Pictured: Delegates at IAC
Distance proved no object as thousands of space experts
gathered in Adelaide.
Almost 4,500 delegates, many from the Northern Hemisphere,
attended the 68th International Astronautical Congress (IAC), the largest ever
business event in South Australia.
IAC was the first major event to be held in the newly
expanded Adelaide Convention Centre (ACC), which boosted plenary capacity to
3,500 and the centre’s overall footprint to 20,000sqm
The IAC comprised a detailed program including eight plenary
sessions, three highlight lectures, two breaking news sessions, and 200
technical sessions, which spread out over the entire building.
Billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk’s presentation, ‘Making
Humans a Multi-Planetary Species’, drew massive crowds and generated extensive
national and international media coverage
The Adelaide Convention Bureau in conjunction with the SIAA
(Space Industry Association of Australia), began researching and pursuing the
International Astronautical Congress in 2008.
A failed bid in 201 was turned around in 2014 with the
announcement made in Toronto that Adelaide was to host the 2017 event, beating
out Germany, Turkey and the United States.
Jean-Yves Le Gall, IAF president, said: “The Adelaide Convention
Centre (ACC) has demonstrated to be an outstanding venue, having logistics
perfectly sorted. They put their clients’ need at the uttermost importance. The
city of Adelaide itself is a perfect location for congresses with easily
reachable locations, beautiful sceneries, friendly people and fantastic food.
This year’s IAC has been a tremendous success and the ACC has proven perfectly
capable of facing all sorts of requests from the IAF Community.”