Tag: ascend

Ascendant Alumni – Their Journey & Where They Are Today

FROM THE INSTITUTE
Since the inception of ASCEND in 2020, a global community of emerging space trailblazers has taken the stage to pitch their vision for “Space for All.” In five years, the community has grown to 60 thought leaders. Program creator Moriba Jah, in an interview before this year’s final cohort, said, “What they share is a fire and a passion to be agents of change,” and to advocate for “regenerative, restorative, and just human space activity.” The Ascendants profiled [in this article] share how the program inspired their journey as space stewardship advocates.
Full Story (Aerospace America)

Call for Content Deadline Extended to 25 September

ASCEND connects the civil, commercial, and national security space sectors, along with adjacent industries, to embrace the opportunities and address the challenges that come with increased activity in space. Building our sustainable off-world future requires long-term thinking. Strategic planning, innovation, scientific exploration, and effective regulations and standards will help us preserve space for future generations. ASCEND will enable the technical exchanges, debates, and collaboration that will help forge a sustainable off-world future for all.
CALL FOR CONTENT FOR ASCEND 2026 CLOSES 25 SEPTEMBER.

ASCENDANTS – Making the Case for Generative, Restorative, and Just Human Space Activity

FROM THE INSTITUTE
Each year for the last five years, ASCEND has featured a group of emerging space visionaries from around the world who offer solutions to the most pressing space sustainability challenges. Known as “ASCENDANTS” (previously the Diverse Dozen), the group, comprised of trailblazers from NGOs, government, and industry from nine countries, address compelling issues ranging from managing space debris to ensuring every country has a seat at the space table, among other topics.
Full Story (Aerospace America)

2025 AIAA David W. Thompson Lecture in Space Commerce Presented by Jamie M. Morin, The Aerospace Corporation, During 2025 ASCEND

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

June 27, 2025 – Reston, Va. – AIAA is pleased to announce the 2025 AIAA David W. Thompson Lectureship in Space Commerce is awarded to Jamie M. Morin, Vice President, Defense Strategic Space, and Executive Director, Center for Space Policy and Strategy, The Aerospace Corporation. The lecture, “Accelerating Space and Defense Innovation Through Savvy Policy,” will be presented Tuesday, 22 July, 11:45 a.m. PT, during 2025 ASCEND, 22–24 July, Las Vegas. The lecture will be delivered in person, as well as recorded and available on demand at aiaa.org.

Registration for 2025 ASCEND is open now. Journalists can request a Press Pass online.

The ability of the United States to advance its leadership in the space sector depends on harnessing the combined energy of both privately-financed, commercially-oriented firms as well as traditional government-led programs. However, there are significant obstacles to doing this at scale.

In today’s space domain, defining a company as commercial is ambiguous when that entity also serves as a government contractor. Commercial products and services benefit both commercial and government sectors, and income from government partnerships enables commercial players to contribute to important issues like climate change and sustainable agriculture. The democratization of space and unique dynamics of the space environment create risks for commercial actors. Indiscriminate threats to national security systems also pose risks to commercial systems. These factors amplify the need for greater collaboration between commercial actors and the U.S. government. When expanding our presence in space, leveraging the commercial sector is advantageous for addressing rapidly developing challenges.

Building on the research of the Center for Space Policy and Strategy, Morin’s lecture will propose a framework for policy and execution to create this powerful hybrid, which is a timely topic given the rise of commercial space and the emphasis on bringing non-traditional contractors into the defense and space ecosystem.

Morin is vice president of Defense Strategic Space at The Aerospace Corporation. He leads technical support to the senior-most levels of the Department of Defense and Department of the Air Force, including the U.S. Space Force headquarters, as well as to the Army, Navy, Air Force, and terrestrial combatant commands. Morin is an AIAA Associate Fellow.

