The 77th International Astronautical Congress, organised by the International Astronautical Federation, is taking place in Antalya with the support of the Turkish Space Agency and in partnership with the SAHA Istanbul Aerospace Cluster. Welcoming remarks at the opening of the congress were made by H.E. Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, President of the Republic of Turkey. 

The event is attended by sixteen young employees from 10 member countries: Azerbaijan, Belarus, Vietnam, Kazakhstan, Cuba, Kyrgyzstan, Mongolia, Russia, Somalia, and Tajikistan. Their active involvement in the congress is possible due to Intersputnik’s implementation of the Youth Far Beyond Borders strategic initiative (read more at https://www.intersputnik.int/international-activities-en/yfbb-project-en/). 

With the support of Intersputnik, Abdi Fatah Mohamed, a young expert from Somalia, was nominated and selected to join the Africa Subcommittee of the IAF Administrative Committee on Connecting Emerging Space Ecosystems, a body fostering the development of African space ecosystems, their integration into the international space community and capacity building. This is the Organization’s contribution to expanding Somalia’s participation in international sectoral cooperation and strengthening the country’s professional ties with the global space community. Some more youth initiatives benefiting other Intersputnik member countries were also implemented as part of IAC 2026; information regarding the initiatives will be published later. 

Young people from Intersputnik member countries visited the exhibition displays and met the management of key IAC 2026 exhibitors, including the Space Agency of the Republic of Azerbaijan (Azercosmos), the Space Research and Technology Agency under the Ministry of Digital Technologies of the Republic of Uzbekistan (Uzbekcosmos), the satellite operator Türksat, etc. 

Executive Director Elina Morozova and Rodion Immel, Manager for Regulatory Affairs and Relations with International Organizations, represented Intersputnik in the IAC 2026 business programme. They participated in discussions on a wide range of issues regarding the responsible use of outer space and space sustainability at the Colloquium on the Law of Outer Space, the Symposium on Space Debris, and other expert forums of the event.