IAF World Space Award Will Be Presented at IAC 2023 Opening Ceremony in Baku

Elon Musk and NASA, ESA, CSA James Webb Space Telescope Team are the winners of the IAF's most Prestigious Award

With 105 days to go, excitement is building in Azerbaijan and beyond for the World’s Premier Global Space Event - the 74th International Astronautical Congress (IAC 2023) which will take place in Baku from 2nd October through 6th October.

Today, the International Astronautical Federation as the Organizer of the IAC 2023 is delighted to announce winners of the IAF World Space Award for 2023, a prestigious award, that recognizes a most eminent person and/or team who has made an exceptional impact to the progress of the world space activities through their outstanding contribution in space science, space technology, space medicine, space law, or space management and exceptional impact to the world’s progress in astronautics.

The IAF World Space Award Ceremony will be held during the IAC 2023 Opening Ceremony on Monday 2nd October 2023 in Baku, Azerbaijan.

Elon MUSK, Founder, CEO and CTO of SpaceX has been announced as a winner among individuals.

With this regard, the IAF statement reads: “Mr. Elon Reeve Musk has shown a visionary understanding of the role and importance of astronautics to humanity's future combined with a willingness to commit his own resources, life and drive and ability to make it happen through Space Exploration Technologies Corporation (SpaceX); a company that has matched the achievements of the Space Agencies in the fields of launch systems and human spaceflight, making space affordable and building space for @ll.”

The IAF World Space Award for 2023 (for teams) is bestowed to NASA, ESA, CSA James Webb Space Telescope Team

This nomination of the NASA, ESA, CSA James Webb Space Telescope Team for the World Space Award Category B for Teams is based on the following exceptional merits:

• Webb is the world’s premier space science observatory that has already transformed our understanding of the universe in its first year of operation.
• Led by NASA, ESA and CSA, more than 20,000 team members from 14 countries have contributed to mission success.
• Scientific opportunities and data from Webb are available globally, with several papers being submitted daily for scientific peer review and publication.
• In addition to the science, Webb has demonstrated the benefits of international cooperation, practical applications from cutting edge technological development, and global inspiration from discovery.”