Morin also is executive director of Aerospace’s Center for Space Policy and Strategy, which provides objective analysis to ensure well-informed, technically defensible, and forward-looking space policy across the civil, military, intelligence, and commercial space sectors. He orchestrates the Center’s extensive series of publications, events, and multimedia products to shape the future of the U.S. space enterprise.

Prior to joining Aerospace, Morin served as director of Cost Assessment and Program Evaluation (CAPE) for the Department of Defense. Earlier, he served for five years as the assistant secretary of the Air Force (Financial Management and Comptroller), and for a year as acting under secretary of the Air Force.

This lectureship recognizes a prominent industry leader or senior management team who has created or grown a space-related business and generated substantial economic benefits and market value. It was endowed by Orbital ATK to commemorate the long and distinguished career of commercial space pioneer, David W. Thompson.

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, and follow AIAA on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, and X/Twitter.

About The Aerospace Corporation
The Aerospace Corporation is a leading architect for the nation’s space programs, advancing capabilities that outpace threats to the country’s national security while nurturing innovative technologies to further a new era of space commercialization and exploration. Aerospace’s national workforce of more than 4,600 employees provides objective technical expertise and thought leadership to solve the hardest problems in space and assure mission success for space systems and space vehicles. For more information, visit www.aerospace.org. Follow us on LinkedIn and X: @AerospaceCorp.

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 Accelerates the Future of Aviation and Space at 2024 AIAA AVIATION Forum and 2024 ASCEND

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

August 20, 2024 – Reston, Va. – The latest aircraft, spacecraft, technologies, and missions were on display in Las Vegas, Nevada, from July 28 until August 2 by the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA). AIAA co-located two of its signature events – 2024 AIAA AVIATION Forum and 2024 ASCEND – in one venue, Caesars Forum, for the week. Nearly 3,800 aviation and space professionals came together, bridging the gap between aviation’s visionary concepts and tangible technological reality, while also accelerating our off-world future through collaboration.

From the stage, attendees heard more than 350 speakers including senior government officials from NASA, the National Reconnaissance Organization (NRO), the U.S. Space Force and others, as well as prominent industry leaders from companies including Lockheed Martin, Boeing, and Northrop Grumman. They delivered wide ranging insights on aviation and space – from the current view of the industries, to the near-term paradigm shifts that are starting to occur in aviation, to the challenges in building a sustainable space ecosystem.

In a truly unique session designed to attract both audiences of air and space professionals, NASA showcased an unprecedented assembly of NASA technology. NASA Chief Technology Officer A.C. Charania hosted the session featuring all NASA field center chief technologists. Together they took attendees on a tour across the entire United States, sharing the unique features and focus areas of their campus, their core competencies, and their next-generation aviation and space technologies. The session is available on YouTube.

One of the hallmarks of an AIAA event is the deep technical exchange due to the vast number of technical papers presented. Nearly 1,300 papers were presented by researchers, authors, and university students during both events. Awards were presented for the best papers presented by students throughout the AIAA AVIATION Forum, based on assessments by industry professionals.

More than 75 exhibitors filled the 12,500 square-foot Expo Hall – AIAA’s largest exposition ever. The Expo Hall served as the bridge between both events’ communities, providing attendees full access to interact with the latest advanced technologies from the full industry sectors of air and space.

2024 AIAA AVIATION Forum Highlights

  • Increased dialogue on and demonstration of alternate aircraft propulsion – electrified aircraft, sustainable fuels, hydrogen propulsion
  • Introduction of autonomy and artificial intelligence (AI) to aircraft design, and accelerating the use of digital twins
  • Deeper looks at new and novel aviation concepts – blended-wing body concepts, hybrid electric cargo drones, rigid airships, X-planes
  • The challenges and opportunities around introducing electric air taxis in highly populated areas, including tackling noise problems
  • Anticipated flight tests of demonstrator aircraft, including supersonics

