Tag: Announcement

2025 ASCEND to Accelerate Our Off-World Future

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

June 9, 2025 – Reston, Va. – AIAA announced today a powerful lineup of speakers who will take the stage at 2025 ASCEND, 22–24 July, Caesars Forum, Las Vegas. The three-day event will address the most important opportunities and mission-critical challenges that come with the growing pace of activity in space.

“We’re thrilled to once again welcome the global aerospace community to ASCEND. It’s the most dynamic time in space in the last 30 years,” said AIAA CEO Clay Mowry. “ASCEND is where we discuss the critical topics today to ensure the ongoing safe, secure, and prosperous uses of space. This year’s program is sure to generate powerful dialogue among the broad spectrum of attendees including space users, investors, policymakers, innovators, and more.”

Powered by AIAA, ASCEND is the world’s premier outcomes-focused, interdisciplinary space event designed to accelerate building our off-world future. Over 200 industry luminaries from across the civil, commercial, and national security space sectors, adjacent industries, and the next-generation workforce are featured as speakers. Confirmed speakers include:

  • Tejpaul Bhatia, Chief Executive Officer, Axiom Space
  • Maj. Gen. Steven “Bucky” Butow, USAF, Military Deputy of the Defense Innovation Unit (DIU), Office of the Secretary of Defense
  • Robert Carlisle, CEO and Co-Founder, Argo Space
  • Dave Cavossa, President, Commercial Space Federation (CSF)
  • Carissa Christensen, Founder and Chief Executive Officer, BryceTech*
  • Tim Crain, Chief Technology Officer, Intuitive Machines
  • Israel Figueroa, Director, National Security Programs, Firefly Aerospace
  • Kelli Furrer, Chief Revenue Officer & Chief Marketing Officer, Firefly Aerospace
  • Mike Gold, President, Civil & International Space Business, Redwire Space
  • Chris Lay, Co-Founding Partner, Leonid Capital Partners
  • Mairead Levison, Deputy Director, Space ISAC
  • Jamie Morin, Vice President, Defense Strategic Space, The Aerospace Corporation
  • Sho Nakanose, Founder and CEO, GITAI
  • Shawna Pandya, Director, Space Medicine Group, International Institute for Astronautical Sciences (IIAS)*
  • John Reed, Chief Rocket Scientist, United Launch Alliance (ULA)*
  • Lee Rosen, Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer, ThinkOrbital Inc.
  • Matthew Weinzierl, Senior Associate Dean and Chair, MBA Program, Harvard Business School*
  • Col. Bill Woolf, USAF (Ret.), President and Chief Executive Officer, Space Force Association (SFA)
  • Col. Matthew Wroten, USSF, U.S. Space Command

*Member of the 2025 ASCEND Guiding Coalition

Experts from NASA will provide wide-ranging updates on a number of timely topics including the Human Research Program, future procurement strategies, and exploration missions to the moon, Mars, and deep space.

Deep Technical Content Scheduled

AIAA events are well known for the depth of technical content presented. Over 200 technical presentations and collaborative sessions are scheduled for 2025 ASCEND.

Vital Interactive Learning Planned

Several workshops are scheduled for valuable in-depth learning opportunities. Topics include:

  • Lessons Learned, Forward Path, and Collaboration from the Oxygen from Regolith (O2fR) Collaborative Systems Interface Workshop
  • Empowering the Next Generation: Creating a Circular Space Economy
  • Why Learning the Language of Business Can Increase the Likelihood of Funding Request Approval
  • Cislunar & Lunar Ecosystem and Economics Workshop
  • AstroTactics: Wargaming Space Assets
  • Collaborative Identification of the Foundations, Formats, and Functions in the Emerging Field of Space Science Communication

Early-Bird Registration Rates Available

Registration for the event is open with early-bird rates ending 23 June. Journalists can request a Press Pass online.

Since 2020, ASCEND has promoted the collaborative, interdisciplinary, outcomes-driven community of professionals, students, and enthusiasts around the world who are accelerating humanity’s progress toward our off-world future. Lockheed Martin is the premier sponsor of ASCEND. For the most updated program information, visit ascend.events and follow ASCEND on LinkedIn, Instagram, and X/Twitter.

