SmallSat Europe 2026 · Posters + Tech Q&A Area
What to Expect
A practical guide for technical stage speakers and poster presenters — how your session works, what to prepare, and what you’ll find when you arrive.
Technical stage speakers 15 min + 30 min Q&A
Your 15-minute talk is on the technical stage, followed by a 30-minute Q&A session at an assigned kiosk in the Posters + Tech Q&A Area.
Poster presenters 30 min session
Your entire 30-minute poster session takes place at an assigned kiosk in the Posters + Tech Q&A Area — the kiosk is your full presentation environment.
The kiosk walkthrough (3 min)
How the digital kiosks work — finding your abstract, opening your files, and navigating during a session.
For technical stage speakers
Your primary session is on stage. Here’s what to expect.
On the technical stage (15 minutes)
Your talk takes place at a podium on the technical stage. Before your session, your PDF will be pre-loaded by the AV team — you won’t need to bring or connect your own laptop. A handheld clicker at the podium lets you advance and reverse through your slides.
A note on audio
SmallSat Europe uses a headset-based audio system: your voice is amplified directly into headsets worn by attendees rather than through loudspeakers in the room. As a result, you may not hear the usual live feedback of your own voice while speaking. This is expected — the audience is hearing you clearly through their headsets. Speak at a normal, conversational volume.
Plan to arrive at the stage at least 15 minutes before your talk. Your onsite contact will be seated with the AV technician near the stage and can help with any last-minute questions or details.
Your 30-minute Q&A session
Following your stage talk, you’ll have a dedicated 30-minute Q&A session at an assigned kiosk in the Posters + Tech Q&A Area. Given the brief 15-minute stage format, we recommend inviting attendees to meet you there — it’s where you can walk through your paper or presentation file in more depth based on the questions you receive.
The kiosk walkthrough video above shows how the kiosks work. For details on the space itself and the technical specs your presentation file should hit, see The Posters + Tech Q&A Area and The digital kiosk below.
For poster presenters
Your entire session is at a kiosk in the Posters + Tech Q&A Area.
Your 30-minute poster session is hosted on a digital kiosk and is a meaningful shift from the traditional printed poster format. The kiosk is your full presentation environment: your PDF becomes an interactive digital presentation that you can guide attendees through like a slide deck, or move through freely based on interest as conversations develop.
You might open with a high-level overview, then zoom into figures, data, or diagrams as the discussion warrants. Think of the kiosk as a conversational setting rather than a static poster — don’t feel constrained by traditional expectations.
The kiosk walkthrough video above is the fastest way to get oriented. For details on the space and your file specs, continue below.
The Posters + Tech Q&A Area
Where poster sessions and Q&A sessions happen.
The Posters + Tech Q&A Area is a dedicated space next to the business stage, on the opposite side of the hall from the technical stage. It’s designed as a conversational setting — a hub for the European small satellite community to gather, collaborate, and exchange ideas. Each presentation is hosted on its own digital kiosk during your session window.
A staffed lectern at the entrance can help you locate your assigned kiosk, confirm your session time, and troubleshoot any last-minute issues.
The digital kiosk
What you’re designing for — dimensions, resolution, and viewing distance.
Display
55-inch touchscreen
Landscape orientation, mounted on a kiosk column.
Aspect ratio
16:9
Design your PDF pages at 16:9 for full-screen display with no letterboxing.
Resolution
3840 × 2160 (4K UHD)
Export graphics and embedded images at 300 dpi where possible.
Viewing distance
10–15 feet
Attendees view the kiosk like a home television — treat type sizes and line weights accordingly.
Design tips for kiosk-scale presentation
- Use 16:9 page size. In most design tools this is 1920×1080 pt or the built-in 16:9 slide preset. Export at that size and the kiosk will scale cleanly to 4K.
- Size type for 10–15 ft viewing. Body copy should be readable at arm’s length from a TV. A useful rule of thumb: minimum 28 pt for body text, 48 pt+ for headings.
- Favor high-contrast figures. Plots and diagrams that read on a laptop may disappear on a 55-inch screen at distance — thicken lines, enlarge axis labels, and simplify legends.
- Touch-friendly layouts. You’ll be navigating with your finger in front of attendees — leave breathing room around zoom targets and avoid dense edge-to-edge layouts that are hard to pinch into.
- One idea per page. The kiosk behaves like a slide deck with zoom. Pages that do one thing well are easier to talk through than traditional poster mosaics.
Your presentation file
What gets loaded onto your kiosk.
PDF only — we are not accepting PowerPoint this year. A multi-page PDF is ideal: the kiosk lets you move forward and backward, jump to specific pages, and zoom or pinch into details on the fly. Design it as a presentation rather than a traditional printed poster.
If you are a stage speaker and don’t plan to use slides, no presentation file is required — the kiosk will still display your submitted paper during your Q&A session.
Deadline: May 15, 2026. Files submitted after this date may not sync to the kiosks in time.
Your technical paper
A separate deliverable from the presentation file.
The technical paper is largely a standalone entity, and your on-stage or on-kiosk presentation is a separate thing altogether. Both are accessible from your abstract page on the kiosk, so attendees can engage more deeply with your work after the session.
Format
IEEE (recommended)
Strict formatting is not enforced, but IEEE is the reference we recommend for technical papers.
Length
~6 pages
Typical when prepared in IEEE format. Shorter or longer is acceptable where the content warrants it.
File type
Please ensure your PDF is unlocked — password-protected files cannot be processed.
Deadline
April 30, 2026
The earlier deadline gives our team time to review for quality, clarity, and consistency across the program.
Your paper is published on the SmallSat Europe website the day before your presentation and appears on your session page. Releasing it just ahead of the talk encourages attendees to engage with the presentation itself, rather than treating the paper as a substitute.
Key dates
What’s due and when.
| Deliverable | Due | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Technical paper (PDF) | April 30, 2026 | Published on your session page the day before your talk. |
| Presentation file (PDF) | May 15, 2026 | Loaded to your assigned kiosk. |
| Conference | May 26–28, 2026 | RAI Amsterdam. |
One last thing
A note on the extra kiosks in the room.
Additional kiosks, open to any attendee
There are two additional kiosks in the Posters + Tech Q&A Area available to any conference attendee. If an open moment presents itself during the conference and you’d like to walk someone through your work, you’re welcome to grab one of the open kiosks and revisit your presentation at any point — not just during your scheduled session.