The 75th International Astronautical Congress (IAC 2024) was held on 14–18 October in Milan, Italy. The Intersputnik delegation to IAC 2024 included young professionals from the Member States – Belarus, Cuba, Hungary, India, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Mongolia, Russia, Somalia and Viet Nam. As part of the congress conference programme, Intersputnik’s Executive Director Elina Morozova was speaking at the session “Artificial Intelligence and Safe Space Communication”.
IAC is the largest annual international space industry forum. In 2024, more than 11,200 delegates from 120 countries attended the event. Another 3,000 people joined the congress conference sessions via live broadcast. The theme of IAC 2024 was “Responsible Space for Sustainability”. Outer space is a finite resource and humankind must preserve this asset for future generations. Space technology has been playing an increasingly important role in modern life, therefore, the main goal of IAC 2024 is to develop solutions to preserve space as a safe environment open to exploration, peaceful use and international cooperation for all stakeholders.
Youth Far Beyond Borders
As a partner and silver sponsor Intersputnik deployed its own exhibition display at IAC 2024 dedicated to the Youth Far Beyond Borders project to support talented young space activities professionals from Intersputnik Member States. The project participants attending the congress were 12 representatives from Belarus, Cuba, Hungary, India, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Mongolia, Russia, Somalia and Viet Nam. They attended plenary and technical sessions as well as roundtables and panel discussions. Young professionals noted the high importance and relevance of the congress topics, which touched upon current challenges of the space industry and its development prospects. One of the highlights and memorable events of IAC 2024 for the youth project members was their meeting with the Director of the United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs (UNOOSA), Aarti Holla-Maini. Ms. Holla-Maini spoke about the challenges for UNOOSA and what contributions or efforts of young professionals could help to achieve sustainable development of peaceful outer space in the coming years.
The Intersputnik booth hosted a series of thematic lectures for the Youth Far Beyond Borders project members. Ksenia Drozdova, Director General of the Organization, made a welcoming address to the young professionals from the Member States. They were addressed by Elina Morozova, Executive Director, Andrey Kirillovich, Director for Strategy, Marketing and Business Development, Ekaterina Pereponova, Senior Manager of the Commercial Department, and Evgeny Stepin, Senior Manager of the Technical Department. The lectures represented the basic principles of organisation of up-to-date satellite communications in various orbits, technical and legal aspects of satellite network operation, specifics of their regulatory support and frequency coordination, as well as the fundamental role of space technology in connecting the unconnected and achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) defined by the UN. The speakers also summarised Intersputnik's extensive experience in implementing numerous projects in different regions of the world, in leveraging the combined space and ground resources of Intersputnik, Member States and partners.
In recognising that young people are the main drivers of digital transformation and supporting the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) Generation Connect initiative, Intersputnik aims at engaging talented young people from Member States in the development of youth digital strategies and transferring to them technological and management skills related to satellite communications. This has become a significant factor in achieving UN SDG 8 “Decent Work and Economic Growth”.
Being involved in the International Astronautical Congress helped young professionals to study the development trends of space industry and its potential to improve the quality of life of the Earth's population.
Responsible space exploration for sustainable development
IAC 2024 included discussions of the most relevant topics for the global space industry such as security of near-Earth space and space debris mitigation, use of Earth surface monitoring systems to combat the effects of climate change, sustainable use of radio frequency spectrum for operation of existing and future services, exploration of the Moon and Mars, use of artificial intelligence and machine learning systems to analyse space data, etc. Elina Morozova, Executive Director of Intersputnik, spoke on the topic “Mitigating cyberthreats to space communication systems: operators’, users’ and regulators’ perspectives” at the panel session “Artificial Intelligence and Safe Space Communication”.
The congress emphasised international cooperation as a pre-requisite for responsible space exploration for sustainable development. Discussions in the IAC 2024 panel sessions explored various collaboration mechanisms that have the potential to shape strategy and ensure long-term perspectives for both space and Earth. Projects, scientific achievements and promising technologies resulting from the interaction of various government, scientific, public and business structures were presented.
Intersputnik, as an international organisation, supports all initiatives of the UN, ITU and other international structures to strengthen and support sustainable outer space, to organise equal and transparent international cooperation in the use of space technologies to achieve the UN SDGs. One of the key missions of the Organization is to promote international cooperation in the field of sustainable development of outer space. Participation in the congress is a direct effort in this direction aimed at informing the global space community about the respective capabilities of Intersputnik as an international organisation.