Main Press and Communication activities for 2003

Paris, 07 Jan 2003

In 2003 ESA will be involved in a series of international events. The major ones are listed below and can already be pencilled into your diaries.

January

14-17/01 - Noordwijk, the Netherlands: GMES Forum at ESA/ESTEC

16/01-02/02 - Cape Canaveral, Florida: Launch of Space Shuttle mission STS 107, with ESA payload

20/01 - Paris, France - ESA Head Office: ESA Director General Antonio Rodotà meets the press

24-25/01 - ESA's Artemis satellite reaches final orbital position

t.b.d. - Kourou, French Guiana - Europe's Spaceport: Ariane 5 launch. Payload: Rosetta satellite (ESA)

February

26-28/02 - Washington, USA: Satellite 2003 conference

t.b.d. - Frascati, Italy: "Envisat: a year after launch", Media Day at ESA/ESRIN

t.b.d. - Noordwijk, the Netherlands: SMART-1 Media Day at ESA/ESTEC

March

05/03 - Opening of ESA's Deep Space Ground Station in New Norcia, Australia

t.b.d. - Bremen, Germany: International Space Station payload media day and announcement of the winners of the SUCCESS student competition

mid - Kiruna, Sweden: stratospheric balloon campaign

t.b.c. - Ariane 5 Plus: First test firing of the new Vinci cryogenic engine

25/03 - Kourou, French Guiana - Europe's Spaceport: Ariane 5 launch, Payload: SMART-1 (ESA)

26/03 - Brussels, Belgium: Event on the International Charter on Space and Major Disasters (venue t.b.d.)

t.b.d. - Frascati, Italy: "Vega day" at ESA/ESRIN

24/03-03/04 - Bordeaux, France: 34th ESA parabolic flight campaign.

31/03 - Kiruna, Sweden: Launch of Maxus 5 sounding rocket from Esrange

April

07-12/04 - Hanover, Germany: Hanover Fair, ESA Technology Transfer stand and joint ESA/BEOS (Astrium)/DLR stand on ISS commercialisation

22-25/04 - Graz, Austria: GNSS 2003, the European Navigation Conference

t.b.d. - Signature of the ESA/Rosaviakosmos launcher agreement

26/04 (t.b.c.) - Baikonur, Kazakhstan: Soyuz flight to the International Space Station with ESA's Spanish astronaut Pedro Duque

end - ESA Council at ministerial level at ESA Head Office, Paris

May

t.b.d. - Kourou, French Guiana - Ceremony marking the start of building the Soyuz Launch Complex

22-23/05 - Berlin, Germany: URBAN 2003, Remote Sensing and Data Fusion over Urban Areas, conference

29/05 t.b.c. - Baikonur, Kazakhstan: launch of Soyuz with ESA's Mars Express payload

June

09/06-04/07 - Geneva, Switzerland: World Radio Communication Conference

15-22/06 - Paris, le Bourget: Paris Air Show, ESA Pavilion

July

10-12 - Guilford, United Kingdom: British Festival of Space at the University of Surrey

31/07 (t.b.c.) - Cape Canaveral, Florida: Launch of Space Shuttle mission STS 116, with ESA's Swedish astronaut Christer Fuglesang

September

11-16/09 - Amsterdam, the Netherlands: International Broadcasters Conference

29/09-03/10 - Bremen, Germany: 54th IAF Congress and Exhibition

t.b.d. - Noordwijk, the Netherlands: Technology Transfer Media Day at ESA/ESTEC

October

04-12/10 - Genoa, Italy: International Boat Show- Space Technologies for the maritime sector, ESA Technology Transfer Programme booth

t.b.d. - Future Launcher Preparatory Programme 1st Industry day (venue and date t.b.d.)

t.b.d. - Bordeaux, France: 35th ESA parabolic flight campaign

12-18/10 - Geneva, Switzerland: Telecom 2003

t.b.d. - Envisat First Results Symposium (at ESA/ESTEC or ESA/ESRIN- t.b.d.)

t.b.d. - GMES Service Elements First Results Symposium (at ESA/ESTEC or ESA/ESRIN- t.b.d.)

24-28/10 - Milan, Italy: SMAU- International Exhibition of Information and Communication Technology. Theme: the International Space Station

t.b.c. - Kazakhstan: Soyuz flight to the International Space Station with ESA's Dutch astronaut André Kuipers

November

t.b.d. - Nice, France: NavSat 2003, the Satellite Navigation and Positioning World Show

December

end - Mars Express arrives at Mars

Dates of certain events, especially those of launches, depend on various factors such as readiness of the spacecraft and/or launcher, and thus remain t.b.c. (to be confirmed) for some time. All Space Shuttle, Soyuz and Ariane launch dates are provisional and will be confirmed by NASA, Rosaviakosmos and Arianespace respectively in due time.

For further information please contact:

ESA Media Relations Service:
Franco Bonacina, Brigitte Kolmsee, Anne-Marie Rémondin
Tel. + 33(0)1.53.69.7155
Fax. + 33(0)1.53.69.7690

European Space Agency
http://www.esa.int/export/esaCP/index.ht ml