Space, Milan conquers the headquarters of the 75th Iac

It is the city of Milan that has conquered the role of seat of the 75th edition of the International Astronautical Congress (Iac) 2024, the most important world event in the space sector. The announcement was made by the Committee promoting the candidacy of the Lombard capital, constituted by the Italian Space Agency (ASI), by the Italian Association of Aeronautics and Astronautics (Aiddaa) as representative of the academic world, Leonardo as champion of the aerospace industry Italian and international Aim Group as professional congress organizer. The candidacy of the city of Milan was decisively supported by the Italian government, through the coordinator of the inter-ministerial committee for space policies and by local institutions, in particular by the President of the Lombardy Region and the Mayor of Milan. The 2024 edition will also revolve around the themes of diversity and inclusiveness. Milan beat the competition of important candidate cities such as Budapest (Hungary), Sao Paulo (Brazil), Seville (Spain) and Adelaide (Australia), being selected by the more than 400 delegates of the General Assembly of the International Astronautical Federation (Iaf) from from 73 countries around the world and gathered in Dubai from 25 to 29 October for the 72nd edition of the IAC. The IAC, the most important world congress of the space sector, is organized every year by the International Astronautical Federation (Iaf), founded in 1951, and which today includes 73 member countries, represented by all the main space agencies, companies, research centers. , universities, companies, associations and museums. The arrival of the IAC in the Lombard capital “is a victory for the Italian space sector as a whole, a result that rewards the excellence of Milan and recognizes Italy’s leading role in the global Space Economy” and Milan, underline the promoters, “it boasts a thriving and consolidated space ecosystem made up of industries, SMEs and start-ups, research centers and universities that contribute to the innovation and technological development of various international space programs”. “The several months’ path that led us to this prestigious victory was a beautiful example of how the Italian system works with great effectiveness in the space sector. The Selection Committee has rewarded the rigor and accuracy of our candidacy, indirectly recognizing the leadership Italian in the current international space scenario “underlined the president of the Italian Space Agency, Giorgio Saccoccia. “The Italian Space Agency – he commented again – has enthusiastically decided to support and contribute to the candidacy of the ‘Team Italia’ with the Milan proposal, making use of the important network of international relations and its own vision on the future of the activities space, to attract consensus. We cannot be more satisfied with the result obtained for Italy “. And the great Italian space industry is also exulting. Leonardo’s CEO, Alessandro Profumo, spoke of a “victory for Milan, for Lombardy, for the national space industry and for the entire supply chain”. “Like Leonardo, we are particularly proud: we have embraced and supported the candidacy with conviction because – said Profumo – we believe that the value of Space, where we have been playing a leading role on an international level for years, is fundamental and strategic for the future of innovation. technology at the service of the country and its sustainable growth “. Erasmo Carrera, president of Aiddaa also applauds: “We are really proud to have managed to convince the IAF general assembly to choose Italy and the city of Milan to host the 75th edition of the congress. This was only possible thanks to a synergistic organizational effort that led to the presentation of an impeccable and complete candidacy proposal in all its parts “. The motto chosen for the Iac75 is ‘Responsible Space for Sustainability’, with the aim of making the international community aware of a more conscious and responsible use of the space environment. With the proliferation of the number of missions in orbit and the emergence of large constellations consisting of hundreds of satellites, the risk of collision between objects in space increases. This, explains a note, not only creates new dangerous space debris, but could compromise the correct functioning of the satellite systems on which many activities of our daily life depend: from telecommunications services, to transport, from environmental monitoring to security. For Italy it will be the fifth time that the IAC will take place in our country. The first edition in Italy of the International Astronautical Congress was held in Rome in 1956 and three more followed: again in Rome in 1981, in Turin in 1997 and the last in Naples in 2012. The Italian space community has always actively participated in the Iac through the presence at the event, the presentation of research and the organization of conferences and debates. (by Andreana d’Aquino)