FROM THE INSTITUTE
The space industry has reached an inflection point. We are witnessing unprecedented growth in commercial space activity, accelerated national security priorities, international realignment in civil space programs, and a new generation of professionals entering the field. We need a technology-focused forum that matches the complexity and ambition of our moment. That’s exactly what we’re creating with ASCEND 2026.
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Tag: D.C.
AIAA, CSF, SFA, and SGAC Collaborate to Expand ASCEND 2026 in Washington, D.C.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Integrated Event Scheduled for 19–21 May 2026
May 29, 2025 – Reston, Va. – The American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA), the Commercial Space Federation (CSF), the Space Force Association (SFA), and the Space Generation Advisory Council (SGAC)announced today they are joining forces on an integrated space event, ASCEND 2026, spanning the week of 19–21 May 2026 in Washington, D.C.
“The vision of ASCEND has always been as a platform for accelerating the use of space for exploration, R&D, national security, and commercial innovation,” said Clay Mowry, chief executive officer, AIAA. “We are thrilled to bring ASCEND to the nation’s capital with these new event partners. Our new collaboration isn’t just exciting, it’s transformative – creating enormous synergies for the space community for learning, technical exchange, and in-depth dialogue. This new ‘Space Week’ will showcase the full spectrum of space policy, commerce, security, and innovation to build our off-world future.”
Space Policy and Leadership – Commercial Space Federation (CSF)
CSF is joining ASCEND as the premier event partner to design and deliver programming during ASCEND 2026 on the most pressing commercial space issues facing the industry. This move will continue CSF’s leadership on space policy discussions that were historically held during its flagship Washington, D.C., event, the Commercial Space Policy Conference.
Dave Cavossa, president, CSF, added, “CSF is excited to join forces with AIAA and other partners to reimagine a modern space event that is aligned to the policy challenges of today and tomorrow for the commercial space ecosystem. We want those vital discussions to happen in Washington, D.C., bringing all the critical voices together in the town where so much of our global space policy is shaped.”
National Security Space – Space Force Association (SFA)
Through an enhanced focus on national security space, ASCEND 2026 will feature expanded content highlighting its criticality to this community. SFA will provide sessions and speakers in the expanded event, designed to enable U.S. Space Force Guardians to collaborate with the commercial and civil space communities to enhance strategic partnerships and counter growing threats. In addition, ASCEND 2026 will feature a classified event that will provide attendees with mission critical insights.
Next Generation of Aerospace Professionals – Space Generation Advisory Council (SGAC)
As the largest network of university students and young professionals working in the global aerospace industry, SGAC will deliver its signature fast-paced, content-rich programming to ASCEND 2026. Modeled on the TEDx “lightning talk” format used at its previous SGx event, SGAC will create an environment where young professionals, industry experts, and government executives can network, share insights, and inspire each other.
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 founding sponsor of ASCEND.
The ASCEND 2026 Call for Content will open in early July 2025, inviting the global space community to submit technical abstracts and propose collaborative session topics across a broad range of disciplines.
AIAA Contact: Rebecca Gray, [email protected], 804-397-5270
CSF Contact: Kenya McEachern, [email protected]
SFA Contact: Karen Lawrie, [email protected]
SGAC Contact: Tatiana Komorna, [email protected]
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 Commercial Space Federation
CSF is the leading U.S.-based trade association representing the commercial space industry. Our members represent multiple sectors of the space economy including launch and reentry, remote sensing, spaceports, satellite-based internet, in-space research and manufacturing, commercial space stations, space situational awareness, and more. CSF and its members are focused on expanding America’s leadership in space by offering innovative – and often less expensive – solutions to U.S. government customers including NASA, the U.S. Space Force, and the intelligence community. CSF advocates for policies that will grow a sustainable space economy, the global value of which is already estimated at $570 billion and projected to grow to $1.8 trillion by 2035.
About Space Force Association
The Space Force Association (SFA) is the only independent, 501(c)(3) non-profit organization that serves as a professional military association whose sole focus is supporting the United States Space Force, United States Space Command, U.S. national spacepower at large, and our global partners and allies’ efforts in space exploration. Its core functions are to research, inform, and advocate to achieve superior spacepower by shaping a Space Force that provides credible deterrence in competition, dominant capability in combat, and professional services for all partners. In addition, the SFA has an essential function to provide support for the men and women of the U.S. Space Force.
