The International Astronautical Congress (IAC 2025) in Sydney has blasted past expectations with an estimated $47 million boost to the visitor economy, more than doubling original forecasts.
The global space gathering is officially the largest international conference held in Sydney since the COVID pandemic.
Visitor numbers broke records, with more than 7,400 delegates, including international space agencies, industry leaders, and academia from around 100 countries, descending on Sydney for the five-day event at the International Convention Centre (Sept 29 - Oct 3).
More than 12,000 members of the public, including many NSW school students, registered for the Congress' 'Space Day - Powered by LEGO® Play' on Friday, 3 October, where families and students got the chance to step into the shoes of space explorers and innovators.
In total, more than 19,000 people participated in IAC 2025 and Space Day, which showcased Australia and NSW's cutting-edge space industry on the global stage.
More than 450 companies, institutions and governments from all over the world showcased their innovative solutions on the event's huge 19,000sqm exhibition floor. This included more than 60 organisations from NSW.
One of the standout NSW innovations showcased at the IAC was 'Charlotte' - a fully autonomous 3D printing robot designed to support lunar exploration and deliver low-cost, low-carbon housing solutions here on Earth.
Crest Robotics - part of the NSW consortium that developed Charlotte - has signed an MoU with US space exploration company Intuitive Machines. The partnership will explore opportunities to integrate Charlotte's technology into future lunar missions, leveraging Intuitive Machines' expertise in Moon landings and space systems.
IAC 2025 marked a significant milestone for NSW's space sector, elevating our local innovation on the global stage, opening new pathways for international commercialisation, and showing the world that NSW is not just participating in Australia's space economy, but is a global leader.
The NSW Government thanks the International Astronautical Federation for partnering to make the 2025 Congress a success, and acknowledges its co-hosts, the Space Industry Association of Australia and the Australian Space Agency.
The baton has been passed to Atalya in Turkey, which will host next year's IAC.
Minister for Jobs and Tourism Steve Kamper said:
"The success of IAC 2025 showed the importance of high-value events to the state's visitor economy.
"With over 7,400 delegates from more than 90 countries, IAC 2025 has delivered a significant boost to the NSW visitor economy, filling hotels, restaurants and attractions.
"High-value events like the IAC are critical to the NSW Visitor Economy strategy, and it's goal of $91 billion in visitor expenditure by 2035 - supporting local businesses and jobs, and fostering industry collaboration and growth."
Minister for Industry and Trade and Minister for Innovation, Science and Technology Anoulack Chanthivong said:
"Events such as the IAC are magnets for talent and investment. They fuel our knowledge economy and showcase Sydney's capacity to host world-class events.
"We're proud to have welcomed thousands of international delegates, industry leaders and space enthusiasts to our city - the event has exceeded all expectations.
"We might not always think about it, but space and satellites keep our world spinning - powering everything from crops to commerce - so it's vital that we continue to inspire the next generation of scientists who will keep building the Australian space industry.
"As the biggest international conference held in Sydney post-pandemic, the IAC in Sydney has been a transformative moment - not only for businesses within our space ecosystem to pursue new growth opportunities, but also for inspiring the next generation to explore futures in STEM."
Business Events Sydney (BESydney) CEO Amanda Lampe said:
"When we secured this event four years ago, coming out of the pandemic, our estimates of what it could bring to the state were understandably conservative. Reaching this participation milestone is a credit to the collaborative efforts of state and federal governments working hand in hand in glove with industry and the academic community in a shared drive to achieve great things for Australia's future.
"Over and above the $47 million economic injection into the visitor economy, IAC 2025 has advanced science, fostered innovation, catalysed trade and investment and shone the light on our city as the best place to live, work, study, advance research and do business."
