Glamour factor: is Elon Musk coming?
In 2018, it became clear to the world that the industry also has a different, and more commercial, face. Space travel has long been an object of interest for entrepreneurs, including Elon Musk. The co-founder of US company Space X and electric car manufacturer Tesla has been causing a stir thanks to his missions and rocket developments and his exciting ideas for space colonisation and space tourism. Musk has attended the IAC in the past, and the closer we get to the opening day, the more the organisers are being asked the question: is Elon Musk coming?
A programme packed with highlights
Regardless of whether Musk makes an appearance, ZARM is confident that the programme will be packed with highlights. These will include updates from current space missions: the German Aerospace Center’s MASCOT lander, for example, which has been up in space for four years now, will reach its destination and land on an asteroid in the week that the congress is being held. A live ticker will broadcast its progress in the exhibition halls. The German Aerospace Center is one of the local supporters of the congress, along with the companies OHB, Airbus Defence and Space, ArianeGroup and MT Aerospace, as well as the Federal State of Bremen. “Bremen has an incredible breadth of expertise,” says von Kampen. “We want to show what Bremen has to offer in terms of space travel and to welcome the world to our city. One of our goals, of course, is to enter into new collaborations.”
Bremen on a par with Toronto and Washington
Recent hosts of the IAC include cities such as Toronto and Jerusalem. Next year’s event will be held in Washington; in 2020 it will be the turn of Dubai. “In between, we have little old Bremen. It’s brilliant that we are able to hold our own in such distinguished company,” says von Kampen. “Bremen is the biggest hub for the space industry in Germany and is a major player at European level too. We want to build on this and tell the world what we’re about.”
Press contact: Annika Teubner, Tel.: +49 421-218 57821, E-Mail: annika.teubner@zarm.uni-bremen.de