Every year the Space group meets twice, during the Ecsite preconference workshops in June and later in the year for their annual meeting. As a result of the decisions made by the participants during the preconference workshop and thanks to ESA's generosity , this year, all the members of the space group will be invited to the European Astronautical Centre in Cologne, EAC, on 8-9 December 2016 for their annual meeting. This amazing opportunity is aligned with the theme of the year "The International Space Station: Living and working in Space".

During the meeting, the participants will have the oportunity to know more about the three pilot projects that the Ecsite Space group is developing ("The International Space Station: Living and working in Space", “Is there life out there?” and “Climate change: monitoring the atmosphere and oceans from space”) as well as abut European space activities; to meet and exchange with representatives from ESA; from the National Space Agency, DLR, and industries; and to prepare the next Space Group preconference workshop that will take place at the Ecsite Annual conference of 2017 in Porto (Portugal).

2016 is a very special year for the space group, after having ESA astronaut Jean Francois Clervoy at their workshop in Graz, the space group will hold its annual meeting at an extraordinary venue, The European Astronaut Centre (EAC). This centre was established in 1990 and is located near Cologne, Germany. The EAC team is made up of more than 100 professionals, complemented by staff from the German Aerospace Centre (DLR), the French space agency CNES and from industry. Led by ESA astronaut Frank de Winne, EAC reinforces the European commitment to human space programmes. Through its determined work over the last decades, EAC has established itself as a centre of excellence for astronaut selection, training, medical support and surveillance, as well as support of astronauts and their families during preparation for and during flight.

Stay tuned for more information!