THE 4TH SPACE RENAISSANCE INTERNATIONAL WORLD CONGRESS

June 30 – July 4, 2026

Work continues on the five-year Congress; SRI sends delegates to COPUOS Scientific & Technical Subcommittee meeting in Vienna.
The preliminary SRI Academy webinar series is online. It includes past presentations, including last week’s by Alberto Cavallo on “Date Centers in Space”, a practical assessment made newsworthy by SpaceX’s recent announcement of plans to do so. There are 10 more webinars scheduled before the Congress in late June. Click on the “series” link above for a complete list, including past presentations and links to videos/streams.
We have already received several abstracts for the Congress. Main topics are Philosophy & Policy, Science & Engineering, and Art & Media. Subtopics include: Resources (overshoot day, unsustainable demand); Beautiful Life in Space (quality of life, ergonomics); the 18th Sustainable Development Goal; and the Rights of Settlers/Settlements (“We speak for the settlers”). For more information, please go to our Congress page which contains links for submitting abstracts and registering for the Congress (free). Click here for current list of speakers.
New! SRI’s Towards the Young Generation Committee is pleased to invite students and young professionals to join Expanding Humanity to Outer Space (EHTOS) paper competition that will be held during the IV Space Renaissance International Congress (SRIC) from 30 June to 4 July. For more information, please click here. Deadline for abstract submission is March 30.
Much of our effort is informed by our work with the United Nations’ Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space (COPUOS). At this month’s meeting of the Scientific and Technical Subcommittee, we made two presentations, “Living in Free-Space Habitats, a Choice of Freedom” by Adriano Autino, and “Space Habitats and Vehicle Design” by Werner Grandl. SRI is a Permanent Observer and is permitted to address the committee/subcommittees on our areas of our expertise.
SRI also had three delegates (M.L. Heuser, Amalie St. Clair, and Gülin Dede) who observed informal discussions involving ATLAC (Action Team on Lunar Activity Consultation) and EG-SSA (Expert Group on Space Situational Awareness). They report that SRI’s contribution to ATLAC was “well received and genuinely appreciated”; it is now posted on their dedicated UN web page. Although SSA is not a prime focus of SRI at this time, the EG has issued a questionnaire to COPUOS members and observers, which we will complete to stay engaged pending future developments.
Our observers also reported that the commitment to sustainability, long part of the UN and COPUOS efforts (e.g., the Sustainable Development Goals and the Guidelines for Long-Term Sustainability of Outer Space Activities), was being challenged by the United States and Russia, who refused to agree to the STSC final report unless it included a disclaimer that the report does not prejudice the adopted positions of state parties. The subcommittee adopted the disclaimer. We look forward to the STSC final report, which should include reports from the working groups.
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