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Space Creator Day 2023

smart³ at the largest meet & greet of the European space community

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smart³ at the largest meet & greet of the European space community

The penultimate weekend in October is traditionally all about #teamSpace. Almost 800 space enthusiasts met at the Technikmuseum Speyer on October 21, 2023 to celebrate Space Creator Day - the largest meet & greet in the European space community. Members of the smart³-network.

Space travel in a deep sleep

Tens of thousands of people were eyewitnesses in July 1969 when Apollo 11 at Cape Canaveral (Florida, USA) for mankind's greatest leap. When Neil Armstrong became the first man to walk on the moon on July 21, 1969, millions watched the spectacle on television. However, this enthusiasm for the conquest of space did not last long. Already Apollo 13 (April 1970) would hardly have been worth more than a side note in the media if an incident had not suddenly put the lives of the crew at risk. In December 1972, the Apollo 17 the US moon program and space travel increasingly fell into a media slumber. Headlines were only made by disasters such as the launch of the space shuttle Challenger (January 1986) or the crash of the Columbia (February 2003) on re-entry into the Earth's atmosphere.

Edwin Aldrin is the second man to walk on the moon;
© NASA/Neil Armstrong

But behind the scenes, many space-based technologies and applications are increasingly finding their way into our daily lives. For many people, life without satellite navigation systems, weather forecasts, and television, telephone, and Internet access is simply unthinkable. And ever since SpaceX succeeded in building a rocket that is at least partially reusable, enthusiasm for space travel has returned. With one difference: developments in the international space industry are largely covered by space creators. In other words, influencers and content creators who focus on astronomy and space travel and regularly reach an interested audience of millions on YouTube, X, Instagram or TikTok.

Space news on demand

Opportunities to meet and interact with social media stars in real life are few and far between. This is primarily due to the fact that one minute of YouTube video is offset by several hours of production. In addition, there is the maintenance of other channels used, the exchange with the community and administrative tasks. Nevertheless, meet-ups are an integral part of the connection to the fan community. And they more than gratefully accept these offers. This was already evident at the first Space Creator Day 2022, which attracted around 250 participants from all over Germany to the Technikmuseum Speyer.

There could have been many more if the ticket contingent had not been limited for capacity reasons. After all, not just one Space Creator had invited everyone from German-speaking countries. A novelty in this form, which also caused a stir at international level. Under the bow of the Buran - the Russian equivalent of the US-American Space Shuttle - YouTubers, podcasters and bloggers came together. For an entire day, they answered questions from their fans, signed autographs and were available for photos. It quickly became clear: there will be a sequel.

"Quo vadis, spaceflight?" - Michael Weißflog (left) and Tim Dodd (right) in conversation about the future of space travel; © Photo: Martin Dallinger

Speyer in space fever

Space Creator Day 2023 then took place almost exactly one year later. Again at the Technikmuseum Speyer, albeit with the event hall Hangar 10 at a new location. This change promised to enable far more space enthusiasts to take part. After just a few weeks, the event was sold out and, with almost 800 participants, became the largest meet & greet in the European space community. This success was due in no small part to Tim Dodd, who traveled all the way from the USA and whose YouTube channel Everyday Astronaut has more than 1.5 million subscribers. Coming from France, the SpaceExplorerW a long journey. With a focus on French space travel, she regularly reaches thousands of viewers on Twitch and has already reported live from Kourou (French Guiana) on the launch of an Ariane 5. Overall, the SCD line-up read like a who's who of space influencers. It goes without saying that Adrian Beil (NASASpaceflight), Tim Ruster (Astro-Tim) and Moritz Vieth (Vertical take-off) again in Speyer.

NewSpace meets #teamSpace

While one side of Hangar 10 was reserved as an exhibition space for #teamSpace, the other side featured companies, organisations and institutions from the space industry. With HyImpulse, Isar Aerospace and Rocket Factory Augsburg all three German microlauncher manufacturers were on site. They are all about to make the maiden flights of their rockets, which will be used primarily to launch small satellites into space over the next few years. The German Aerospace Center (DLR) and the European Space Agency (ESA) were also able to convince the organisers to have a presence at the SCD. The Austrian start-up GATE Space and the Vienna University of Technology's Space Team (TU Wien Space Team) demonstrated the possibilities of modern space travel and where the young NewSpace industry can develop. The British company Space Forge, which specialises in in-orbit manufacturing, also provided a taste of what is to come.

A long queue formed in front of the entrance to Hangar 10;
© Martin Dallinger

Group picture of all Space Creators present at SCD2023 as well as representatives of companies, institutions and organizations;
© Martin Dallinger / Astrodrom e.V.

The smart³ team on the NEUESwagen at the Space Creator Day 2023;
© smart3 e.V.

From navigation devices to weather forecasts to satellite television, space technologies and satellite-based applications have long been part of our everyday lives. NewSpace - the commercialization of space and its increasing integration into the traditional economy - opens up many more opportunities and applications.

Rethinking space technology

There was no way around the NEUESwagen, which was prominently positioned in front of the entrance to Hangar 10. Outside, smart³ gave an impressive demonstration of the possibilities offered by smart and intelligent materials. Shape memory alloys (SMA) attracted particular interest. Not least because the US space agency NASA literally reinvented the wheel a few years ago with its "Shape Memory Alloy Tire" for Mars and lunar rovers. Dr. Kenny Pagel and Andreas Erben, who represented the Fraunhofer IWU at the Space Creator Day, explained how the properties of SMA can be used to significantly reduce the size of actuators in satellites, for example.

Also in Speyer was Dr. Sven Langbein, who not only presented Kunststoffverarbeitung Hoffmann, but also the new start-up Lamb Space, which was founded under his leadership. Its aim is to enable the series production of satellite structures. If everything works out, a technology demonstrator could be in space in just a few years. It was to be expected that this would make the eyes of the Space Creator Day visitors light up.

Curiosity creates enthusiasm

At the end of the event, the three materials scientists also came to a positive conclusion. They unanimously described their participation in SCD 2023 as an exciting excursion into the world of the space community. They were particularly surprised by the high level of expertise displayed by many of the guests during their visit to the NEUESWagen. Ultimately, this showed that even complex topics can be communicated in an interesting way. Wherever this succeeds and is combined with a healthy dose of curiosity, enthusiasm can also be generated. Space Creator Day 2023 showed the potential of space and related topics. And it will happen again in 2024 - again in Speyer, with even more participants and ideally with members of the smart³ network.

Author: Michael Weißflog