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The 12th convening of the Space Generation Congress (SGC) began at the Beihang University, in Beijing China, on September 19.

SGC has gathered 122 students and young professionals from 42 countries for three days. The delegates are meeting to discuss five different topics and propose recommendations that will be then presented at the United Nations (UN) and in many other events during the next year. These five topics includes space mining, space industry in the era of globalization, space communications in daily life, near Earth objects’ impact on society, and Earth observation for sustainable development.

Professor Jinwei, Vice President of the Beihang University, kicked off the congress by welcoming the delegates in the Beihang majestic campus. He was followed by Dr. Michael K. Simpson, from the Secure World Foundation, who explained which steps have been taken at the UN to deal with the threat posed by NEOs.

Below Space Generation Advisory Council’s press release:

Today, Chris Vasko, co-Chair of the Space Generation Advisory Council and Andrea Jaime, Executive Director welcomed the 122 delegates of the SGC 2013. This year, 42 countries are represented among the delegates, making the sessions truly international. The delegates were warmly welcomed by the Vice President of the Beihang University, Professor Jinwei, who offered his hospitality and encouraged all the delegates to enjoy and explore this great location in the next coming 3 days.

After that, Dr Weng from the Beihang University introduced the International School of Beihang University to our delegates, highlighting the main vision of it: Morality before Brilliance, and study hard, which very much fit with the vision of the Space Generation Congress, where different cultures gather together in a very tolerant and respectful way. The Space Generation Congress has just kicked-off and the delegates are now starting their discussions on the 5 working group topics of this year. They are guided by experts on each topic, and moderated by established young professionals. The working groups were introduced to the participants by the Project Team in a short presentation to highlight the main outcome of this Space Generation Congress: give recommendations to the UNCOPUOS.

They are the next generation of space leaders, it is now the time for them to speak up and have their voices heard.

Space Safety Magazine will cover SGC. Stay tuned for updates and interviews from Beijing and follow on Twitter the hashtag #SGCongress.

Image caption: Space Generation Congress 2013 logo (Credits: Space Generation Advisory Council).

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