ASCEND 2025

Building Our Sustainable Off-World Future

ASCEND 2025 is the event uniting global community in a continuous dialogue about our shared future beyond Earth.

This year, the International Astronautical Federation (IAF) proudly participated in ASCEND 2025, where Charles-Aimé Nzeussi Mbouendeu, Chair of the IAF ACCESS Africa Subcommittee, joined a dynamic lineup of ASCENDANTS - emerging leaders addressing the urgent challenges facing space sustainability and inclusion.

Under the guiding theme of “Space for All,” Charles-Aimé delivered a thought-provoking talk highlighting the interconnected threats of the climate crisis, global inequality, and the risk of replicating exclusionary systems as humanity expands into space. He emphasized that space sustainability must go beyond orbital debris mitigation; it must ensure that space remains a shared, inclusive, and generative domain for all nations and communities, especially those historically left behind.