The IAC (International Astronautical Congress) just ended in Baku, the capital of Azerbaijan, was the springboard for launching the 75th edition of the congress which will be held in Milan in October 2024. Over 10,000 experts and researchers from academia, space agencies, research centres and astronautical associations from all over the world will meet at the IAC 2024 in Milan.
The Committee promoting the event organisation includes the Italian Association of Aeronautics and Astronautics (A.I.D.A.A.), as the representative of academia, Leonardo as the leader of the Italian aerospace industry, and the Italian Space Agency (ASI). IAC 2024 is organised with the support of AIM Group International and the venue will be the Milano Congress Center (MiCo).
The choice of Milan represents a victory for the Italian space sector as a whole, a result that rewards the excellence of the Made in Italy in Space and the capacity of Milan to be an ideal location for world events. The 2024 edition will once again recognise the major role played by Italy in Space Exploration, Earth Observation, Space Economy and Space Diplomacy at a global level.
Italy can be proud of its thriving, complete and consolidated space ecosystem, which consists of approximately 300 industries, SMEs and start-ups, as well as research centres and universities, which train thousands of undergrads and tens of PhD students every year. These experts and researchers, under the coordination of ASI, contribute to the innovation and technological development of various international space programmes. In this sense, Milan and the region of Lombardy are at the forefront.
The motto for IAC 2024 is “Responsible Space for Sustainability”. The aim is to raise awareness in the international community of the need to use the space environment more consciously and responsibly. The proliferation of satellite constellations and the rising number of new missions in orbit increases the risk of objects colliding in Space (which leads to more space junk) and the risk of negatively affecting the function of satellite systems, which many of our daily activities rely on, such as telecommunication systems, transport, environmental monitoring and security.
Among the main topics of the 2024 edition there will be skills, diversity, inclusivity and the training of young people, especially women, in order to involve them in STEM subjects and help them to discover new opportunities for the future at the IAC. Another focus point will be what the Space Economy can provide to developing countries. Space has always been the place where interaction and collaboration between different countries and generations becomes crucial for humankind’s development, innovation and knowledge.
The event, now at its 75th edition, is organised (as it is every year) by the International Astronautical Federation (IAF), established in 1951 by ten founding members, with A.I.D.A.A. among them. It now includes 73 members states, represented by all the main space agencies, companies, research centres, universities, societies, associations and museums. The Milan edition will be the fifth time the IAC is held in Italy; three editions were organised by A.I.D.A.A and were held in Rome (1956 and 1981) and in Turin (1997), while the 2012 event in Naples was organised by ASI. It is now the turn of Milan to host the congress, this will make the city the world capital of Space for one week.
See you in Milan, close to the Duomo, together with the mascot Mimì, from 14 to 18 October 2024.
