How To Celebrate World Space Week

World Space Week will commence this Friday (4 October), celebrating all things out of this world. Here’s everything you need to know.

What Is World Space Week?

World Space Week (aka WSW) is an annual celebration of all things space, from explorations to uses to milestones already achieved. It takes place between two significant events in space history: on 4 October 1957, the launch of Sputnik 1, the first artificial satellite, launched by the USSR, marked the beginning of space exploration; and on 10 October 1967, the signing of the Outer Space Treaty established the beginning of international space law and governance.

The week is governed by two UN committees: the Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space (COPUOS) and the UN Office for Outer Space Affairs (UNOOSA), both based in Vienna, Austria.

Why Do We Celebrate It?

World Space Week was introduced by the United Nations in 1999 with the idea of promoting space science, technology and the positive impacts space activities have on humanity. Today, the week-long celebration draws together space agencies, schools, universities, museums, planetariums and more organisations across the globe to celebrate space with talks, exhibitions, programmes, workshops and more.

At its heart, World Space Week aims to excite young people about science, technology, engineering and maths – and encourage the pursuit of careers in these fields. Likewise, the week-long celebration also encourages a greater use of space for sustainable economic development.

How To Celebrate World Space Week

There are plenty of ways to celebrate space. Here are just a few ideas:

• Read a book about space; how about the 2024 Booker Shortlist nominee Orbital by Samantha Harvey?
• Visit the Science Museum in London or explore local space-themed exhibits
• Build a model of the solar system
• Go stargazing
• Visit a Planetarium – in London, that’s the Royal Observatory in Greenwich (rmg.co.uk)
• Organise a space-themed pub quiz
• Watch a film about space; how about Interstellar? Or The Martian?
• Bake space-themed cupcakes or cookies
• Host a space-themed painting session
• Host a space-themed party – best-dressed alien wins
• Build your own model spacecraft; NASA has a print-out guide here.

Find more ideas at worldspaceweek.org

When Is World Space Week?

World Space Week is observed annually from 4 October until 10 October in more than 90 countries.