Press Release 22-010 September 30th, 2022 (pdf print version)
IAA Highlights Impressive Year of Accomplishment at Awards Gala
2022 von Karman awarded to Francisco Mendieta-Jimenez of Mexico
On Saturday, September 17th, aerospace experts and leaders from around the globe gathered for the annual Awards Gala of the International Academy of Astronautics (IAA). The Awards Gala highlighted a tremendous year of activity and growth worldwide to advance the Academy’s charter of the peaceful use of Space for all Humankind. As part of the ceremonies, over 50 new Academicians from Asia, the Middle East, Africa, the Americas and Europe were inducted into the Academy, including the first Academicians from Republic of Guinea and Lebanon.
Francisco Mendieta-Jimenez, the former Director General of Agencia Espacial Mexicana, received the 2022 Von Karman Award, the Academy’s most prestigious individual award, in recognition of a lifetime of important contributions to advancing Space activities in Mexico, promoting participation of Latin American nations in Space programs and guiding collaborative activities with Space agencies worldwide. His inspirational leadership guided development of Space capabilities in Mexico, funded small satellite missions, promoted entrepreneurship in Space and motivated young people to pursue careers in Space disciplines.
The two prior recipients of the Von Karman Award were Peter Jankowitsch, former Austrian Ambassador to the OECD and Chair of COPUOS in 2021; and K. Sivan, former Chairman of the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO), in 2020.
The Laurels for Team Achievement Award, the Academy’s highest group award, was presented to the Ariane 5 Team Europe for James Webb Space Telescope Launch in recognition of their precision launch of the James Webb Space Telescope allowing precious fuel to be saved on the spacecraft’s voyage to the Lagrange point and support a very promising operational life.
The two prior recipients of the Academy’s Laurels for Team Achievement were the Parker Solar Probe Team in 2021; and the joint U.S. – Ukrainian Antares Program Team in 2020.
During the Academy Day preceding the Awards Gala, two Memoranda of Understanding were signed. These were a joint IAA – IAF – IISL MOU regarding a continuing global effort on Space Traffic Management, which builds on the Academy’s efforts starting in the early 2000’s. John Schumacher, IAA President, joined the IAF President Pascale Ehrenfreund and IISL President Kai-Uwe Schrogl in signing the MOU.
The Academy also signed an MOU with the University Space Engineering Consortium – Global (UNISEC – Global) that will allow IAA members to assist UNISEC – Global in providing young people around the world with the opportunity to learn about Space, Space engineering and careers in the Space sector. Jean-Michel Contant, IAA Secretary General and Rei Kawashima, UNISEC – Global Secretary General, signed the MOU.
The Academy presented several Section Awards:
Johann-Dietrich Woerner, President of the Academy of Sciences and Engineering in Munich and former Director General of the European Space Agency, received the Engineering Sciences Award in honor of a lifetime of distinguished service leading German, European and international cooperative Space endeavors.
Rei Kawashima, Secretary General of UNISEC – Global received the Social Sciences Award for her leadership of UNISEC – Global and contributions to over 20 small satellites for education and business applications.
Rosa Maria Ramirez de Arellano, General Coordinator of International Affairs and Security in Space Matters at the Mexican Space Agency, received the Social Sciences Award for career accomplishments in International Relations, Space Law and State Assets in Space Matters.
Otfrid Liepack, Head of Project Integration Test & Deployment at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, received the Social Sciences Award for a lifetime of achievements on integration, test and deployment of major international cooperative planetary missions such as Galileo, Cassini and Phoenix.
The Engineering Sciences Book Award was presented to Giancarlo Genta and Paolo Riberi for the book Technology and the Growth of Civilization. Social Sciences Book awards were presented to Irmgard Marboe for the book Legal Aspects of Planetary Defence; and to Olga Bannova for the book Architecture: Human Habitat Beyond Planet Earth.
The Academy thanked the many Academicians who made the IAA’s highly regarded seminars and conferences around the world such a success. Of particular note was the IAA Academy Day on July 16, 2022, co-hosted by the Greek Academy of Sciences in Athens, Greece and held in conjunction with the 2022 COSPAR General Assembly. Several new Academicians were inducted into the Academy and the Parker Solar Probe Team was presented with the Laurels for Team Achievement Award; Other successful events were the 14th IAA Low-Cost Planetary Missions Conference (LCPM), February 28 – March 04, 2022, Beppu, Japan, the IAA/UT Space Traffic Management Conference 02-03 March 2022, Austin, TX, USA, the 3rd IAA Conference on Space Situational Awareness March 28-30, 2022 Madrid, Spain and the 4S Symposium (Small Satellites Systems & Services), May 16-20, 2022, Vilamoura, Portugal.
The IAA welcomes all to participate in its final conferences of 2022 – The International (Hybrid) Symposium on the Peaceful Use of Space Technology – Health in Beijing, November 18-21 2022, and the 5th IAA Latin American CubeSat Workshop and 3rd IAA Latin American Symposium on Small Satellites, Brasilia, Brazil, November 7-10, 2022.
