Ibadan, 14 October 2025. – The global space community gathered in Sydney for the 76th International Astronautical Congress (IAC 2025), held from 29 September to 3 October 2025. The congress’ theme, “Sustainable Space: Resilient Earth”, echoed throughout the week of vibrant exchanges and collaborations.
Organized by the International Astronautical Federation (IAF), the Space Industry Association of Australia (SIAA) hosted the congress with the Australian Space Agency (ASA) and the New South Wales Government joining as co-hosts.
The second edition of the IAF Global Space Leaders Summit united 40 heads of space agencies worldwide (during the congress), becoming the largest gathering of space agencies leaders ever to take place in Australia. Key discussions subsequently centered on space exploration, Earth observation, security, and space diplomacy.
Similarly, the congress featured an extraordinary line-up of more than 3,500 speakers across over 40 plenary and panel sessions, alongside 200 technical sessions and a bustling exhibition with nearly 200 booths. Additionally, topics ranged from indigenous knowledge in space, artificial intelligence applications, to future human long-duration spaceflight.
Across the sessions, the theme “Sustainable Space: Resilient Earth” took center stage, expanding beyond planetary sustainability to include the sustainability of life beyond Earth.
Furthermore, IAC 2025 bestowed the prestigious IAF World Space Award to Jeff Bezos of Blue Origin and the Chang’e 6 Mission (team category). Pascale Ehrenfreund, President of COSPAR also received the IAF Excellence in International Cooperation Award.
In a landmark leadership transition, Gabriella Arrigo, Director of International Affairs at the Italian Space Agency (ASI), was appointed as the new IAF President for a three-year term.
Finally, at the Closing Ceremony, the IAF flag was ceremonially handed to the delegation of the Turkish Space Agency (TUA), host of IAC 2026 in Antalya, Türkiye. The IAF General Assembly also selected Samarkand, Uzbekistan, as the Host city for the IAC 2028.
