Credit: Asteroid Foundation
On Tuesday 22 July 2025, Luxembourg’s Asteroid Foundation announced the success of the 10th edition of Asteroid Day, a United Nations-recognised global initiative dedicated to space science, planetary defence and education.
The event, celebrated every year on the 30th of June, commemorates the explosion of an asteroid over Tunguska, Siberia, in 1908, which remains the largest asteroid event in recorded history.
The Foundation reported that at the heart of the celebrations was the Asteroid Day Festival, held at Cercle Cité in Luxembourg-Ville, which attracted a record 1,500 visitors. The event brought together families, students and curious minds of all ages for a day of hands-on exploration and learning. Attendees experimented with robot coding, explored how sound and touch can guide space navigation and took part in lively discussions on human health in space, planetary defence and the role of education in shaping the next generation of space explorers.
A wide range of activities also took place across several days in Luxembourg, which were created to inspire, educate and connect. These included visits by astronauts and scientists to local schools in Luxembourg in a bid to bring space exploration directly into classrooms and spark curiosity among young students and the “Astronomer for a Night” sky observation, which offered a unique stargazing session through a virtual telescope guided by renowned astronomer Gianluca Masi.
Bo Byloos, Manager Exploration and Science at the Luxembourg Space Agency (LSA), said: “Seeing the stars come to life through Gianluca Masi’s passionate guidance was unforgettable. Discovering asteroids on the spot, I truly felt like an ‘Astronomer for a Night’.”
She added: “The Asteroid Day Space Lecture was a powerful reminder that exploration isn’t just about technology - it’s about people working together to reach beyond the sky.”
As part of anniversary celebrations for Asteroid Day, the Philharmonie in Luxembourg-Kirchberg hosted a lecture concert, titled “Beneath the Silence of Space: A Sonified Journey”. Created by composer Mike von der Nahmer and performed with the Orchestre de Chambre du Luxembourg (OCL), the concert blended art, music and science and was described by the organisers as “a multi-sensory experience that bridged the emotional and intellectual dimensions of space exploration”.
Following the success of the 10th Asteroid Day, the Asteroid Foundation has announced that the planning and preparations for next year’s edition have already begun. The conference programme and festivities are scheduled to take place in Luxembourg on 26 and 27 June 2026.
Markus Payer, Chair of the Board of the Asteroid Foundation, commented: “Celebrating a decade of Asteroid Day is a major milestone for our global community. What began as a call for greater asteroid awareness has evolved into a worldwide movement involving scientists, governments, educators and the public.”
