Fifty years of world-class space science celebrated in Geneva

Prestigious speakers will discuss the past half century of space science missions and international cooperation. Nobel prize winner Brian Schmidt will make a keynote address on ‘The impact of space activities on science’.

Together, speakers from all over Europe, as well as Australia, China, Japan, Russia and the USA, will explore the theme: how ESA nurtures space activities, as a driver for world-class science and international cooperation.

Professor Roger Bonnet, a former ESA Director of Science, will recall in his historical perspective that ESRO, a forerunner of ESA, began on the initiative of individual scientists and that the science programme was the backbone of this new undertaking.

Geneva itself also features in the history of the European space endeavour. The first Intergovernmental Conference of Space Research was held at CERN, Meyrin, near Geneva, in 1960. Chaired by Sir Harrie Massey of the UK, this historic meeting set up the Preparatory Commission to Study the Possibilities for European Collaboration in the Field of Space (COPERS), which was to decide the future direction of Europe in space.

The event is co-hosted by the Swiss Co-Presidency of ESA Ministerial Council. Follow the event live via webstream from 08:30 CEST on the ESA Web Portal.

If you want to know more about this year’s celebrations of 50 years of European cooperation in space and about ESA history, please see our web site.