World Space Week Highlights 2022
Sustainability in space relates to how humanity uses space, most pressingly, the orbital area surrounding Earth – itself a finite resource. At the start of 2021, there were 6,542 satellites listed as being currently in orbit by the UN. In order to ensure the sustainability of future space activities, we must ensure that space debris can be cleaned up, and not pose a threat to future missions. Achieving sustainability from space is a different ask – this addresses how space can help to achieve a cleaner, fairer and safer planet Earth. This includes measuring climate change, identifying pollution on land and at sea, supporting agriculture in developing nations – an endless list Of the 169 targets that form the 17 UN Sustainable Development Goals, 65 directly benefit through Earth observation satellites and related technologies.
- The US Vice President Kamala Harris announced a new coalition of space companies that will focus on increasing the space industry’s capacity to meet the rising demand for the skilled technical workforce.
- The UN Office for Outer Space Affairs (UNOOSA) hosted a webinar series on this year’s theme ‘Space and Sustainability’.
- To celebrate World Space Week, Chris Boshuizen, One Giant Leap Australia Foundation, Moonshot and RMIT Space Industry Hub announced ‘Mission: Sustainability’, a challenge for Australian students to design a sustainable space station of the future.
- Prestwick Spaceport in the United Kingdom released a short film to encourage young people to consider a career in Scotland’s end-to-end space sector. The film will be made available to schools in collaboration with Skypath – a careers initiative from South Ayrshire Council’s Economy and Regeneration service.
- One Giant Leap Australia Foundation and Space Teams organized ‘Mission OZ!’, a six-day virtual space mission for students ages 12 and up.
- In honor of World Space Week, Stacker media curated a gallery of groundbreaking NASA missions.
- 100Kin10, a US national network of academic institutions, nonprofits, foundations, companies and government agencies, launched a new publicly available resource with free space-inspired science curricular materials and learning resources
- Kinder Joy launched its new space collection ahead of World Space Week. Designed for young kids, the space toys include astronauts, rocket ships, planetary rovers and more.
- SIA ran a social media campaign throughout World Space Week, each day focusing on a sustainability initiative by one or more SIA members.
- CBS’s weekly television show, Mission Unstoppable(opens in new tab), shared stories of women from diverse backgrounds who contribute to the exploration, discovery, and application of space-related knowledge
- SDSC SHAR, Sriharikota the “Spaceport of India” celebrated World Space Week with a gamut of public outreach programmes
- Hines Family Foundation, in partnerships with the Atlanta University Consortium Data Science Initiative, and the NASA Georgia Space Grant Consortium at Georgia Tech, hosted “From STEM To Esteem: Space-motived Tools and Strategies to Enable the 21st Century Underrepresented Workforce.
- The Space Foundation, USA organized Unity In Space, a weeklong celebration of World Space Week – Space and Sustainability.
- European Space Week took place from 3 to 6 October 2022 in Prague, Czech Republic. It brought policymakers, industry, start-ups, entrepreneurs, public authorities, investors and users together to discuss the current – and future – trends of the EU’s Space Programme.
- UN Technology Bank for Least Developed Countries celebrated #WSW2022 & the role of remote #Earth observation to drive change.
Engagement by World Space Week Association Team
The WSWA team actively engages in World Space Week events around the world. Below are some of the events in which we participated this year.
- Future African Space Week Explorer’s STEM Academy (FASESA) organized Space Week Zambia from October 4-10, 2022, where Theme Manager, Annie Kazarjan, gave a presentation about Space and Sustainability.
- Space Café WebTalk featured Dennis Stone, President of World Space Week Association and Commercial Space Executive at NASA, in conversation with Torsten Kriening, publisher of SpaceWatch.Global. Title: World Space Week 2022: An Insight into Space and Sustainability, October 4, 2022, at 4:00 PM – 4:33 PM CEST.
- On October 6, WSWA Executive Director Maruška Strah participated in a special event called “Women in Space” in Beer-Sheva, Israel, which celebrated the achievements and contributions of women in the space sector. The event included an exhibition by the She Space girls, showcasing their work and inspiring others to pursue their own interests in space.