Hosted in Antalya, southern Türkiye, this year’s International Astronautical Congress will offer the country an important opportunity to showcase its space potential and expand its international connections, according to the executive director of the Paris-based International Astronautical Federation (IAF).
“We want to give Türkiye the opportunity to showcase its potential, to connect its space ecosystem with the global, international space community, and thus help Türkiye to further develop into an important, even more important actor in space,” Christian Feichtinger told Anadolu.
“ Türkiye for sure will see the difference between pre-congress and post-congress, because people will be much better informed, will have a very good understanding of what Türkiye has to offer, what its plans are, what its ambitions are, and many new connections will be able to be set up,” he said.
Coordinated by Türkiye’s Industry and Technology Ministry, the congress – known as IAC 2026 – will be hosted by the Turkish Space Agency and co-hosted by SAHA Istanbul on Oct. 5-9 at the NEST Convention Center in the Mediterranean resort city of Antalya.
Feichtinger said the IAF was established by 10 organizations in 1951 to connect members of the space community who were unable to communicate with one another during the Cold War.
Today, the IAF is the world’s leading space advocacy organization, with a network of 604 member organizations across 82 countries, he said.
Its members include the Turkish Space Agency, NASA, the European Space Agency (ESA), the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), major industry players, smaller companies, startups, associations, universities, and space museums.
The IAC, the federation’s flagship event, is held in a different location around the world each year, Feichtinger added.
‘ Türkiye is taking a leading role’
Feichtinger said the federation has recently intensified its focus on the region, following the 2023 congress in Baku, Azerbaijan, and ahead of the 2028 event in Samarkand, Uzbekistan.
“The region is a very rapidly growing space region, and especially Türkiye is taking a leading role in that region,” he said.
“ Türkiye has recently defined a space policy and strategy which is very ambitious, and which already saw the first Turkish astronaut fly to space, which has a Moon program, and Türkiye now has a very rapidly growing space ecosystem.”
The IAC 2026 has already received a record of 8,000-plus abstract submissions from over 100 countries, alongside unprecedented early registration figures.
Feichtinger said the figures demonstrate both the congress’ rising global profile and Türkiye’s growing appeal.
“The International Astronautical Congress is becoming more and more attractive. It is the must-be place for the entire space community every year,” he said.
“ Türkiye is a very attractive market, a growing space ecosystem, and of course Antalya is very well known as a beautiful place, not only for holidays, but also for conferences.”
Noting that Antalya will also host the 31st UN Climate Change Conference, known as COP31, this November, he said: “The interest of the global space community is high to learn more about Antalya, to come to Türkiye, and to connect with the ecosystem and the stakeholders there.”
Global space leaders, astronauts, and companies to attend
Feichtinger said this year’s program will feature a meeting of international government ministers and lawmakers, as well as the IAF Global Space Leaders Summit, which will bring together more than 50 heads of space agencies.
A dedicated meeting will also be held for the CEOs of major companies, while around 30 international astronauts are expected to attend.
“Astronauts are always kind of the best ambassadors for space, and especially for the general public, it will be extremely interesting to meet these representatives of this very prominent group of people that have seen the world from outside,” he said.
Major US companies – including SpaceX, Blue Origin, Axiom Space, Voyager Space, Vast, Lockheed Martin, Boeing, and Intuitive Machines – will be represented at the congress.
European companies such as Thales Alenia Space, OHB, Airbus, and Leonardo will also take part, alongside IN-SPACe from India and prominent companies and organizations from Japan, China, and other countries.
“It will be actually the entire relevant space community meeting at this place,” Feichtinger said.
‘No better opportunity’
Feichtinger urged young scientists, engineers, entrepreneurs, and students in Türkiye to take advantage of the congress being held in their home country.
“Please don’t miss this opportunity to be there at this event. There won’t be a better opportunity to meet with all the relevant space stakeholders,” he said.
Participants will be able to meet leading industry figures, human resources executives, space agency heads, and astronauts, while researchers whose abstracts have been accepted will be able to present their work to an international audience.
“If your space university is a member of the IAF, you can certainly join some of our committees, where you have world leaders in the area of specialization whom you can meet,” he said.
“If your company is not yet a member of the IAF, encourage it to become a member, because then you are fully eligible to join technical committees in our federation.”
“Just take the opportunity. Don’t miss it, because there won’t be a better opportunity to connect with the global space community if you plan your career in space,” he added.
Loggerhead sea turtle mascot shows ‘spirit of Türkiye, Antalya’
Feichtinger also praised “Turquoise,” the loggerhead sea turtle Türkiye selected as the official mascot of IAC 2026.
“We like it very much because it demonstrates space, it kind of depicts the spirit of Türkiye, of Antalya,” he said.
“It also demonstrates an astronaut, actually, in the form of a turquoise turtle. So congratulations to the TUA team, the team of the Turkish Space Agency and the ministry, for putting together and suggesting such a nice mascot. People will love it.”
Artemis Accords show Türkiye’s ambitions
Feichtinger also congratulated Türkiye on its recent signing of the Artemis Accords, saying the step demonstrated the country’s commitment to advancing space exploration.
“It just demonstrates that Türkiye is very serious about its ambitions in advancing space exploration,” he said, pointing to the country’s lunar exploration program and its goal of achieving a hard landing on the Moon before the end of the decade.
“I think Türkiye, by signing the Artemis Accords, will have the opportunity to be part of this bigger, global endeavor to get humans back to the Moon, and in the future also forward to Mars,” he added.
“There is great perspective in Türkiye joining the Artemis Accords and the Artemis program.”
The accords, established in 2020 by NASA, the US State Department, and seven founding countries, set principles for international cooperation in space, including peaceful exploration, sharing scientific data, providing assistance when needed, and protecting historically significant sites and artifacts.
Habere ait etiket tanımlanmamış.
Yorumlar kapalı.