Houston, Texas – March 20, 2024
World Space Week Association (WSWA) today announced that over 16,000 events took place in 83 countries during last October’s World Space Week, a 47.47% percent increase from the previous year.
Over 10,000 participating organizations reported public and student events that week, it reported. UN-declared World Space Week is held every 4-10 October.
“This historic growth underscores that World Space Week is the largest space event on Earth,” said WSWA President Dennis Stone. “By synchronizing public and student outreach, participants get huge leverage,” he said. “We congratulate the global space industry on this amazing achievement,” Stone said.
The theme of World Space Week 2023 was “Space and Entrepreneurship” which spotlighted the expanding role of entrepreneurship in space and encouraged youth to study business as well as STEM, he said.
Highlights of the week in the WSWA Annual Report included:
- Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex engaged visitors with an expo featuring NASA and industry partners like Boeing and Blue Origin, focusing on “Space and Entrepreneurship”.
- Organized by Dudu Children’s Museum, World Space Week event in Mongolia saw over 47,157 attendees, featuring workshops for kids, parachute tests, and planetarium sessions.
- A first of its kind in the South Caucasus event organized by Azercosmos in Baku European Highschool allowed students to directly interact with astronaut Andreas Mogensen on the ISS.
“World Space Week 2023 aimed to inspire tomorrow’s space workforce to envision and pursue entrepreneurial ventures in space,” said WSWA Executive Director Alma Okpalefe. “By highlighting the innovative spirit of entrepreneurs, we seek to pave the way for sustainable and inclusive growth in space industries,” she said.
Space entrepreneur Eren Ozmen, Chairwoman and President of Sierra Nevada Corporation, served as World Space Week 2023 Honorary Chair. A full report on the celebration can be found at 2023report.worldspaceweek.org.
The theme for World Space Week 2024 will be “Space and Climate Change.” “We encourage the entire global space community to celebrate World Space Week this October 4-10 to send a powerful message to the public and students about the crucial role of space in monitoring and protecting Earth’s fragile environment,” Okpalefe said.
About World Space Week
Declared by the United Nations, World Space Week is celebrated annually from October 4 to 10. It is the largest space event on Earth, aiming to showcase the significant contributions of space science and technology. World Space Week brings together a diverse array of events organized by space agencies, aerospace companies, schools, planetariums, museums, and astronomy clubs worldwide, creating a unified effort to educate and inspire people about the possibilities that space exploration and utilization offer.
About World Space Week Association
World Space Week Association is the global coordinator of World Space Week. An international non-government, non-profit organization, the Association is a permanent observer on the UN Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space. It is supported by voluntary contributions of sponsors including Sierra Nevada Corporation, Lockheed Martin Corporation, Viasat, SES, SCI Aerospace, Inc., Goldman Sachs & Heidi Cruz, Airbus, and Silhouette. The Association, founded in 1982, is one of the world’s oldest space-advocacy organizations.
Media Contact:
Ilayda Edali, iedali@worldspaceweek.org