IAC 2025 is a once-in-a-generation event and only the 3rd time in 75 years that the IAC has been held in Australia. IAC 2025 is on track to be a set piece conference for Sydney. With over 3,000 Early Bird registrations which surpassed IAC 2024 Milan’s record and over 6,500+ registrations in total plus over 5,500 public day registrations, IAC 2025 is expecting up 12,000+ attendees including 40+ global space agencies and a host of astronauts.
IAC 2025 has ensured world-class diversity and inclusion in a wide range of areas including First Nations engagement and accessibility as well as the International Astronautical Federation’s three declared focus areas for IAC 2025: generation (youth), geography (international diversity), and gender:
First Nations: IAC 2025 has ensured a substantial focus on and collaboration with First Nations Australians to ensure that the world’s oldest continuous culture is central to the event:
- The Local Organising Committee of IAC 2025 has dedicated its host plenary to elevating Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander knowledge systems, which is one of five National Science and Research Priorities.
- The Australian Space Agency has commissioned five First Nations advisers to co-develop the session titled Beyond integration: Building Earth-Sky Knowledge Infrastructure for Co-discovery in Space and Sustainability, which will also include a Māori and Indigenous Canadian space leader.
- The session will explore how co-discovery in the space sector through structured collaboration between Western science and Indigenous knowledge can unlock new insights into space and sustainability.
- The advisers have also been working with MIT university, which has a second plenary titled Healing Earth, Envisioning Space, as well as the IAF Committee for the Cultural Utilisation of Space, to ensure this is a legacy piece of work that supports future IACs.
- The opening ceremony has been designed as a powerful tribute to Indigenous heritage, with a welcome to country illustrating indigenous connections between country and sky. It will also feature performances led by Beau Dean Riley Smith, a Wiradjuri and Gamillaraay man and former lead dancer with Bangarra Dance Theatre. He is being mentored by Steven Page, the Artistic Director of Bangarra for 31 years and who directed the Indigenous elements of the 2000 Olympics Opening Ceremony; and
- 15+ papers being presented at IAC address indigenous themes.
Accessibility has been a major focus including:
- the selection of the ICC as the venue for IAC, Sydney’s premier purpose-built accessible venue, offering step-free access for mobility scooters and wheelchairs, faith and quiet rooms, complimentary access for accompanying people required for accessibility, complimentary access for registered support animals and a range of other facilities which are detailed here: https://iccsydney.com.au/about/venue-information/accessibility-and-inclusion-for-visitors/;
- the IAC 2025 Exhibitor Prospectus encouraging accessible booth options with all booth designs reviewed by the ICC and the professional conference organiser; and
- the registration process encouraging nomination of any and all individualised accessibility requirements which are then managed through individual responses to accessibility requests;
- complimentary passes for any accompanying persons required for accessibility;
- Additional accessible options have been introduced for the major plenaries in the form of Sunflower.ai, a live AI-enabled caption and translation app.
Generation/youth is also a key focus with a range of initiatives focusing on students and young professionals:
- The UN-affiliated Space Generation Advisory Council is held the week before IAC. The SGAC is a longstanding global network which represents more than 29,000 members representing more than 165 countries, and the Sydney meeting will bring together a significant number of youth and young professional leaders to establish and refine initiatives for increased youth participation in the global space industry;
- IAC 2025 “Space Week” will ensure the public, particularly youth and children will be able to engage with IAC including Public Day which already has over 1,200 registrations, as well as collaborations with the Powerhouse Museum and Lego, Science talks across the city with the Sydney Science Festival, and a free science day at Parramatta Square.
Geographic diversity is an important component of IAC with representatives from over 90 countries already registered to attend IAC 2025. Particular efforts have been made to engage across the Indo-Pacific to ensure substantial regional representation given that this is only the 5th time that IAC has been held in the Southern Hemisphere.
Gender: Gender diversity is promoted through the newest IAF Committee, the IAF Inclusion, Diversity and Equity Administrative Committee (IDEA). IDEA enables the Federation to take a leading role in the effort to promote and advance diversity and equality principles amongst a global space community, become an exemplary organization in terms of gender and other diversity representation, and live up to its motto Connecting @ll Space People. IAC 2025 will not only host the meeting of the IDEA committee, but also the Diversity 3G+ Breakfast and Diversity 3G+ Luncheon.
IAC 2025 will also celebrate and promote a wide variety of diversity and inclusion initiatives through the “Excellence in Space Diversity Awards”.