BEIJING, Sept. 23 (Xinhua) --The 64th International Astronautical Congress (IAC 2013), which kicked off on Monday, displayed the latest achievements of aerospace industry, attracting aerospace enterprises from home and abroad.

The IAC, organized by the International Astronautical Federation (IAF), the International Academy of Astronautics (IAA), and the International Institute of Space Law (IISL), is the largest space-related conference world-wide. China hosted the 47th IAC in Beijing in 1996.

On Monday's opening ceremony, the IAF presented the Allan D. Emil Memorial Award to Ma Xingrui, head of China National Space Administration for his contribution to international cooperation of space technology. Ed Stone, project scientist for U.S. space agency NASA's Voyager mission, received the IAF World Space Award for his exceptional merits in space science and technology.

With its theme "Promoting Space Development for the Benefits of Mankind," the event has attracted around 3,600 people including leading space scientists, academics, researchers, industry and commerce executives, students and young professionals from 74 countries and regions.

A record total of 3,600 scientific papers were submitted to the IAC this year. A total of 318 papers will be presented on posters, among which 217 are from China.