International Astronautical Congress kicked off in Cape Town

The 62nd International Astronautical Congress (IAC) opened here on Monday, with the theme of African Astronaissance. The congress, the first of its kind being held in Africa, is attended by hundreds of representatives and senior executives of the world's space agencies along with academics, researchers, industry and commerce executives, students and young professionals. The gathering will last until Oct. 7, a period chosen to coincide with World Space Week, organizers said. The IAC, which is organized by the International Astronautical Federation (IAF), the International Academy of Astronautics (IAA), and the International Institute of Space Law (IISL), is the largest space-related conference world-wide and selects an average of 1,000 scientific papers every year. The IAF, together with the IAC and the IISL, holds the IAC every year, an annual meeting of the actors in the discipline of space and consists of plenary sessions, lectures and meetings, in addition to a large exhibition running concurrently. "Together with our co-hosts, the National Research Foundation, the IAF is looking forward to an exciting Congress, offering technical papers, plenary events and highlight lectures of outstanding quality in the stimulating environment of the vibrant city of Cape Town," IAF's President Berndt Feuerbacher said in a pre-conference statement. "This is a very special Congress, as for the first time the IAC comes to Africa, and the Federation celebrates its 60th anniversary here. Alongside the public and technical programs, a comprehensive exhibition will be embedded within the Congress. Once again, this features the highly successful Cluster forum, facilitating the cooperation between small and large enterprises, with a special focus on Africa," Feuerbacher said. On the sidelines of the congress, members of parliament from all continents will also gather in Cape Town to discuss how space can help human and environmental security, according to Feuerbacher. "For those just starting in our industry, we offer student and young professionals programs and again we will sponsor young individuals to attend the IAC with the IAF Youth Grants initiative, engaging in exchanges of ideas with our senior experts," he said. This year's gathering is highlighted by NASA's participation, which shows the world's largest astronautical agency's on-going effort to continue to bridge NASA with the astronautical and space international community, organizers said. Earlier, NASA requested that full-time graduate students attending U.S. universities or colleges respond to the "Call for Abstracts", a precursor to a subsequent submission of a final paper, which may be presented at the 62nd IAC. Student authors are invited to submit an abstract regarding an original, unpublished paper that has not been submitted in any other forum. A NASA technical review panel of scientist and/or officials will select abstracts, conference sources said.