About the OeWF

The Austrian Space Forum is one of the world’s leading institutions conducting Mars analog missions, thus paving the way for the future human exploration of the Red Planet. Experts from a broad variety of disciplines as well as the spaceflight sector constitute the core of the OeWF’s continued endeavor.
The OeWF in collaboration with national and international institutions from science and industry is working at the cutting edge of scientific research. In addition the OeWF also contributes significantly to inspiring and educating young people in the sectors of science, technology and engineering.

Our organization…

…conducts cutting-edge interdisciplinary research: We specialize on space sciences, (human) Mars exploration, Earth observation and Astrobiology. Our work is published in peer-reviewed journals, presented at scientific conferences and communicated to both to specialists and the public.

…provides an interface for the Austrian space sector: The forum builds bridges between the space industry, academia, policy institutions, decision makers and opinion leaders and the public. The OeWF is an independent and competent point of contact within the Austrian or European space sector.

…initiates, supports, and connects careers: We offer student internship, project involvements, supervise graduates at universities, and enable the participation in research and development projects.

…builds and flies, we explain and inspire: Hardware, hands-on projects, work in a laboratory or a workshop, and field experiments are the basis of the forum’s programs. Activities for elementary school students, evening events with audiences (sometimes with hundreds of attendees), flying water rockets, street-science and consulting for space sciences – We love to do hands-on activities.

What do we do?

The spectrum of activities ranges from classroom lectures to organizing exhibitions that reach tens of thousands of people; from providing professional expertise to the Republic of Austria, fling stratospheric balloons to conducting international (simulated) Mars-Expeditions and developing nano-satellite subsystems:
We are Austria’s Space Network.

This article is available in: German