About Space Generation Advisory Council
The Space Generation Advisory Council (SGAC) in support of the United Nations Programme on Space Applications is a global non-governmental, non-profit (US 501(c)3) organization and network that connects and represents university students and young space professionals aged 18–35 to the United Nations, space agencies, industry, and academia. With members in over 165 countries, SGAC fosters international collaboration, capacity-building, and innovation in the space sector. The organization hosts flagship events such as the annual Space Generation Congress (SGC), SGx, SGFF and regional Space Generation Workshops (SGWs), publishes policy recommendations, and provides scholarships to empower young professionals. SGAC is also dedicated to STEM outreach and advocacy, inspiring and enabling the next generation of space leaders.
Penina Axelrad Awarded 2024 Yvonne C. Brill Lectureship in Aerospace Engineering
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Dr. Axelrad’s address, “The Evolution and Impact of Global Navigation Satellite Systems,” set for Oct. 1, 2024
July 10, 2024 – Reston, Va. – The American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) and the National Academy of Engineering (NAE) are pleased to announce that Penina Axelrad, distinguished professor at the University of Colorado Boulder, has been selected as the recipient of the 2024 Yvonne C. Brill Lectureship in Aerospace Engineering.
Dr. Axelrad will present her lecture, “The Evolution and Impact of Global Navigation Satellite Systems,” on Tuesday, Oct. 1, at 11 a.m. ET, in conjunction with the NAE Annual Meeting in Washington, D.C. Registration for this lecture is free and open to the public.
Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS) provide the basis for smartphones to effectively guide us to our destinations, safe and flexible navigation for tens of thousands of airline flights per day, seamless synchronization of power grids, and precise timing of financial transactions. GNSS also enable scientific observation of Earth’s variable gravity field, soil water content and vegetation, and even Earth’s atmosphere and ocean surface winds. Dr. Axelrad’s lecture will discuss what we can learn from the remarkable evolution of a military navigation system into a global utility, and will explore where today’s advances in the utilization of signals-of-opportunity, optical communications, atomic clocks, and quantum sensing might lead.
Dr. Axelrad is a distinguished professor in the Ann and H.J. Smead Department of Aerospace Engineering Sciences at the University of Colorado Boulder. She earned her bachelor’s and master’s degrees in aeronautics and astronautics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1985 and 1986, respectively. In 1991, she earned her doctorate in aeronautics and astronautics from Stanford University.
Since 1992, she has been a faculty member in aerospace engineering sciences at the University of Colorado Boulder, with a focus on astrodynamics and satellite navigation, and she served as department chair from 2012 to 2017. She has supervised 26 doctoral graduates and taught courses on topics including GPS, dynamics and systems, spacecraft dynamics, and estimation.
Axelrad and her students have made key contributions to GPS receiver autonomous integrity monitoring, GPS-based attitude determination, the characterization of multipath effects in GPS measurements, the utilization of reflected GPS signals for remote sensing of Earth’s surface, and direct positioning. Her current research interests include new technologies and algorithms for positioning, navigation, and timing (PNT) in space, airborne, and land environments.
Axelrad is a member of the NAE and an AIAA Fellow. She also is a fellow of the Institute of Navigation (ION). She is a past recipient of the AIAA Lawrence Sperry Award, the ION Johannes Kepler Award, and the Women in Aerospace Educator Award.
AIAA, with the participation and support of the NAE, created the Yvonne C. Brill Lectureship in Aerospace Engineering to honor the memory of the late pioneering rocket scientist, AIAA Honorary Fellow, and NAE member Yvonne C. Brill. Brill was best known for developing a revolutionary propulsion system that remains the industry standard for geostationary satellite station-keeping. The lectureship emphasizes research or engineering issues for space travel and exploration, aerospace education of students and the public, and other aerospace issues such as ensuring a diverse and robust engineering community.
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AIAA Media Contact: Rebecca Gray, [email protected], 804-397-5270
NAE Media Contact: Sabrina Steinberg, [email protected], 202.334.2622
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 aiaa.org, and follow AIAA on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, and Instagram.
About NAE
Founded in 1964, the National Academy of Engineering (NAE) is a private, independent, nonprofit institution that provides engineering leadership in service to the nation. The mission of the NAE is to advance the welfare and prosperity of the nation by providing independent advice on matters involving engineering and technology, and by promoting a vibrant engineering profession and public appreciation of engineering. Follow NAE on Twitter, LinkedIn and YouTube.