The city will host the SPIE Astronomical Telescopes + Instrumentation symposium in 2030, which is expected to attract roughly 2,000 delegates, including space industry leaders, scientists and engineers. The event is anticipated to deliver a $14 million boost to the New South Wales economy.
The win comes after Sydney hosted the International Astronautical Congress in 2025, which surpassed expectations, drawing more than 7,400 delegates alongside a general public audience of 12,000, and making a $47 million contribution to the economy. Sydney will also host the Congress of the International Council of the Aeronautical Sciences 2026 in September.
“For thousands of years, humanity has looked to the night sky seeking answers to the biggest questions about our place in the universe,” said the NSW innovation, science and technology minister, Anoulack Chanthivong.
“By hosting SPIE 2030 in Sydney, NSW will help bring together the scientists, engineers and innovators building the next generation of telescopes and instruments that are expanding the frontiers of human knowledge.
“This is a powerful endorsement of our state’s world-class research capability and our growing role in the global space and astronomy sector.”
Alongside Sydney’s business events bidding organisation, BESydney, the bid to host the congress for SPIE, the international society for optics and photonics, had wide ranging support, including from CSIRO Space & Astronomy, Astronomy Australia Limited, and the Astralis Instrumentation Consortium, made up of the Australian National University, the University of Sydney, and Australian Astronomical Optics at Macquarie University.
“Securing SPIE 2030 is a tremendous vote of confidence in Sydney and in Australia’s world-leading astronomy and instrumentation community,” said BESydney CEO, Amanda Lampe.
“We are proud to have worked alongside the NSW Government, industry and academic partners to bring this prestigious event to Sydney for the very first time.”
