The Prix Jules Janssen is the highest award of the Société astronomique de France (SAF), the French astronomical society.

[1] The first recipient of the prize was Camille Flammarion, the founder of the Société astronomique de France, in 1897.

The prize has been continuously awarded since then with the exception of the two World Wars.

Non-French recipients have come from various countries including the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, Switzerland, the Netherlands, Germany, Belgium, Sweden, Italy, Spain, Hungary, India, the former Czechoslovakia, and the former Soviet Union.

[2] Janssen announced the creation of the new prize at a meeting of the Société Astronomique de France on 2 December 1896.