Russia has been awarded the right to host the Association of Space Explorers’ 34th Planetary Congress. The event will take place in St. Petersburg in 2021 and will mark the 60th anniversary of the first human space flight, completed by Soviet citizen Yuri Gagarin on the Vostok spacecraft.
«The presentation and promotion of Russia’s infrastructure and capacity to attract international congress events is an area that we are actively developing. Leading countries around the world compete to hold congresses and forums every year. These events help to attract investment, develop business tourism, and promote international economic cooperation more broadly,» said Anton Kobyakov, Adviser to the President of the Russian Federation.
The decision to hold the 34th Congress in 2021 in St. Petersburg was made by the international executive committee of the Association of Space Explorers (ASE) at their most recent congress, which was held in Minsk. The 2021 event will be held with the support of the Roscongress Foundation and the Russian Convention Bureau.
The Planetary Congress is an annual event held in countries that have sent at least one of their citizens into space. It is the main event that brings together astronauts from all over the world, and its goal is to foster the exchange of experience in space flights and information on achievements in space. During the Congress, which lasts five days, participants take part in plenary sessions and industry meetings, and also visit specialised educational facilities in the host city and region.
Aleksandr Aleksandrov, Chairman of the Russian regional branch of the Association of Space Explorers, USSR cosmonaut who has twice been awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union, said: «The most recent Congress of the Association of Space Explorers (ASE) was held in the Republic of Belarus from 10 to 14 September 2018. Participants from 18 countries were welcomed by Alexander Lukashenko, President of Belarus. The Association’s most important goal is to establish regular and close contacts between specialists who are united by a shared experience of human space flight. It seeks to harness their prestige and unique experience to further the exploration of outer space and the development of space technology, to inform the global community about the latest achievements in space research, and to work with the younger generations in each participating country. Russia’s cosmonauts see many interesting areas here that can help develop Russian astronautics and, crucially, that can help attract intelligent and enthusiastic young specialists to work in the space industry.»
Alexey Kalachev, Director of the Russian Convention Bureau, said: «In our opinion, the choice of this city on the Neva (St. Petersburg) makes this a very appealing project both for the participating countries and for Russia as a whole. We have already won three applications for relatively large events that are going to be held in Russia between 2019 and 2022. The Russian Convention Bureau’s goal for the next five years is to make Russia a leading destination for hosting international events. One of the Convention Bureau’s priorities is to support the country in its bids to host events that would facilitate the exchange of knowledge and technology.»
The Russian Convention Bureau has currently submitted applications to host 12 international business events, and 30 more applications are under preparation.