Media Contact: Rebecca Gray, [email protected], 804-397-5270 cell

About AIAA

The American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) is the world’s largest aerospace technical society. With nearly 30,000 individual members from 91 countries, and 100 corporate members, AIAA brings together industry, academia, and government to advance engineering and science in aviation, space, and defense. For more information, visit www.aiaa.org, or follow AIAA on X/Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, and Instagram.

AIAA Welcomes ISS National Laboratory to 2025 ASCEND

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Additional Sessions Will Showcase the Growing Low Earth Orbit Ecosystem

June 23, 2025 – Reston, Va. – The American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) and the Center for the Advancement of Science in Space® (CASIS), manager of the International Space Station (ISS) National Laboratory, announced they are expanding programming for the upcoming ASCEND event this summer, 22–24 July, in Las Vegas.

This announcement comes following the discontinuation of the ISS National Laboratory’s flagship event, the ISS Research and Development Conference (ISSRDC), originally planned for 28–31 July, Seattle, Wash. ISSRDC was designed to address pressing research and development challenges through space-based inquiry. ASCEND will now serve the broader space and microgravity community in one powerful event.

ASCEND Welcomes ISS National Lab and its Community in July
2025 ASCEND will now offer several high-impact sessions from the planned ISSRDC program. The new content will highlight how the space station continues to provide a valuable platform for research and technology development that benefits humanity and enables a robust and sustainable market in low Earth orbit (LEO). More information on sessions will be announced shortly.

“We warmly welcome the broader ISS National Lab communities to ASCEND. It’s a natural evolution to the ASCEND program, further showcasing the cutting-edge scientific breakthroughs in low Earth orbit. It will be an unparalleled experience for the entire space community,” said Clay Mowry, chief executive officer, AIAA. “We invite those who were planning to attend ISSRDC to discover ASCEND in a bold new way.”

ASCEND | 22-24 July 2025 | Las Vegas
ASCEND | 22-24 July 2025 | Las Vegas

Registration for 2025 ASCEND is available with early-bird rates through 23 June. Journalists can request a Press Pass online.

“As we mark a pivotal moment for the space station and the LEO economy, we’re thrilled to expand ASCEND programming to showcase the ISS National Lab community,” said Ray Lugo, chief executive officer, ISS National Lab. “Over the years, ISSRDC has built deeply engaged user, investor, and partner communities, and ASCEND will allow our communities to significantly build upon the scientific discoveries, commercial innovations, and relationships in a more expansive forum, as we showcase the impact of space-based research and its impacts on humanity and commerce alike.”

Since 2020, ASCEND has promoted the collaborative, interdisciplinary, outcomes-driven community of professionals, students, and enthusiasts around the world who are accelerating humanity’s progress toward our off-world future. Lockheed Martin is the premier sponsor of ASCEND. For the most updated program information, visit ascend.events and follow ASCEND on LinkedIn, Instagram, and X/Twitter.

AIAA Contact: Rebecca Gray, [email protected], 804-397-5270
ISS National Lab Contact: Patrick O’Neill, [email protected], 904-806-0035

About AIAA
AIAA is the world’s largest aerospace technical society. With nearly 30,000 individual members from 91 countries, and 100 corporate members, AIAA brings together industry, academia, and government to advance engineering and science in aviation, space, and defense. Visit www.aiaa.org or follow us: X/Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, and Instagram.

About the International Space Station (ISS) National Laboratory
The International Space Station (ISS) is a one-of-a-kind laboratory that enables research and technology development not possible on Earth. As a public service enterprise, the ISS National Laboratory® allows researchers to leverage this multiuser facility to improve quality of life on Earth, mature space-based business models, advance science literacy in the future workforce, and expand a sustainable and scalable market in low Earth orbit. Through this orbiting national laboratory, research resources on the ISS are available to support non-NASA science, technology, and education initiatives from U.S. government agencies, academic institutions, and the private sector. The Center for the Advancement of Science in Space® (CASIS®) manages the ISS National Lab, under Cooperative Agreement with NASA, facilitating access to its permanent microgravity research environment, a powerful vantage point in low Earth orbit, and the extreme and varied conditions of space. To learn more about the ISS National Lab, visit our website.