2024 ASCEND Highlights

  • Leveraging both government and commercial capabilities to push the frontier
  • Building a sustainable space economy, tapping into venture capital and building partnerships with allies and international partners
  • Discussions around innovation, ideas, and challenges for lunar infrastructure – landers, rovers, habitats, mining, regolith management, power sources – for Artemis missions and beyond
  • Exploring the opportunities to explore Mars, including discussion on Mars Sample Return missions
  • Pushing toward new applications of In-space Servicing, Assembly, and Manufacturing (ISAM), robotics, and developing capabilities in cislunar space
  • Addressing the growing threat of space debris to orbiting assets, including human-rated spacecraft
  • Planning for an integrated space defense strategy to maintain U.S. leadership in space with senior defense leaders from the U.S. and its allies
  • Incorporating artificial intelligence (AI) in space-related applications

Space sustainability and environmentalism were tackled by this year’s ASCEND Diverse Dozen (D12) cohort. Their Op-Eds are available to download for free. This year, the D12 is supported by the Office of Space Commerce, NOAA, U.S. Department of Commerce helping amplify underrepresented voices as they promote messages on space sustainability.

The ASCEND program featured a panel discussion including actors from the Star Trek television series, acknowledging that science fiction engages the imaginations of today’s aerospace community. Together with aerospace industry professionals, they explored the transformative power of art, technology, and reality.

AIAA signed a memorandum of understanding with Boryung, a healthcare investment company based in Seoul, South Korea, to expand the reach of the Humans in Space (HIS) platform as the two organizations seek to foster engagement in the global space healthcare ecosystem.

Ten awards were presented to AIAA members and others from across the community, recognizing excellence in aerospace and aviation. AIAA is committed to ensuring that aerospace professionals are recognized and celebrated for their achievements, innovations, and discoveries that make the world safer, more connected, more accessible, and more prosperous.

Highlights of the sessions, speakers, and attendees were captured in the AIAA Flickr album. Session recordings from the main stages of both events are available on the AIAA YouTube channel: AIAA AVIATION Forum Playlist and 2024 ASCEND Playlist.

Plans are already underway for next year’s events in Las Vegas: 2025 AIAA AVIATION Forum, 21 – 25 July 2025, and 2025 ASCEND, 22 – 24 July 2025. Papers and sessions are invited from the aviation and space communities, as well as adjacent industries through the Call for Content which will open on 24 September 2024.

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

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. Visit aiaa.org, and follow AIAA on X/Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, and Instagram.

Panelists at ASCEND Discuss AI Challenges and Promise

Space News reports, “Space organizations are continuing to identify promising applications of artificial intelligence, according to speakers at the AIAA ASCEND conference.” At NASA, for example, AI helps aggregate complex datasets from various Earth-observation sensors and illustrate the data through modeling “in ways that are ‘intuitively clear,’” said David Salvagnini, NASA’s chief artificial intelligence officer and chief data officer.
Full Story (Space News)

AIAA Unveils ASCEND Diverse Dozen Op-Eds on Space Sustainability and Environmentalism

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

July 19, 2024 – Reston, Va. – AIAA published the 2024 ASCEND Diverse Dozen (D12) Op-Eds – a collection of unique perspectives on today’s most pressing space sustainability challenges. The 12 visionaries who comprise the D12 will present their ideas on the opening day of 2024 ASCEND, 30 July – 1 August, Las Vegas. Organized as rapid-fire lightning talks, the D12 will address burning topics from the challenges of balancing growth through responsible space sustainability to orbital debris risking human space exploration.

ASCEND is the world’s premier outcomes-focused, interdisciplinary space event designed to accelerate building our off-world future. In its fifth year, D12 is produced in partnership with astrodynamicist Moriba Jah, chief scientist and co-founder of Privateer. More than 50 people have participated in the D12 program since 2020. Read all their Op-Eds here.

This year, the D12 is supported by the Office of Space Commerce, NOAA, U.S. Department of Commerce helping amplify underrepresented voices as they promote messages on space sustainability.

