IAC 2021: Dubai kicks off 72nd edition of 5-day International Space event

The UAE kicked off the 72nd International Astronautical Congress (IAC) on Monday, October 25 in its prestigious city of Dubai. Touted as the world’s largest and most prestigious global space event by UAE’s government, the event is being held at the Dubai World Trade Centre and will conclude on October 29, informed the official press release. Jointly organised by the Mohammed Bin Rashid Space Centre (MBRSC) and the International Astronautical Federation (IAF), the exhibition event has commenced with the theme, ‘Inspire, Innovate & Discover for the Benefit of Mankind’.

UAE’s vice president and Prime Minister and the ruler of Dubai Sheikh, Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, tweeted and expressed his elation for hosting the International Space exhibition for the world. 

The IAC will host over 4,000 visitors, 110 country delegations

In a press release presented a day before the event, the UAE government revealed that over 4,000 registered visitors from across the globe will converge upon the Dubai emirate along with delegations from over 110 countries. Besides, the event, which has over 30 elite sponsors, will be run by 90 exhibitors including 350 young professionals and space experts.

“Hosting the IAC is an important milestone for us that will help consolidate our position in the league of space-faring nations. We are confident that this Congress will help inspire countries within the region to embark on their space exploration journeys as well,” said Hamad Obaid Al Mansoori, Chairman of the MBRSC.

As per the press release, the event is being conducted by sponsors from different categories such as platinum, gold, silver and bronze. Sponsors in the platinum category include Lockheed Martin, and the gold category includes the European Space Agency, JAXA, and the UAE Space Agency. The silver sponsors are Airbus, Azercosmos, AWS, Boeing, and Northrop Grumman, while Blue Origin, Endurosat, Nanoracks and others fall among bronze sponsors.

Purpose of the event

As the theme suggests, this year’s IAC is aiming to provide a global platform to the exhibitors to showcase their capabilities along with their experience, contributions and innovations in the space sector. The participants will be allowed to do so through a plenary programme developed by the IAC International Programme Committee Steering Group. In the programme, 183 technical sessions, 18 special sessions, 12 symposium keynotes and over 150 interactive presentations will be conducted and over 2,800 research and scientific papers related to the space domain will be presented. 

With the commencement of this event, Dubai became the first country to host such an event and has opened the gates to the Middle East for the global Space sector. The UAE has achieved significant milestones in the space race as it is the only Arab country to have sent a probe to Mars along with sending a woman for training at NASA.

Image: Twitter/@HHShkMohd