The International Astronautical Federation (IAF), the world's leading space advocacy. Organization founded in the French capital in 1951, held it 70th anniversary celebration here, following a brief covid- related delay. Each year, IAF organized a Grand Space meet, gathering as many as 5,000 delegates from
space agencies industries and other space-related entities with over 433 members from 72 countries. This year's congress is due in Paris in late September. Speaking before a select audience of IAF veteran and future leaders, speaker after speaker at the celebration paid tribute to the Spirit of Cooperation at the core of the organization that saw the light during the darkest days of the cold war.
By video link, former IAF President – Alvaro Azcarraga called that, although the 1957 IAC was held in staunchly anti-Communist Spain, a Soviet delegation was warmly welcomed. Just prior to this Barcelona meeting, he recalled, the first artificial satellite Sputnik was launched.
In the 1970s, the "space race" evolved into an era of cooperation, Azcarraga said, referring to the famed Apollo-Soyuz project. Initially reluctant to share technical information, once the iron curtain went down former Soviet delegates started participating fully in the exchange of hard data, including hardware.
Ukraine: a dark cloud
But times have changed, the Russian invasion of Ukraine overshadowing all things international, including this year's IAF celebration. So it was not a surprise that the issue would loom heavily over this year's Paris meet. Pascal Ehrenfreund, outgoing IAF president gave a much anticipated, impassioned speech extalling the IAF's achievements over the past 70 years, without avoiding the burning issue.
As IAF president Ehrenfreund said, "I want to express my deepest concern about the current tragedy unfolding in Ukraine." "Created at a time of fierce international tensions," she continued, "the IAF was able to always provide a safe platform for the worldwide space community, to meet, to engage, to discuss, to exchange ideas."
"As inspired by the same values and principles that we have held for the past 70 years, I firmly believe that the Federation has always, in times of conflict and disagreement. A continuous dialogue remains the foundation of a peaceful coexistence cooperation and de-escalation." Today, more than ever, she continued, "The space community has achieved this, and together, we find a way to de-escalate this tragic situation."
Although she could not speak for all 433 members of IAF, she hoped the 2022 IAF spring meeting would make a "special effort to help in achieving a peaceful resolution of the current conflict and will continue to do so in the next 70 years tackling the challenges facing the world today."
