The 15th Australia Space Forum was held in Adelaide on 9 May. The event brings together the main players in Australian and international space industry and research, organised by the Andy Thomas Space Foundation, with the support of the South Australian government, the South Australian Space Industry Centre and the Australian Space Agency. Guest of honour is the Japanese space agency, JAXA.
Once again this edition, the forum saw the active participation of ICE-Agenzia, silver sponsor of the event, the Sydney Chamber of Commerce, the Italian Consulate in Adelaide and the Italian Embassy in Canberra, as has been the case since the first edition. This as confirmation of a consolidated tradition of collaboration between Italy and Australia in the space sector, which began with the signing on 17 February 2020 of a Declaration of Intent between ASI and the newly-formed ASA (the Australian Space Agency) aiming to a joint activities on the International Space Station.
The Forum was inaugurated on day 8 by an important networking event in which Italy participated with 20 guests including local and Italian representatives from the institutional and industrial envinronment.
The stand set up by ICE-Agenzia this year hosted the Italian Space Agency and five leading companies active in the space sector in Italy, including Leonardo and Thales Alenia Space, representing more than 150 national companies that successfully operate in this sector.
The Andy Thomas Space Foundation officially thanked for the Italian support and participation, considered strategic and fundamental for the internationalisation and strengthening of the Forum.
The collaboration between Italy and Australia is not only commercial in nature, but also boasts a strong scientific component, as evidenced by the various ongoing collaborations between the two countries whose protagonists are ASI and ASA. These include the SPIRIT and FlyEye projects.
The next edition of the Space Forum, in December 2023, will leave Adelaide for the first time and it will eb hosted in Sydney, a city that in 2025 will also welcome the 76th edition of the IAC – International Astronautical Congress – the largest international event related to space, intended to further accelerate the development of the space sector in Australia and the possibilities for scientific and industrial collaboration between the two countries.
