After 21 years and more than 600 participants, the International Space University (ISU) offered its unique Executive Space Course for the first time, in the Northern Hemisphere Summer (NHS)! At its central campus in Strasbourg, France from 26th to 30th August 2024.
Participants represented organizations like ArianeGroup, Azercosmos, Amazon Web Services, Axiom, CSG, JAXA, NASA, Re.Brand Academy, Saudi Space Agency, Senen Group, and coming from as far as Canada, the United States of America, Japan – or closer – from France, Luxembourg, United Kingdom, amongst others, were welcomed by ISU’s Dean and Vice-President for Research and Academic Affairs Prof. Su-Yin Tan.
This intensive one-week course aims to give an introduction to the space sector.
Participants explored topics from seven space disciplines – from policy and law and entrepreneurship to engineering, human space flight, and satellite applications including:
a workshop on microgravity, another one on how to build a satellite, the observation of the Sun, discovery of space habits, a space lunch, an insight into ISU’s incubator, and the journey of three start-ups: ATMOS, Prometheus Life Technologies, and Alpha Space – all founded by ISU alumni.
Lecturers and experts who contributed to the success of the course include:
Christina Aas, Technology Director SmallSat KDA
Andrés de Almeida, ISU Incubator Coordinator and Entrepreneurship Activities ISU
Claudia Eyzaguirre, Director ISU Space Studies Program NASA
Bertrand Goldman, Associate Professor in Astronomy and Research Facilitator ISU
Hugh Hill, Full Professor in Space Science ISU
Tanja Masson-Zwaan, Assistant Professor, Deputy Director International Institute of Air and Space Law at Leiden University
Nicolas Peter, Professor of the Practice in Space Policy and International Affairs ISU and ESA
Su-Yin Tan, Dean and Professor, Vice President of Academics and Research ISU
Taiwo Tejumola, Assistant Professor Space Applications – Space Engineering ISU
Robert Thirsk, Astronaut (ret’d) CSA
Virginia Wotring, Full Professor in Human Performance in Space ISU
ESC24 ISU participant Richard Oboboto, an ex-fighter pilot and investment banker, currently Chief Operational Officer at CSG Careers Group, comments:
“It is important to constantly learn. I am personally looking to pivot into the space sector. I want to gain knowledge of the space sector and learn the language, meet people from the space sector. From the minute I walked into the International Space University’s central campus, the first person I met was an astronaut from the Saudi Space Agency, secondly was a great individual from NASA, and thirdly a person who designed the boosters for the Ariane 6 rocket. The course had an immediate impact in terms of meeting people in the industry. The content is fantastic, and I am coming away from ISU’s one-week Executive Space Course realizing how important space is, how we’re really dependant on it, and how we can really improve the quality of life on Earth. No matter what sector you are in and your position, you need to send your staff to ISU. The reason why I believe the latter is that it is a missed opportunity if you don’t understand what is going on in the space sector, you will lose potential business opportunities. I guarantee you’ll learn something at the Executive Space Course that could benefit your business!”
From the numerous testimonies on social media (and not just!), we can note that this course exceeded participants’ expectations by providing them with a new set of skills and a global outlook on the space sector. It also allowed them to go back to their companies with ideas on how to innovate and set up fruitful business endeavors.
Rendez-vous has already been taken for some ESC24 participants at ISU’s Alumni Gathering during IAC24 in Milan, Italy, and on ESRIC’s Space Resources Professional Course in Luxembourg from 16 to 17 May 2024!
