Every two years, specialists and fans of aircraft and space gather at Farnborough for the International Exhibition and Flying Display organised by the Society of British Aerospace Companies (SBAC), the trade association of the UK aerospace industry. This year’s Farnborough International Air Show will be held from 19 to 25 July.
The SBAC and UKISC (the UK Industrial Space Committee) have, for the first time, set up an International Space Pavilion (in Hall 5) with about 2000 m2 of exhibition space, and Wednesday 21 July has been declared “Space Day”.
ESA’s stand at Farnborough will focus in particular on current missions to the Solar System, Cassini-Huygens, Mars Express results, future planetary exploration, Galileo, Envisat results, Cryosat and future Earth observation missions, Ariane 5 and Vega, human spaceflight and the recent Delta mission to the International Space Station.
A series of seminars and media briefings, which specialists and the media are invited to attend, are being organised by the European Space Agency (ESA), the British National Space Centre (BNSC), the Particle Physics and Astronomy Research Council (PPARC) and UK industry throughout the week. The events on the Saturday and Sunday are for the general public.
The programme runs as follows:
Monday 19
11:00-12:30 Location: ESA/BNSC Stands, International Space Pavilion:”Software criticality for space missions” (Logica CMG)
Tuesday 20
10:00-11:00 Location: ESA/BNSC Stands, International Space Pavilion: Cassini-Huygens Press Briefing (ESA, BNSC, PPARC)
11:15-12:30 Location: ESA/BNSC Stands, International Space Pavilion: “Team building through simulations – the Mars Express mission” (VEGA)
Wednesday 21 (Space Day)
09:30-10:15 Location: International Conference Centre (Hall 5): “ESA’s future Exploration Programme (Aurora) – the UK science and industrial case”, PPARC press briefing with Prof. John Zarnecki (Open University), Dr David Parker (PPARC), and Dr Sarah Dunkin (Rutherford Appleton Laboratory)
10:20-11 :15 Location: International Conference Centre (Hall 5): Press conference with UK Science Minister Lord Sainsbury, ESA Director General Jean-Jacques Dordain and NASA Administrator Sean O’Keefe
11:20- 12:30 Location: International Conference Centre (Hall 5): Space Day keynote seminar “Robotic Planetary Exploration”, introduced by Sir John Chisholm, CEO of QinetiQ. Panel of experts includes Prof. D. Southwood, ESA Director of Science, and Daniel Sacotte, ESA Director of Exploration, Prof. Ian Halliday, CEO of PPARC, Admiral Craig Steidle, NASA Assistant Administrator for Exploration, Mr Elliot Pulham, CEO of Space Foundation
10:00-11:00 Location : ESA/BNSC Stands, International Space Pavilion: “Networking for companies in the space sector – new tools and initiatives”
11:00-14:00 Location: ESA/BNSC Stands, International Space Pavilion: “Women and leadership in space and aeronautics: building bridges between universities and industry”
Thursday 22
10:00-10:45 Location: ESA/BNSC Stands, International Space Pavilion: ESA/BNSC information session: The Cryosat mission
11:00-11 :30 Location : ESA/BNSC Stands. International Space Pavilion: ESA/BNSC information session : Envisat results
Friday 23
10:00-11:30 Location: ESA/BNSC Stands, International Space Pavilion:” Careers in Space” (with ESA astronaut Jean-François Clervoy)
11:30-12:30 “UK students in space: parabolic flights and other student activities”
16:00-17:00 “Living and working in space” (with ESA astronaut Jean-François Clervoy)
Saturday 24
10:00-12:30 Location: ESA/BNSC Stands, International Space Pavilion: Games, quizzes, activities with astronauts, surprises
12:30-17:30 Space in 3D (3D cinema)
Sunday 25
10:00-12:30 Location: ESA/BNSC Stands, International Space Pavilion: Games, quizzes, activities with astronauts, surprises
12:30-17:30 Space in 3D (3D cinema)