Professor Jan Woerner, Director General of the European Space agency, will meet with the press on Tuesday, September 27, between 15:00 and 16:00 during the 67th International Astronautical Congress.
Space exploration has gone through four marked
eras. Space 1.0 was the time of astronomy (and astrology). After that
came Space 2.0, when the space race saw launches of Vostok and
Apollo. The International Space Station was built during Space 3.0,
the same era when international cooperation became vital to space
exploration. Today, during Space 4.0, the approach to space
exploration has changed – there are many more nations with space
programs, commercial space exploration is beginning to take off, and
it truly is a new era for both the space industry and national space
agencies. Both public and private interests are represented in space,
and we are the first generation to witness the appearance of space
tourism.
Professor Woerner will discuss programs that will be
proposed for adoption to Ministers responsible for running space
programs in Europe at the upcoming ESA Council meeting, which is
scheduled for December 1 and 2, 2016, in Lucerne, Switzerland. ESA is
ready to take on new challenges and fully embrace this new space era,
seeing strategic challenges as opportunities for European space
activities and continuing to innovate, inform, inspire and
interact.
Members of the press are invited to attend and
accreditation and registration are still open.
