The U.S. Department of State Hosts the International Space Exploration Forum

The U.S. Department of State will host the International Space Exploration Forum (ISEF), the first-ever ministerial-level meeting to build political support for global cooperation in space exploration, in Washington D.C. on January 9, 2014.  ISEF will bring together Ministers and high-level officials from approximately thirty-five space-faring countries to talk about the opportunities and challenges they share.  It will feature high-level, policy discussions about the future of space exploration, developments in robotic space exploration, extending humanity’s reach beyond low-Earth orbit, and the importance of international cooperation.     

The opening session, which will welcome ISEF participants, will be held at 8:30 a.m. at the U.S. Department of State.  The opening session will include remarks from Deputy Secretary of State William Burns and Director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy and Assistant to the President for Science and Technology John P. Holdren.  Press will have the opportunity to record remarks and take photographs.

The opening session is open to the press from 8:30 a.m. to 9:15 a.m.  Press may begin arriving at 8:05 a.m. at the 23rd Street entrance of the State Department.  Final access time for press:  8:20 a.m. from the 23rd Street entrance.

Media representatives may attend this event upon presentation of one of the following: (1) A U.S. Government-issued identification card (Department of State, White House, Congress, Department of Defense or Foreign Press Center), (2) a media-issued photo identification card, or (3) a letter from their employer on letterhead verifying their employment as a journalist, accompanied by an official photo identification card (driver’s license, passport). 

Media representatives who wish to attend the public session should RSVP to Christopher Rich, OES Public Affairs Officer, at (202) 647-2061 or RichCE@state.gov.