
- Non-competitive exhibition during a week with a specific astrophilately area in Toulouse – “Space city” (31) for the first day of issue of the Apollo 11 French stamp.
- Participation in events organised by St Medard en Jalles city: space festival Big Bang for instance.
All these exhibitions are interesting because they were visited by several philatelic personalities, some members of the clubs and these are moments of meeting with future members. The Astrophil club gained five members this year.
Promotion of Astrophilately (conferences, interviews, lectures, etc.)
- Cooperation with French societies.
The annual meeting of the French astrophilately commission of the FFAP was held with representatives from AAF, La Marianne and Astrophil clubs.
- Production of many space covers cancelled at Kourou post office and at Plesetsk and Baïkonour post offices.
- Meetings and conferences: a specific conference was organised on the theme of Kourou, including the CSG visit.
Astrophilately on the Internet
The French clubs are still updating their websites for their members and also for the philatelic or non-philatelic community, and mainly the catalogues of space covers.
Astrophilately Literature
Periodic newsletters: the French clubs are still publishing quarterly newsletters (Cosmophil and Astrophil News) for their members.
Malaysia – Tan Chee Hui – January 2020
An initiative to introduce Astrophilately to Malaysian government was done with a proposal to have a special talk entitled From Surface to Space - From Post to Philately to Malaysia Communication and Multimedia Commission. The talk was originally planned to be conducted during the World Post Day celebration. However, it was not realised due to unforeseen circumstances. Nevertheless, Malaysia Astrophilately representative is continuing the effort to realise this talk which is expected to have a major impact on the promotion of Astrophilately not only in Malaysia but the region. Hopefully, this project can be successful in 2020.
Spain – Antoni Rigo – December 2019
1.- Conferences and Presentations
1.1 Conferences
Mr Grandela held a conference in Madrid on 7 April called First Postman on the Moon
This conference (in the Spanish language) can be viewed by clicking the link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NOsCNtHjMH0
A short summary about this conference was published in the magazine El Eco nr 1286, Jul-Aug 2019.
Mr Grandela convened a conference in Sevilla on 2 October under the title First Man on the Moon Spain made it possible.
Mr Grandela’s seminar can be viewed on his website: www.grandela.com
Mr Rigo held a symposium in Palma de Mallorca on 4 October title Astrophilately: 50 years of Man on the Moon.
Mr Grandela held a conference in Zaragoza on 4 December under the title Tintin and the Moon, 50 years of a first manned mission.
1.2 Presentations
Astrophilately: a strange class of philately was presented by Mr Esteban in Alicante on 12 March.
There was a presentation in Fresnedillas de la Oliva (Madrid) on 27 June of a sheetlet issued by Correos commemorating 50th anniversary of Apollo 11.
2.- Articles
- a) In July Mr Rigo and Mr Grandela published articles called Apollo 11: safe and sound and First Man on the Moon Spain made it possible in El Eco nr 1286.
- b) In July, Spanish role in Apollo 11 mission by Mr Rigo, published on the FESOFI (Spanish Philatelic Federation) web page.
- c) In July, Mr Rigo’s Apollo 11 – 50 years of the first man on the Moon, was published on the Collecciomania blog, the official blog of Philatelic Federation of Balearic Islands.
- d) In September, Mr Rigo published “Apollo 11 – 50 years of USA stamp Man on the Moon, on Collecciomania blog.
- e) In October, Mr Esteban published Launch of an astrophilatelic stamp in Boletin Filatélico number 3 of FASFILCOVA (Philatelic Federation of Valencia).
- f) Mr Rigo, published in Collecciomania blog of November Women in space: the first four
- g) In December, Mr Rigo published in the magazine Mallorca Co.lecció an article called Apollo 11: 50th anniversary.
Exhibiting
Regional category (no competitive)
Exfilmô 2019, Maó (Menorca) 25 October -06 November
Antoni Rigo Aguilo exhibited the following One-frame exhibits The Sun, a common star, Asteroids belt, Comets, wandering celestial bodies and Observation in 1986 of Halley's comet.