The 2024 ASCEND D12 cohort includes startup founders, association leaders, aerospace and engineering scholars, and policy experts in the space industry. They hail from Canada, Germany, New Zealand, Nigeria, North Macedonia, Pakistan, the United States and its territory, Puerto Rico.

The 2024 ASCEND Diverse Dozen are:

  • Nifemi Awe, Management Consultant, PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP
  • Priyanka Dhopade, Senior Lecturer, Faculty of Engineering, University of Auckland
  • Martina Dimoska, Founder and President, International Space Alliance
  • Jose Figueroa, Founder, Aqua/Sky Launch Innovations
  • Amir Gohardani, CEO, Springs of Dreams Corporation
  • Kim Macharia, Executive Director, Space Prize Foundation
  • Isabelle Mierau, Founder, Space Debris DAO
  • Sumbal Mushtaq, Founder, Astralbeam Organization
  • Alma Okpalefe, Executive Director, World Space Week Association
  • Carolyn Overmyer, Director, Orion Chief Engineer, Lockheed Martin Space
  • Olga Stelmakh-Drescher, Chief Policy, Legal & Government Relations Officer, Exolaunch
  • Salman Ali Thepdawala, Ph.D. Candidate and Munich Aerospace Scholar, University of Bundesweehr – Munich

Registration for 2024 ASCEND is open. Press passes are available.

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

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. For more information, visit aiaa.org, or follow AIAA on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, and Instagram.

2024 AIAA David W. Thompson Lecture in Space Commerce Presented by Sir Martin Sweeting During 2024 ASCEND

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

July 8, 2024 – Reston, Va. – AIAA is pleased to announce the 2024 AIAA David W. Thompson Lectureship in Space Commerce is awarded to Sir Martin Sweeting, Executive Chairman, Surrey Satellite Technology, Ltd. (SSTL) and Distinguished Professor, Surrey Space Centre, University of Surrey. The lecture, “Small Satellites – The Foundation of NewSpace,” will be presented Tuesday, 30 July, 12 p.m. PT, during 2024 ASCEND, 30 July – 1 August, Las Vegas.

Sweeting’s lecture will trace 20 years of small satellites’ impact on life on Earth and look toward future developments. The emergence in the early 2000s of low cost and rapid response, yet operationally capable small satellites initiated a fundamental gear-change in the economics of space. Two decades later, small satellites are mainstream and the basis of mega constellations in low Earth orbit providing communications and Earth observation services with the private sector now playing a dominant role. Recent developments in launchers, both large and small, have accelerated this trend, often referred to as “NewSpace,” enabling far wider participation by nations and commercial companies. The next generation of launchers on the horizon will stimulate the next gear-change in space, with dramatic implications for industry and society.

In 1979, with a Ph.D. in radio engineering from the University of Surrey, Sweeting pioneered rapid-response, low-cost, and highly capable small satellites utilizing modern consumer electronics to change the economics of space. In 1985, he founded a university spin-off company, SSTL, that has designed, built, launched, and operated in orbit over 70 nano-, micro-, and mini-satellites for customers worldwide providing missions for communications, Earth observation, space science, and the demonstration of active space debris removal techniques. Sweeting was knighted in 2006 by HM the Late Queen and is a Fellow of the Royal Society, the Royal Academy of Engineering, and the Institute of Physics. He has received numerous international awards, and has been identified as one of the UK’s 20 most influential engineers. He is regarded as the “father of small satellites” that led to NewSpace.

This lectureship recognizes a prominent industry leader or senior management team who has created or grown a space-related business and generated substantial economic benefits and market value. It was endowed by Orbital ATK to commemorate the long and distinguished career of commercial space pioneer, David W. Thompson. The lecture will be delivered in person, as well as recorded and available on demand.

Registration for 2024 ASCEND is open. Press passes are available for credentialed media by request.

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

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. For more information, visit aiaa.org or follow AIAA on X/Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, and Instagram, and visit ascend.events or follow ASCEND on LinkedIn, X/Twitter, and Instagram.