ICSO 2026

ICSO 2026 is the 16th edition of the largest meeting worldwide of experts working in all disciplines of Optical, Optoelectronic and Photonic Technologies for Space Applications.

History

The purpose of ICSO is to bring together the Space Optics Community and exchange information and ideas on the Research, Development, Qualification and Flight Experience of using optical technologies for space missions. Technology experts meet Mission experts to address the lessons learnt from past developments and identify the next significant developments in employing lightwave technologies and techniques used in all types of Space Missions. ICSO 2026 will be held in Sorrento, Italy and is the 16th conference of the series co-organised by ESA and CNES and follows the ones held in:

Antibes, France in 2024
Dubrovnik, Croatia in 2022
Virtual in 2020
Chania, Crete in 2018
Biarritz, France in 2016
Tenerife, Spain in 2014
Ajaccio, France in 2012
Rhodes, Greece in 2010
Toulouse, France in 2008
Noordwijk, The Netherlands in 2006
Toulouse, France in 2004
Toulouse, France in 2000
Toulouse, France in 1997
Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany in 1994
Toulouse, France in 1991

SOIDT 2026

Optical engineering for Space is a highly specialized work in need of trained and experienced people. Pushed by this need, the European Space Agency took the initiative to organize a course for professionals operating in the sector of optical engineering for Space. For more information on the SOIDT-2026 please see https://soidt.org/.

ISSO

The International School on Space Optics-ISSO is the sister event of ICSO targeting to offer a comprehensive overview of the Science and Engineering of Space Optics to young scientists and engineers interested in the field. It is held biannually alternating with ICSO. ISSO 2027 will be held at ESA/ESTEC, The Netherlands during the week of 18-22 October 2027. For more information, see the ISSO 2025 website.

Destination

ICSO 2026 will be hosted in one of the most historic and picturesque places in Europe, in the ancient costal city of Sorrento perched above the Bay of Napoli.

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Known for its dramatic cliffs, lemon groves, and sweeping views of Mount Vesuvius, Sorrento offers a perfect blend of natural beauty and Italian charm, with easy access to unique world wide sites like Pompeii, the Amalfi Coast and the island of Capri.

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outdoor pool, view of the city and mountains

Venue

Just a 10-minute walk from Sorrento’s lively town center, the Hilton Sorrento Palace Hotel combines convenience with spectacular views of the Bay of Napoli and Mount Vesuvius from its peaceful hillside location.

In order to enhance the dissemination of the papers published in ICSO the conference organisers decided to collaborate with the SPIE and publish all the ICSO papers in the SPIE Digital Library. A dedicated webpage

https://www.spiedigitallibrary.org/icso files all the ICSO proceedings. All ICSO papers acquire a "Digital Object Identifier" and are scanned by all the big academic search engines in a very elaborated way. Furthermore, the papers are published in "open access" which means that the visibility will be increased markedly. This will maintain the basic value of our conference in providing easy and free access to its contents to the Space Optics Community.

CEAS Space Journal

The CEAS Space Journal includes a distinct field on “Optical, Optoelectronics and Photonics” and welcomes papers of ICSO in an extended version of the conference paper including theoretical analysis. Consider an electronic submission through the Journal website.

ESA Conference Bureau / ATPI Corporate Events

ESA-ESTEC, Keplerlaan 1
2201 AZ Noordwijk, The Netherlands