Issued by France in 1967, this striking 0.60 franc commemorative stamp honors Robert Esnault-Pelterie (1881–1957), a pioneering French aviation and spaceflight theorist. The design by Pierre Gandon portrays Esnault-Pelterie in profile against a starry cosmic background, symbolizing his visionary contributions to rocketry and astronautics. To the left, a rocket ascending into space highlights his early theoretical work on space propulsion, while a satellite on the right represents the realization of his futuristic ideas.

Esnault-Pelterie was among the first to propose space travel concepts based on scientific reasoning, influencing later rocket engineers such as Goddard, Oberth, and Tsiolkovsky. This stamp bridges France’s early aeronautical achievements with the dawning space age of the 1960s.