WELCOME

A message from the chairman of the Local Organising Committee:

"On behalf of the Local Organising Committee and the Czech Space Office, I am honoured and pleased to invite you all to join us for the 61st International Astronautical Congress in 2010 at Prague, Czech Republic. The Congress is taking place under the auspices of Václav Klaus, president of the Czech Republic.

Prague is beautiful and attractive at every time of the year. Its charm results from the work of both nature and man over a period of more than a thousand years. Prague is built on seven hills along the banks of the river Vltava and has been the focal point of Bohemia since the 9th century. For centuries Prague has been one of the major centres of artistic creativity and patronage in Europe and its collections of the work of master craftsmen will be a revelation to every visitor. The whole inner city is an area with many historical buildings, palaces and churches, old lanes and beautiful gardens. Sometimes called the “Golden Prague” or the “City of hundred spires”, Prague has been the residential town of the Bohemian kings from several dynasties, through the Habsburg emperors, since 1918 the capital of Czechoslovakia and since 1993 the capital of the Czech Republic. The most important period in the development of the city was the reign of Charles IV, King of Bohemia and Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire in the 15th century. It was in that time when the Charles bridge over the Vltava river was built and the Charles University, the oldest university in Central Europe was founded. Consequently, the country ranks among finer European centres of education and research since the Middle Ages – and space research has not been omitted. The 40-year heritage of the Czech space achievements includes the flight of cosmonaut Vladimir Remek, payloads and mechanical structures for interplanetary probes, satellites, orbital stations and construction of minisatellites.

The International Astronautical Congress comes back into this geographical region of Central and Eastern Europe after a quarter of century. During that time, countries in this part of Europe went through dramatic period of their history. Political, economical and societal changes have essentially influenced all parts of life of their citizens. Activities in space have been no exception. After slowing down the volume of space activities during main transition phase, the Czech Republic has gradually developed new space infrastructure and became the 18th member of the European Space Agency in 2008.

It is believed that the IAC will help to increase general awareness about space related capacities and plans of countries in this part of Europe and, at the same time, it will motivate and stimulate activity of new space generation there.

We have chosen the focal theme of the Congress in Prague as “Space for Human benefit and exploration" .
On one side, this reflects the permanent importance of practical applications of space to everyday life forcing many new countries to form and develop own space programmes. On the other side, it pays attention to mankind’s next grand challenge – space exploration. The IAC at Prague’s Congress Centre will provide another opportunity for representatives from political, industrial and scientific sectors, together with members of the general public to shape the future direction of space exploration. As the ambitions of space nations are becoming apparent, the countries are focusing on how their own space exploration plans might integrate with global space endeavours and how might collaborate with other nations to develop a truly global space exploration strategy. We believe that space exploration can inspire nations to work together for a common purpose. Our goal is that the 61st IAC in Prague eminently promotes that vision.

Once again, let me invite you for interesting and enjoyable September week in Prague."

Jan Kolář
Chairman of the LOC