February 2026 Meetup | A visit to the European Space Research and Technology Centre (ESA ESTEC)
About this event
Join us for the February 2026 meetup of the Space Association of Australia – all welcome!
Date: Monday, 23 February 2026
Time: 6:30 - 9:00 pm AEDT
Venue: Bentleigh RSL, 538 Centre Road, Bentleigh, VIC
Note: This is an in-person event in Melbourne only, there will be no live stream.
The usual RSL sign-in rules apply (e.g. scan driver's licence) to enter the venue.
There is off-street car parking behind the RSL building — enter from Arthur Street. The entry from the car park is for members only. The public entry is from Centre Road.
Alternate off-street parking may be found in front of the Woolworths next door — enter from Centre Road, or behind the Bentleigh Library — enter from Jasper Road.
The Bentleigh RSL is a few hundred metres east of Bentleigh Station on the Frankston Line. Also, smart buses run along Centre Road.
Download the bistro and gluten-free menus from here.
Please RSVP for the night by booking a free ticket below:
Schedule
- 6:30 pm
- Meal time
- 7:15 pm
- Welcome & introduction with Michael Abdilla
- — Media alerts
- 7:25 pm
- A visit to the European Space Agency, European Space Research and Technology Centre (ESA ESTEC) in Noordwijk, the Netherlands with Andrew Bashfield
- 8:00 pm
- Planetary and space science update with Andrew Rennie
- 8:30 pm
- International Space news update with Angelo Di Grazia
- — Artemis II delay
- — China's Long March 10 Mengzhou un-crewed abort test and first stage recovery
- — SpaceX pivots to building a self-sustaining city on the Moon
- 9:00 pm
- End
