World Space Week is an annual world-wide celebration of ‘the contribution
of science and technology to improving people’s lives’. It takes place
every year on 4–10 October, in commemoration of the launch of Sputnik,
the first artificial satellite, on 4 October 1957, and the signature of the
International Space Treaty on 10 October 1967.
Numerous events are planned this year, organised by various agencies
and associations.
Astrium, Europe's Number 1 space company, will be participating in several events, with an
emphasis on fostering initiatives from the staff and sites in the company’s five ‘home nations’.
Noteworthy events scheduled to take place during the week are the award ceremony for the winners
of the in-house call for ideas to help combat global warming and the launch of the Astrium ‘university
challenge’. In France, Astrium will take part in the 100 Years of Space symposium in Bordeaux and
the Cosmomania exhibition at the Cité de l’Espace in Toulouse. In Germany, Astrium, in
collaboration with the University of Saarbrücken, is organising a ‘flying classroom in space’ for the
secondary school teachers and pupils. In the United Kingdom, the company will be at the Spacebots
vs. Spacemen event at the London Science Museum, where it will present the Mars exploration
robot Bridget. And in Spain, Astrium is contributing to the itinerant exhibition ‘50 anos de aventura
espacial. Vivir en el espacio: desafió del siglo XXI’ (‘50 years of space adventure. Living in space:
the challenge of the 21st century’), which will tour various major towns and will also be featured in a
special programme on the country's leading TV channel.
