Intergalactic Aerospace Expo

The Intergalactic Aerospace Expo is a yearly ship exhibition in November, a combination of in-game exhibition and ship sales on the Pledge Store. The expo usually takes place over more than ten days, with new sales, commentary, and possibly new ships. Each day focuses on one particular ship manufacturer or group of manufacturers.

IAE Events
Selected events in Lore and In-game. The first in-game IAE was in 2019/ 2949.

Lore
The first IAE was held in 2670 in Castor by inventor Audrey Timmerman, who introduced the launch of his experimental ship Poby. It has been developed into an institution over the next hundreds of years. Until 2952, the event was never cancelled.

In the early phase the IAE had no permanent residence and was held at different locations with changing sponsors (New Junction Ship Emporium 2675, then by RSI from 2683-2715 at the Agustin Exposition Hall on Lo. Lo hosted the event yearly until 2847). An accident in 2701 with 15 fatalities led to further professionalisation. From then on, only professional pilots were allowed to demonstrate ships. Stunt flying were now performed by the 999th Test Squadron. At IAE 2712, RSI presented its new ship, the "Constellation".

In the following years, the event came under the influence of the new Messer regime and was used exclusively by its favoured companies. Sponsor became the pro-Messer company AEGIS Dynamics. Timmerman refused to comply, and retired in 2715. After the end of the Messer Era, the event was dominated by corporate interest and sister events were held in different systems in 2870 to celebrate the IAE’s 200th anniversary.

The 'disastrous' IAE 2913 on Asura lead to another change. Since the location failed to meet the standards by far, missing a viable infrastructure to host it, a permanent location to host it was searched for. Joona Tzur, former Governor of Severus, Kiel successfully convinced the IAE board of directors to host it at Eri City in 2916.

The new location was not without disadvantages, high traffic and a strong rise in outlaw activity targeting civilian and corporate transports plague the event since then. An express lane system was introduced but failed to shorten waiting times. Since 2948 satellite expos were held to relieve the main event.