Sep 8, 2010 12:53 GMT  ·  By
the 61st International Astronautical Congress, 2010 edition will be held in Prague
   the 61st International Astronautical Congress, 2010 edition will be held in Prague

From September 27 to October 1st, the 61st International Astronautical Congress (IAC) will be held in Prague, for the first time in the last 33 years.

The Czech Republic has joined the European Space Agency in 2008 being ESA's newest Member State.

The Czech Space Office (CSO) was created in 2003, when the country became the first to join ESA's Plan for European Cooperating States (PECS).

Dr Jan Kolář, Head of the CSO and local organizer of this year's IAC event says that CSO's “primary goal is to increase the participation of Czech organizations in international space projects and also foster educational opportunities for youth.”

This year's IAC honors the long space research and development history of the Czech Republic, as well as the growing activities in space industry, in science and in education in the country.

The main reason for which the congress is held in Prague this year, is to support students that want to pursue a space career.

For this, Dr Kolář said that there are “special events planned, like the 'Space Generation Congress' which will be held a week prior to the main IAC.

“There are also education workshops for teachers, a university forum and a workshop for student Cubesat developers,” he added.

“We aim to show the world Czech space competence and help our young people make a positive contribution to Europe in space.”

The Czechs have a special relationship with the space industry, which began in 1969, when the Soviet Union's Interkosmos-1, the first satellite to carry instruments, was developed in the former Czechoslovakia.

Then, in 1978, Vladimír Remek became the first European and Czechoslovak astronaut to fly in space, aboard Soyuz 28.

Dr Kolář reminded that “the first wholly developed Czechoslovak satellite, Magion-1, flew in 1978.

“With our involvement in former Soviet missions to Mars and Phobos, several dozen Czech devices and systems had flown in space by the end of the 1980s,” he continued.

Despite the separation between the Czech Republic and Slovakia in 1992, four Magion satellites were flown in the 1990s, reinforcing the country's expertise in magnetospheric and ionospheric science.

Later, in 2003, the country orbited micro-accelerometer carrier Mimosa.

Today, Czech space science focuses on the Sun, space weather and several processes within the Earth's ionosphere and magnetosphere.

Czech physicists are also working on the development of a new generation of atomic clocks that will be tested on the International Space Station.

The mission of this annual congress is to encourage the progress of space knowledge and to determine the global space community to share its experience and stimulate worldwide cooperation.