Philatelic Exhibition Phila-Sens 2019 in Sens (France) 10-13 October
Jose Esteban a Two-frame exhibit 50 years of Apollo and Antoni Rigo a One-frame exhibit Apollo11: 1969 Moon target
Philatelic Exhibition DIJOUS BO 2019 in Inca (Mallorca) 11-14 November
Antoni Rigo showed a 5-frames exhibit titled Apollo 11 FDC
Permanent Exhibition
Fresnedillas de la Oliva (Madrid). Lunar Museum
Jose Grandela has several astrophilatelic covers involved with the tracking space station located in Spain as well as rubber stamp cachets applied to many covers requested by collectors from around the world.
Temporary Exhibit
Hall of Alicante University 12-15 March
Jose Esteban de la Osada showed a Tow-frame exhibit called Astrophilately.
Projected Activities for 2020
Given the historical significance of astrophilatelic material with the exact date and specific location of the space events, the purpose of this Commission is:
- a) To promote the astrophilatelic exhibits in all types of exhibitions within the philatelic area (requesting admission to the organisers of these), and non-philatelic area (with special attention to the assembly of the exhibits).
- b) Maintain and enter wherever possible, the kind of Astrophilately that is fully differentiated from the rest.
- c) To extend the knowledge of Astrophilately class disclosing it in so many situations as possible, both philatelic as well as non-philatelic.
- d) To encourage collectors interested in space research to build astrophilatelic exhibits, either as a One-frame or Three frames, as a prerequisite to go to multi frames exhibiting.
Switzerland - Chris Schmied – December 2019
As Delegate for Switzerland of the FIP Section for Astrophilately, Vice-President and part of the web-team of the Society of Space Philatelists GWP, founded in 1969 in Zurich, I can report on Astrophilately activities for 2019:
1.) The GWP held monthly meetings where we informed the members by PowerPoint and beamer about space activities and related astrophilatelic material. In January, celebrating the 50th anniversary of the Society, the Apollo 11 moon landing and of the first space mail, Swiss Astronaut and honorary member of our society Claude Nicollier, Board members of the Swiss Philatelic Society, the curator of the Air- and Space expositions in the Swiss Museum of Transport and Jürgen Esders – Astro Delegate of Germany were our guests. In December, a visit of the first German Cosmonaut Sigmund Jähn was confirmed, but he died unexpectedly in September. The GWP successfully organised two auctions with astrophilatelic material.
2.) Promotion: GWP Board and members attended several space-related events in Switzerland and Liechtenstein, mostly commemorating 50 years moon-landing. A highlight was the Starmus-Festival in Zurich, with moonwalkers, astronauts/cosmonauts, Nobel-prize winners, etc. attending. I held my lecture “Space Race” at different places in Switzerland and at the National Postal Museum of Liechtenstein in Vaduz, where also my exhibit “The First Man Steps Upon The Moon” was on display for six months. Charles Keller, treasurer of the society and Astro-Delegate of Liechtenstein, held his lecture “Moon Covers” – and Society-member Dieter Falk held his lecture “Space Mail” at the same venue. The “Air and Space Days 2019” took place at the Swiss Museum of Transport. At this event, the GWP had an info-booth and Astrophilatelic exhibits.
3.) Publications: The GWP published quarterly editions of the publication “Space Phil News”, which I am editing and printing. They ere distributed to the Swiss and Austrian members. For this special year, a special edition “50 years GWP” was created. Publications of astrophilatelic articles in the Magazine of the Swiss Philatelic Federation. The web-team of the Society’s homepage www.g-w-p.ch, regularly informs about up to date activities of the society, of the FIP Section for Astrophilately, space societies, space programmes, space/philatelic events and exhibitions.
