The next Ecsite Space Group Annual Meeting will be held at the ESA/European Astronaut Centre (EAC), in Cologne, Germany, on 8–­­9 December.

One of the goals of the space group is to exchange ideas and design collaborative projects among its more than 100 members, to better share European space activities with the general public.

The Space group is led by Marc Moutin, Director of Exhibitions at Cité de l’Espace, Toulouse, France; Ana Noronha, Executive Director of Ciência Viva, Lisbon, Portugal; and Maria Menendez, Head of ESA Corporate Exhibitions and Events.

On 8 December, museum representatives will have the opportunity to visit ESA/EAC. This centre was established in Germany in 1998 to train European astronauts for missions to the International Space Station. A visit to the facilities of the German Aerospace Centre, DLR will be included.

The two-day workshop will cover:

• Next steps of European Space Programmes after the ESA Council at Ministerial Council Level
• News from the German Aerospace Centre, DLR, and industries
• The Pilot Project 1: “The International Space Station: Living and working in Space”, fully developed in 2016 and co-led by Cité de l’Espace, Toulouse, France; Tycho Brahe Planetarium, Copenhagen, Denmark;
• The second phase of the definition of pilot projects:
• Project 2 - Is there life out there, fully developed in 2017, led by City of Arts and Sciences, Valencia, Spain
• Project 3 - Climate change: Monitoring the Atmosphere and Oceans from Space, fully developed in 2018, led by Ciência Viva, Lisbon, Portugal
• Showcase space projects by participants.

Representative of ESA, the German Aerospace Centre, DLR, and space industries will join the workshop and exchange ideas with delegates of museums and science centres.

Please check the full programme of the workshop.

The next meeting of Ecsite Space Group will take place during the Ecsite annual conference – “Life Everywhere”, in Porto, Portugal, on 13–17 June, 2017.