ISU Calls for Papers on ISS Extension

Do you have a viewpoint on how to maximize the return on extending the International Space Station (ISS) until 2020?

The International Space University (ISU) has issued a call for papers on the ISS extension for its 15th Annual International Symposium, which will be held Feb. 15-17, 2011, in Strasbourg, France. The deadline for submitting an approximately 300-word abstract is Oct. 8, 2010. ISU will notify authors of selected papers by Nov. 3, 2010.

The symposium is an interdisciplinary international forum that brings together users and providers of space-related systems to discuss problems and formulate innovative solutions. As an independent organization, ISU has a winning formula for a “different kind of symposium” that:

• Addresses multiple aspects of discussion subjects, including policy, business, legal, scientific, and technical
• Allows ample time for discussion
• Fosters constructive dialogue among different sectors of the space community, and between different communities that do not often get to interact

ISU expects approximately 200 participants from agencies, industry and academia from more than 30 different countries.

The 2011 symposium will focus on opportunities and possibilities offered by extending ISS operation to at least 2020. Discussion will include the central theme of how to make best use of the extended ISS life, as well as related issues of resupply and operation commercialization and potential establishment and operation of related Earth orbit infrastructure.

ISU anticipates contributions from the NewSpace entrepreneurial sector as well as from agencies, industries and academic institutions already involved in ISS construction and operation. It also expects presentations from nations not currently involved in the ISS that plan to either join ISS activities in the future or develop alternative human spaceflight projects for low Earth orbit and beyond. A special closing speaker will address possible future directions for human spaceflight beyond 2020

The program will include invited contributions from leading experts in the field as well as presentations and posters selected from the submitted abstracts.

ISU provides graduate-level training to the future leaders of the emerging global space community at its Central Campus in Strasbourg and at locations around the world. Its two-month Space Studies Program and one-year Masters program offer students a core curriculum covering all disciplines related to space programs and enterprises: space science, space engineering, systems engineering, space policy and law, business and management, and space and society. Both programs include an intense team research project that provides international graduate students and young space professionals the opportunity to solve complex projects by working together in an intercultural environment.

Since its founding in 1987, ISU has graduated more than 3,000 students from 100 countries. ISU is a strategic partner of the Space Foundation.
This article is part of Space Watch: September 2010 (Volume: 9, Issue: 9).