4.) Exhibitions: In 2019, we put several exhibits on display on many promotional exhibitions. International level FIP exhibitions: “CHINA 2019” in Wuhan (China). Two 5-frame exhibits obtained V Promotional exhibitions: At the National Postal Museum in Vaduz (FL), we had a 6 months platform to promote Astrophilately. A 5-frame exhibit, several Apollo Moon-covers and several Space-Mail covers were shown. Over 62’000 people paid to see the exhibition. Aerophilately Days in Dübendorf (CH): The society made 5-frame exhibit was displayed. At the “Phila-Festival” in Brig (CH), 10 exhibits were on display to mark the presence of Astrophilately. That adds up to 2 exhibits at 1 competitive exhibition and 10 exhibits at promotional exhibitions. In 2020, I intend to maintain the efforts to encourage the members of the Swiss Society of Space Philately to create new exhibits or to improve their exhibits and continue exhibiting to reach International level. I will continue my contacts to the Astrophilatelic societies and to the National Delegates of the FIP-Commission for Astrophilately in the FEPA countries. I will encourage also them to create new Astrophilatelic exhibits, to improve their existing exhibits and to exhibit them. We intend to redesign and modernise our homepage www.g-w-p.ch. Furthermore, it is intended to keep the same yearly programme and remaining open for special challenges
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The Astrophilately Commission will hold a Conference meeting during the London 2020 International Stamp Exhibition.
The meeting will be held on Monday, 4 May 2020 from 14:00 - 15:50.
We will need 25% of our delegates to be present or represented by a proxy.
The meeting needs to endorse our new Guidelines so that they can be forwarded to the FIP Board for ratification.
I look forward to catching up with our delegates in London.
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Congratulations to Walter & Lin Da'An with their Large Gold & Gold respectively
The China 2019 World Stamp Exhibition Astrophilately results:
| ASTROPHILATELY | ||||||
| Country | No Frames | Title | Lname | Total | Medal | |
| Austria | 8 | From Pioneer rocket mail to space mail | Hopferwieser | Walter | 95 | LG |
| China | 5 | Shenzhou spaceships | Wang | Ruowei | 87 | LV |
| China | 8 | From spaceflight precursors to space mail | Lin | Da'an | 91 | G |
| China | 5 | Shenzhou spacecraft | Guo | Yanming | 83 | V |
| China | 5 | China manned spaceflight & deep space exploration | Chen | Ensheng | 80 | V |
| Russia | 5 | Vladimir Dzhanibekov Cosmonaut Artist | Kirillov | Vasiliy | 73 | S |
| Switzerland | 5 | Manned space station | Leu | Ernst | 80 | V |
| Switzerland | 5 | The first man steps on the moon | Schmied | Chris | 82 | V |
Charles Bromser
FIP Astrophilately Commission Chairperson
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Astro Update - May 2019
Eight exhibits were selected for the Astrophilately Class for the China 2019 World Stamp Exhibition next month.
1 - Austria
4 - China
1 - Russia
2- Switzerland
Charles Bromser
FIP Astrophilately Commission Chairperson
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Astro Update - April 2019
Hot off the press, Walter Hopferwieser's English version of his magnum opus, Pioneer Rocket Mail & Space Mail compendium and catalogue. A must for any serious astrophilatelic collector. 540 pages in full colour.
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FIP Qualifying Seminar -
There will be a FIP qualifying seminar held during the China 2019 World Philatelic Exhibition in Wuhan on 14 June 2019 from 14:00 - 15:30.
Charles Bromser
FIP Astrophilately Commission Chairperson
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Astro Update - March 2019
FIP Accredited Astrophilately Jurors List
Charles Bromser
FIP Astrophilately Commission Chairperson
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Astro Update - January 2019
The FIP Astrophilately Section is now a Commission.
I passed the cross-accreditation for Astrophilately during Bangkok 2018 World Stamp Exhibition and successfully completed the 3-day training at the FIP Jury Academy.
Charles Bromser
FIP Astrophilately Commission Chairperson
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Astro Update - December 2018
Richard Tan will be the new FIP Board Coordinator for the Astrophilately Commission.
