On the 30th anniversary of its founding, the Association of Autonomous Astronauts will be remembered at the MayDay Rooms in London:
Saturday 26th April 2025, 2pm at MayDay Rooms:
'It’s been three decades since the Association of Autonomous Astronauts (AAA) launched the first independent space exploration programme on the grounds of Windsor Castle. Between 1995 and 2000, AAA organized raves in space, played three-sided football tournaments, built spaceship launchpads in the heart of the city, took part in intergalactic conferences and experienced zero-gravity training flights—all while mounting a radical critique of government, military, and corporate control of space travel.
May Day Rooms holds a significant collection of materials related to the group's activities, and that's why we wanted to once again look up to the stars to celebrate the AAA’s 30th anniversary. We’ll explore how the Autonomous Astronauts' original concerns resonate in today’s world—one shaped by billionaire space tourism, the increasing militarization of space, profit-driven interplanetary colonization, and a general sense of political imagination running on empty.
On the day, founding AAA members—alongside Autonomous Astronauts from France and Italy—will chart pathways into (and out of) the AAA, putting some of the group's initial ideas to the test of time, while Space Watch UK will brief us on recent developments in the UK military space programme.
Expect an exhibition featuring materials from MDR’s Association of Autonomous Astronauts collection, screenings of AAA’s archival video materials alongside a rare showing of Aaron Trinder's„Free Party: A Folk History” documentary, and, of course, a rave in space till late— with music, food and drinks! Prepare for liftoff!'
On the following day there will be 3 sided football in Victoria Park. Both these events are free but you will need to book a ticket as places are limited (Saturday booking; Sunday booking)
I will taking part in this and have contributed some of my AAA material to the archive at MDR.
The Association of Autonomous Astronauts held a series of intergalactic conferences - in Vienna (1996), Bologna (1998) and London (1999). They each included a mixture of talks, activities such as three-sided football matches, and music/parties. Here are the conference posters:
Vienna 1996
The first AAA Intergalactic Conference took place at Public Netbase in Vienna on 21 and 22 June 1996 (see report here).
The back of the fold out poster/brochure included a number of AAA texts: Space Travel by Any Means Necessary, The Dreamtime is Upon Us, Disconauts are Go, Sex in Space, Who Owns Outer Space? and Spatial Practices and Elliptical Action.
AAA speakers included Jason Skeet (Inner City AAA), Patric O'Brien (aka Fabian T., East London AAA) and John Eden (Raido AAA). The party - 'Black Hole Supersonic Practice' - featured Praxis DJ Squad, including Christoph Fringeli (The Jackal)
Bologna 1998
The Bologna Conferenza Intergalattica took place at the Link project on 18th and 19th April 1998. I wrote a conference report at the time in Everybody is a Star! no. 3.
Detail - 'Rave in Space' line up on the Saturday night
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| inside the Rave In Space, Link, Bologna, 1998 |
Detail - contact list of AAA groups from back of poster:
London 1999
'Space 1999: ten days that shook the universe' took place from 18th - 27th June 1999. As well as a conference it included many events across different venues as part of a 'festival of independent and community based space exploration'. Events included taking part in the J18 Carnival Against Capital and a Summer Solstice gathering on Parliament Hill. Some Space 1999 texts are available on Internet Archive.
Previous AAA posts:
Everybody is a Star! - Disconaut AAA
Summer Solstice 1999: AAA on Parliament Hill
Military out of space - AAA at J18 Carnival Against Capital 1999
AAA at Brixton Reclaim the Streets 1998
Skinheads as Independent Travellers in Space
We were brought up on the space race, now they expect us to clean toilets
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