The 76th International Astronautical Congress took place from 29 September to 3 October 2025 in Sydney, Australia. EUTELSAT IGO was invited by the International Astronautical Federation (IAF) to participate in the event with heads of worldwide space agencies, industry leaders, policymakers, academia, governmental and international organisations’ representatives as well as experts and researchers from the space sector.
The Congress was organised by the Space Industry Association of Australia and co-hosted by the Australian Space Agency and the New South Wales Government.
IAC is the culminating annual event for the IAF and is referred by some as the Olympic of Space. During an extremely moving opening ceremony, IAC 2025 was blessed by the custodians of Australia, first nations people, considered as the first astronomers of humanity, whose “aboriginal astronomy” can be dated 50,000 years ago.
IAC 2025 brought together over 7,400 delegates from 99 countries and provided a global platform for discussions under the theme “Sustainable Space: Resilient Earth”. It featured 3,500 speakers across over 40 plenary and panel sessions, 200 technical sessions and an exhibition with nearly 200 booths. Several of our Members States were represented at the Congress and their pavilions showcased the growing importance of space industry and its network of industrial stakeholders.
Topics ranged from indigenous knowledge in space, artificial intelligence applications, satellite technology and telecommunications for universal and meaningful connectivity on Earth and beyond. Furthermore, given the international and complex geopolitical context the Congress also stressed and demonstrated the growing importance of international cooperation for space-based operations.
Many technical sessions focused on space-based communications and networks in the LEO, MEO and GEO orbits and included presentations in all aspects of space communications, services, architecture and infrastructure. During the IAF global networking forum, several sessions addressed issues and challenges related to the ongoing growth of satellites and space objects population near Earth and soon close to the moon. While most of space advancements are mainly driven by the idea of benefiting earth and humanity, they also remain intrinsically linked to raising concerns on space sustainability, which will require now and in the near future intensified national and global action.
The next edition will be in Antalya (Türkiye) in 2026 to be followed by IAC 2027 in Poland and IAC 2028 in Uzbekistan.
Photo credit: ©EUTELSAT IGO
