Living Planet Symposium 2025

Journalists are invited to attend one of the largest Earth observation conferences in the world: the European Space Agency’s (ESA) Living Planet Symposium, which will be held in Vienna, Austria, from 23 to 27 June 2025.  

There will be opportunities to explore the exhibition area, hear panel discussions and interact with speakers on the latest Earth observation trends, science results and applications of space technology in the domain of climate change and sustainable development.

As many as 6000 participants are expected from up to 92 countries, including at least 800 members of the scientific community. The event includes more than 250 sessions and 50 ‘agora’ meetings where participants can gather and engage with specialists.

The symposium will be opened on 23 June, at 10:30 CEST, by ESA Director General Josef Aschbacher and ESA Director of Earth Observation Programmes Simonetta Cheli.

Media briefings

There will be opportunities for journalists to receive briefings on the themes of this year’s event:

• 23 June, at 10:30 CEST: Biomass first images from ESA’s forest mission, launched earlier this year, will be presented during the opening plenary and during the press conference. Mission experts will be available on site for further comment.
• 23 June, 12:45 CEST: press conference with key spokespeople in the press room, including ESA’s Director General. 
• 24 June, from 15-16.00 CEST (in English) and 16.00-17.00 CEST (in German): media briefings one week before the launch of two missions: Meteosat Third Generation Sounder and Copernicus Sentinel-4. 
• Additional opportunities to interview and meet spokespeople throughout the week on request, with possibilities to conduct interviews in several languages. 

The following ESA speakers will be on site and available for interviews: 

• Josef Aschbacher, Director General, ESA 
• Simonetta Cheli, Director of Earth Observation Programmes, ESA 
• Other spokespeople for ESA missions and partners including Eumetsat, ECMWF and the European Commission.

The event is organised with the support of the Austrian Research Promotion Agency and Austria’s Federal Ministry of Climate Action, Environment, Energy, Mobility, Innovation and Technology. 

The symposium will be held at the Austria Centre Vienna, a state-of-the-art conference facility located in the Austrian capital. The venue is easily accessible by public transportation.  

Note: the details in this press invitation are subject to adjustment, so please check back for updates. 

Media registration: 

The Living Planet Symposium programme can be consulted at https://lps25.esa.int/sessions/ and media representatives can register here. 

Last date for media registration: 20 June, 16.00 CEST.

https://www.esa.int/ESA_Multimedia/Directorates/Observing_the_Earth/(result_type)/images  

Terms and conditions for using ESA images:

https://www.esa.int/ESA_Multimedia/Terms_and_conditions_of_use_of_images_and_videos_available_on_the_esa_website  

For questions or more information related to ESA images, please contact directly: spaceinimages@esa.int

https://www.esa.int/Applications/Observing_the_Earth/(archive)/0/(type)/video 

https://www.esa.int/esatv/Videos_for_Professionals  

Terms and conditions for using ESA videos:

https://www.esa.int/ESA_Multimedia/Terms_and_conditions_of_use_of_images_and_videos_available_on_the_esa_website  

For questions or more information related to ESA videos, please contact directly: spaceinvideos@esa.int

Follow ESA on: 

X: @esa @ESA_EO

Bluesky: @esa Bluesky
Instagram: @europeanspaceagency @ESA_Earth 
Facebook: EuropeanSpaceAgency 
YouTube: ESA 
LinkedIn: European Space Agency - ESA 
Pinterest: European Space Agency - ESA

The European Space Agency (ESA) provides Europe’s gateway to space.

ESA is an intergovernmental organisation, created in 1975, with the mission to shape the development of Europe’s space capability and ensure that investment in space delivers benefits to the citizens of Europe and the world. 

ESA has 23 Member States: Austria, Belgium, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom. Latvia, Lithuania and Slovakia are Associate Members. 

ESA has established formal cooperation with other four Member States of the EU. Canada takes part in some ESA programmes under a Cooperation Agreement. 

By coordinating the financial and intellectual resources of its members, ESA can undertake programmes and activities far beyond the scope of any single European country. It is working in particular with the EU on advancing the Galileo and Copernicus programmes as well as with Eumetsat for the development of meteorological missions. 

Learn more about ESA at www.esa.int