The FIP Astrophilately Section - Delegates’ Meeting approved a new set of Guidelines. The draft has been sent to the FIP Board for ratification. Many national federations still need to appoint a delegate to the Astrophilately Section. After the meeting, we held a seminar on preparing an Astrophilately exhibit.
There will be a national one-frame Astrophilately challenge at the Bunbury Stamp, Coin & Banknote Show 2019. The exhibition will be held over two days, 20-21 July 2019 in Bunbury, Western Australia. The venue will be the South West Italian Club, 20 White Street East Bunbury. Further details, prospectus and entry form are available from the West Australian Philatelic Council website.
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Astro Update - November 2018
FIP Astrophilately Section - Delegates’ Meeting - Bangkok 2018
Friday 30th November 2018 at 17:00 – Meeting Room 4 - Asia Hotel, Bangkok
Agenda:
1) Welcome by the Chairperson
2) Roll call
3) Activity report 2016-2018
5) New Guidelines for Astrophilately
- Context/objective/approach to the changes made.
- Longer term ambitions of eliminating the SREV
- Approval of Astro Guidelines by vote*
6) Short seminar (time permitting)
7) Any other business
8) Closing of the meeting
*) In-person or please feel free to delegate your voting right to another person representing your member country. However, please note that this person must hold a formal proxy document signed by your federation and/or you as the official delegate. Anyone person may only hold one proxy.
Charles Bromser
FIP Astrophilately Section Chairperson
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Astro Update - November 2018
CHINA 2019 FIP GENERAL WORLD STAMP EXHIBITION
Date: June 11 -17, 2019
Venue: Wuhan City, Hubei Province, China
Competitive Classes: FIP Championship Class, Traditional Philately, Postal History, Postal
Stationery, Aerophilately, Astrophilately, Thematic, Maximaphily, Revenue,
Modern Philately, Open Philately, Picture Postcards (Experimental), Youth
Philately, One Frame Exhibits and Philatelic Literature.
Frames: 2,500 frames
CHINA 2019 letter of invitation to nominate National Commissioners and Jurors will be issued on
the first week of November 2018. All National Commissioners are advised to fly direct to Wuhan
City. When this is not possible, then please make a transit via Hong Kong, Singapore or Bangkok
which have a direct connection to Wuhan City. The China customs checkpoint for CHINA 2019
exhibits in n Wuhan City only.
We now look forward to receiving some 20 Astrophilately entries for China 2019.
Good collecting.
Charles Bromser
FIP Astrophilately Section Chairperson
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Astro Update - September 2018
The Specialised Astrophilatelic Exhibition in Lanzhou was a great success with some 143 frames of astrophilately.
The exhibits were of a high standard with three Gold, four Large Vermeil, four Vermeil, five Large Silver, five Silver, two Silver-Bronze and two Bronze Awards.
We had 40 people attending the Astro seminar.
We now look forward to receiving some 20 Astrophilately entries for China 2019 to be held in Wuhan next year.
Good collecting.
Charles Bromser
FIP Astrophilately Section Chairperson
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Astro Update - September 2018
We held a Bureau meeting at the Praga 2018 International Exhibition. The members discussed revising the SREV and Guidelines. We want to have the revised Guidelines available for the Section meeting, that will be held during the Thailand 2018 International Stamp Exhibition in December.
(Walter Hopferwieser, Julius Cacka, Umberto Cavallaro, Chris Schmied, Charles Bromser, Madhukar Jhingan)
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Astro Update - September 2018
The Bureau unanimously decided to bestow a "Life-Time Achievement" award upon Beatrice Bachmann for her work in establishing Astrophilately as a FIP Class and her tireless efforts in championing Astrophilately as Chairperson of the Section for over thirty years.
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Astro Update - July 2018
There will be a National Astrophilately and Thematic Philately exhibition in Lanzhou, China from 15-18 September with an Astrophilately Seminar on September 16.
Good collecting.
