The Adelaide Convention Bureau, in partnership with The Space Industry Association of Australia (SIAA) and State Government of South Australia have announced that Adelaide will host the International Astronautical Congress (IAC) in September 2017.
Adelaide beat Germany (Bremen), USA (Orlando), Turkey (Istanbul) and Ireland (Dublin) in its bid to secure what will be the largest congress ever to be hosted by the city.
The conference will attract over 3,000 delegates from around the world including 200 astronauts and will contribute $18m to the state’s visitor economy. It will also provide 22,000 bed nights for Adelaide’s hotels and create more than 170 jobs.
The announcement was made at the 2014 IAC in Toronto on October 3 following a four year bid process (including an unsuccessful bid for the 2014 event).
Earlier this year, the Executive Director from the International Astronautical Federation visited Adelaide to view the conference, hospitality and key city tourism facilities. The Adelaide Convention Bureau also shared its ‘delegate experience’ video on the IAC17 bid website enabling committee members and potential delegates a first-hand look at what they may experience by attending the event should Adelaide be successful in its bid.
Adelaide Convention Bureau CEO Damien Kitto said, “The IAC is the world’s most important annual interdisciplinary meeting for the space industry, regularly attracting over 3000 participants from more than 70 countries, including space professionals, academics, major corporations, government representatives, students and media.
“The legacy to be left to South Australia’s space and related industries as a result of this win is priceless. For the duration of the event, the eyes of the space industry will be firmly on this state. It will increase opportunities for international collaboration and regional leadership, especially relevant as Australia – and South Australia in particular is recognised as an emerging participant in the international space community.
“The recent experience of host destinations has shown that hosting an IAC brings significant attention to the capabilities of the destination and provides a framework for further advancing their development and international partnerships,” said Kitto.
Chair of the SIAA Michael Davis said, “South Australia has a number of internationally recognised organisations and businesses within the space industry including NEWSAT, Nova Systems and as well as the internationally respected Institute for Telecommunication Research at the at University of South Australia.”
In addition to its 3,000+ delegates, the IAC will feature a large exhibition component which is designed to attract support from space agencies and international space companies such as Lockheed Martin, China Aerospace Tech. Corp, Airbus Defence and Space and Boeing Space Exploration.
The Lockheed Martin Corporation will be the anchor sponsor of the International Astronautical Congress in Adelaide.
Raydon Gates, the CEO of Lockheed Martin Australia said, “Lockheed Martin is honoured to support IAC2017 in Adelaide and looks forward to helping the local organising committee to deliver a Congress that is memorable for delegates and that advances the Australian space industry.”
