The space industry meets in Bremen
One of the most important events on the global space scene starts with record attendance. From Monday to Friday, 1 to 5 October 2018, more experts from industry, research and space agencies will meet than ever before at the International Astronautical Congress 2018 (IAC 2018) at Messe Bremen and the Congress Centrum Bremen. It will be around 6200. The program includes over 2,000 lectures. In this year's particularly large trade exhibition, around 140 organizations, associations and companies will be presenting themselves to the trade public, who travel from more than 60 nations. On Wednesday, 3 October, the general public is invited to the "Public Day". One of the highlights is a
Live connection to the International Space Station (ISS) and the astronaut Alexander Gerst, who will be appointed the first German commander from 04:10 p.m..
"This year, the Congress is bigger than in previous years. This is reflected not only in the number of participants, but also in the diversity of the program. In 2018 we have the
Special Sessions' have been introduced to enable a more creative form of knowledge transfer. The program is also increasingly aimed at young scientists and more and more women are entering the sector," said Jean-Yve Le Gall of the International Astronautical Federation (IAF), which organizes the congress, at the presentation of the program.
Many prominent representatives of the scene are taking part. Airbus CEO Tom Enders, for example, and the heads of major space agencies such as NASA will be speaking.
The congress gives the opportunity to make it clear that aerospace is an essential industry for Germany as a high-tech location, said Thomas Jarzombek, Coordinator of the Federal Government for German Aerospace. Just a few months ago, for example, the Bundestag approved an additional 190 million euros for research and development. "We want to promote central topics such as digitization, environmental protection or the development of private space markets - keyword "New Space" - and have a special focus on highly innovative small and medium-sized companies. The funds will also be used to further strengthen the German Aerospace Center (Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt; DLR), which makes major research contributions.
"Bremen is one of the most important aerospace locations in Germany. We are proud to be hosting this industry event for the second time," said Bremen's Mayor Dr Carsten Sieling. In the aerospace industry, a total of 140 companies with around 12,000 employees generate around 4 billion euros annually. On the Weser, for example, the Galileo satellite navigation system or the upper stage of the European Ariane launch vehicle are being built. "The IAC is drawing attention to Bremen's contributions to the space sector and is bringing Bremen as a tourist destination to the attention of the world's public," said Sieling.
"The large international participation in the congress testifies to the recognition of the importance of German space research and industry," said DLR Executive Board Chairman Professor Pascale Ehrenfreund. "With 33 exhibits, DLR is demonstrating its position in research and technology development as one of the largest research centers in Europe".
However, no one could manage the projects alone, only with international cooperation can the major projects be successfully realized, commented Ehrenfreund and referred to the highlights: with Insight on its way to Mars, the current ISS mission "Horizon" under the temporary leadership of Alexander Gerst or the landing device "Mascot" on board the Japanese space probe Hayabusa2, which is due to land on the asteroid Ryugu on Wednesday 03 October 2018. Mascot, which was developed under the auspices of DLR, is intended to gather information on the development of our solar system, but also to help us better assess potential threats posed by near-Earth asteroids.
The Director of the Centre for Applied Space Technology and Microgravity (ZARM), Professor Dr Marc Avila, also emphasized the importance of international cooperation. Of course, the congress with its Technical Sessions offers a great scientific yield, said the head of the local congress organizer. "Above all, however, the IAC is the ideal platform for interdisciplinary networking - this exchange between scientists, engineers, company representatives and astronauts makes a significant contribution to our progress," he said. The motto 2018 "#InvolvingEveryone" is also reflected in the participant statistics:
47 percent are younger than 35 years, 22 percent are female. Avila also referred to the Public Day: "Hopefully many people from Bremen will take the opportunity to get to know our exciting profession.
More information: www.iac2018.org
Further information for editors:
ZARM - Center for Applied Space Technology and Microgravity
Annika Teubner
Phone: 0421 - 218-57821 (during the IAC: 0421- 3505-9329)
E-mail : media@iac2018.org space is big - space is public
space is big - space is public
Procedure of the public event (will be in english)
01:00 p.m. Admission
01:30 p.m. Start
02:35 p.m. Live Call
04:10 p.m. Transfer of command to Alexander Gerst
