Azerbaijan represented at the 73rd International Astronautical Congress

The delegation led by the Ministry of Digital Development and Transport and Azercosmos, Space Agency of the Republic of Azerbaijan is participating at the 73^rd International Astronautical Congress (IAC), held in Paris, France on 18-22 September.

Held annually by the International Astronautical Federation, this year’s congress is held under the theme of “Space for @ll”. It brings together the representatives of the global space industry from space technology manufacturers, scientists and astronauts to state representatives, government and non-government organizations as well as representatives of leading research and development centres.

Azerbaijan is represented here with stands of IAC 2023 Baku and Azercosmos, delivering information about the history of space industry development in the country, space programmes, and projects aimed at increasing knowledge and skills in this field as well as the history, culture and tourism opportunities in Azerbaijan.

European Space Agency, National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), space organizations of the United Kingdom, United Arab Emirates, India, Japan, Germany and other countries are also among the participants of the 73^rd IAC.

Today’s opening ceremony was characterised by panel sessions dedicated to the practise of public and private entities as well as developing countries in the space industry, novelties in global satellite operations and the use of small-scale satellites in implementation of innovative technologies on research and development. In addition, the 12th international meeting of ministers and parliament members of Federation member countries was attended by Azerbaijani MPs - Soltan Mammadov and Vugar Bayramov, former being the head of the working group for the Azerbaijani-French inter-parliamentary relations as well.

Participating in the Paris congress is also important in terms of inviting the international space community to Baku next year as Azercosmos participates in this congress amidst preparations for the 74^th International Astronautical Congress to be held in the capital city of Azerbaijan in 2023. This will open up new opportunities in terms of further development of the space ecosystem, raising awareness about the importance of space among future generations and contributing to new initiatives in this field in Azerbaijan.

Baku won the right to host the 74^th IAC at the General Assembly of the International Federation of Astronautics on 25 October 2019 in the US capital, Washington. This event, organised in 1950 in Paris for the first time, is considered the most influential one within the global space industry.