Charles Bromser
FIP Astrophilately Section Chairperson
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Astro Update - April 2018
The Australian National Exhibition to include an Astro Challenge for the 50th anniversary of the Moon, in July 2019. The Challenge could include exhibits in the following classes: Astrophilately, Astro Maximaphily, Astro Picture Post Cards, Astro Open and Astro Subject. The exhibition will be held in Bunbury, Western Australia.
Good collecting.
Charles Bromser
FIP Astrophilately Section Chairperson
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Astro Update - January 2018
THAILAND 2018
The entry forms for THAILAND 2018 World Stamp Exhibition are now available from their website: www.thailand2018.org .
Your national commissioner should also have copies. So take up our challenge, download the entry form and send the completed form to your national commissioner.
Remember we need as many entries as possible, our target is 15 entries.
Good collecting.
Charles Bromser
FIP Astrophilately Section Chairperson
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Astro Update - Jan 2018
Dear friends,
This morning I got the sad notice that our friend, Vyacheslav Klochko passed away. He suffered from brain cancer.
Vyacheslav Klochko was the leading expert for Space Mail from Star City near Moscow and an enthusiastic Astrophilatelic judge.
We will miss him very much.
Goodbye, Slava!
Charles Bromser
FIP Astrophilately Section Chairperson
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Astro Update - Jan 2018
THAILAND 2018 International Stamp Exhibition
The next international exhibition to include an Astrophilately Class will be THAILAND 2018 which will be held in Bangkok from 28 November to 3 December.
It will be your chance to Astrophilately back on track. We need your exhibit, so please contact your national federation to find out, who is your national commissioner and complete the entry form.
Good collecting
Charles Bromser
FIP Astrophilately Section Chairperson
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Astro Update - May 2017
Finlandia 2017 was an interesting exhibition. I met with two of our European delegates, Jürgen Peter Esders (Germany) and Chris Schmied (Switzerland) to discuss various ideas to bring new life to the Astrophilately.
The great exhibits of the 1990s have, in the main, have been sold, whilst after Portugal 2010 we saw fewer and fewer Astro exhibits at FIP exhibitions, today most FIP exhibition do not even offer Astrophilately as a competitive class.
Chris Jürgen Charles
The only way forward for Astrophilately is to attract a new wave of Astro exhibitors through making our class more attractive for today’s collectors.
The key proposals were to update the Astro Guidelines to include:
Pre- & Post Flight strategic events such as: Wind Tunnel, Roll-Out, etc. covers
In-flight events: EVAs & Onboard experiments that could be illustrated with contemporaneous stamps & stationery related to the flight
Addition of modern Space programmes (India, Europe, & Private consortiums)
Studies of covers cachets makers
The inclusion of Official Publicity photographs
The next FIP exhibition that will have an Astrophilately Class will be Malaysia 2018 to held in Kuala Lumpur from 10-16 December. Our challenge will be to get 15 Astro exhibits accepted.
Please send your ideas on how to attract a new wave of Astro exhibitors to our Secretary, (Tan, Chee-Hui), and also let him know if you will be taking up the challenge to exhibit at Malaysia 2017.
Good collecting
Charles Bromser
FIP Astrophilately Section Chairperson
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After the International Exhibition in Tampere, Finland next May 29, there will be a meeting of all the FIP Commission Chairs and Secretaries to share ideas and experiences. The FIP Board would us to have regular catch ups to improve communication and cooperation across the Commissions. Let our Secretary (Tan, Chee-Hui) know if you have any matters that you would like discussed at the meeting.
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The Bureau now has its full complement of seven members after Jürgen Peter Esders (Germany) and Walter Hopferwieser (Austria) were co-opted.
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At the FIP Congress that was held during Taipei 2016 World Championship Stamp Exhibition the Astrophilately Section met to elect the members for the Bureau for the period 2016-2018.
The new Bureau comprises of:
Chairperson
: Charles Bromser 
Secretary: Tan Chee-Hui
FEPA Member: Chris Schmied 
FIAF Member: David S. Ball
FIAP Member: Madhukar Jhingan
