ESA is devoting the third day of the conference, Wednesday 21 September, to the topic of exploration – from current scientific research on board the International Space Station to future exploration activities on the Moon and beyond.

First, ESA’s Director for Human and Robotic Exploration, David Parker, will provide an overview on Europe's exploration vision, “Terrae Novae 2030+”, designed to lead Europe’s human journey into the Solar system. This will then be followed by and a shared ESA and Industry panel on the Future of Space Exploration, after which ESA Director General Josef Aschbacher will meet the press, joined by ESA’s 2009 astronaut corps.

The press conference will take place at the ESA booth. The floor will be opened for an interactive question-and-answer session with media. David Parker will be present, as well as ESA astronauts Thomas Pesquet, Luca Parmitano, Alexander Gerst, and Matthias Maurer. Andreas Mogensen will join remotely from his training site, and Samantha Cristoforetti will connect directly from the ISS.

After the press conference, IAC 2022 visitors are invited to take part in a panel discussion on how to become an astronaut with Lucy van der Tas, ESA Head of Talent Acquisition, and ESA Astronaut Matthias Maurer, followed by a Q&A session with students and experts.

The livestream of the press conference will start at 13:00 CEST. The inflight call with ESA astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti will start at 13:15 CEST and will last about 15 minutes. The live session with Matthias Maurer and Lucy van der Tas discussing what it takes to become an astronaut will start at 15:00 CEST.