50th Anniversary of the ESA Convention

Illuminate Europe’s sky!

26th of May 16:30 SwissTech Convention Center Lausanne

Inspiration, Science, Exploration

Illuminate Europe's sky!

Marco Sieber had a message for you!

On Monday 26th of May, supported by Space Exchange Switzerland (a national platform funded by the Swiss Space Office), the State Secretariat for Education, Research and Innovation was very fortunate to host the celebration of the 50th Anniversary of the ESA Convention in Lausanne. In 2025, the 50th anniversary of the signature of the ESA Convention (30 May 1975) provides the opportunity to reflect not only on ESA’s past achievements, but also on its future perspectives.

More than 1’000 participants came and joined us for this celebration!

Scroll down for complete program.

EVENT IN ENGLISH

This conference was free and open to everyone. Registration was mandatory, and places were limited.

The Swiss-led troupe The Blackouts entertained us with a captivating light show all along the celebration.

Re-discover our distinguished speakers

Program

  • Opening doors, featuring exhibitions:

    • Model displays of Ariane 6, Solar Orbiter, and Cheops - kindly made available by ESA and NCCR PlanetS.

    • Showcase of 7 student projects from EPFL.

  • Overall Moderation: Space engineer & communicator, Galactic Chloé

    • Opening message: Federal Councillor, G. Parmelin

  • Presentation:

    • ESA Director General, J. Aschbacher

  • Presentations:

    • ESA Director of Science, Prof. Carole Mundell

    • Astrophysicist, specialist in planetary system modelling at University of Bern, Prof. Dr. W. Benz

    • President of the University of Zurich, Prof. Dr. M. Schaepman

  • Presentations:

    • ESA Director of Human and Robotic Exploration, D. Neuenschwander

    • Astronauts: M. Sieber, M. Lopéz-Alegría & C. Nicollier

  • Keynote Speech:

    • Co-Founder, Executive Chairman of AXIOM Space, Dr. K. Ghaffarian

    Panel discussion: challenges of the coming years

    Moderation: Scientific journalist, O. Dessibourg

    • ESA Director of Commercialisation, Industry and Competitiveness, G. Naja

    • Director of ETH Zurich I Space, Prof. Dr. T. Zurbuchen

    • Head Swiss Space Office & Chair of the ESA Council, Dr. R. Krpoun

    • CEO of Apco Technologies SA, A. Pugin

    • President of EPFL, Prof. Dr. A. Fontcuberta i Morral

    • State Secretary for Education, Research and Innovation, Dr. M. Hirayama