The Turkish city of Antalya hosted the 77th International Astronautical Congress (IAC) from 5 to 9 October 2026, one of the world’s biggest space gatherings, under the theme «The World Needs More Space». Thousands of researchers, scientists and enthusiasts from 111 countries took part, according to TÜBİTAK, the Scientific and Technological Research Council of Türkiye.
The congress was coordinated by the International Astronautical Federation and hosted by the Turkish Space Agency, with SAHA Istanbul. On Public Day around 12,000 people visited the venue, which offered workshops, a science show watched by about 1,000 people and a solar-telescope observing session for more than 300.
TÜBİTAK’s institutes presented more than 50 papers, from crewed spaceflight to Türkiye’s first Moon mission, and showed, among other things, a one-third-scale model of the lunar spacecraft and astronaut Alper Gezeravcı’s original spacesuit. According to Turkish officials, the lunar spacecraft has been assembled and is now undergoing environmental testing.
Through a support programme, TÜBİTAK funded 156 of the 193 applications from researchers whose papers were accepted at the congress. The report does not mention formal agreements signed during the event.
