Tag: space industry

Today is the Last Day to Save on ASCEND 2026 Registration

FROM THE INSTITUTE
ASCEND 2026 is where the global space community comes together to turn bold ideas into real outcomes. Bringing together 2,000+ leaders from industry, government, and academia, ASCEND covers everything from space economy and national security to lunar exploration and next-gen technology—across 130 sessions and 190 technical papers. Powered by AIAA and backed by partners including Lockheed Martin and the ISS National Laboratory, this is the event that drives the space sector forward. Secure your seat today, before rates go up.

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ASCEND 2026 Will Showcase the Space Industry’s Most Influential Voices

FROM THE INSTITUTE
More than 200 luminaries from across the civil, commercial, and national security space sectors, adjacent industries, and the next-generation workforce will take the ASCEND stage, 19–21 May, in Washington, D.C. They will address the most important opportunities and mission-critical challenges at this pivotal time for the space community. Registration for ASCEND 2026 is open now, with early-bird rates available until 20 April.
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ASCEND 2026 Assembles Space Industry’s Most Influential Voices in Washington, D.C.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

March 31, 2026 – Reston, Va. – AIAA announced today a powerful lineup of speakers who will take the stage at ASCEND 2026, 19–21 May, Washington Hilton, Washington, D.C. The event will address the most important opportunities and mission-critical challenges at this pivotal time for the space community.

“We are proud to bring the global space community to experience ASCEND in Washington, D.C. Eight leading organizations from across the industry are joining the ASCEND team this year and strengthening our content to deliver a must-attend event,” said AIAA CEO Clay Mowry.

“This year’s program is timely and transformative, as the space community looks to accelerate exploration and science. ASCEND 2026 will showcase the leading voices from space commerce, security, and policy to build our off-world future. It will be the most comprehensive gathering of space professionals in the nation’s capital in 2026 with 2,000 participants expected,” Mowry added.

Powered by AIAA, ASCEND is the world’s premier outcomes-focused, interdisciplinary space event designed to accelerate building our off-world future. Lockheed Martin is the Founding Sponsor of ASCEND. Commercial Space Federation (CSF) is the Premier Event Partner. Event partners include: BryceTech, ISS National Laboratory, National Air and Space Museum, Novaspace, Space Force Association (SFA), Space Generation Advisory Council (SGAC), and The Aerospace Corporation.

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:

  • Erik Antonsen, M.D., Ph.D., Massachusetts General Hospital / Harvard Medical School
  • The Honorable Brian Babin (TX-36), Chair, House Committee on Science, Space, and Technology
  • Olga Bannova, Research Professor, University of Houston
  • David Baumann, Director, Human Research Program, NASA
  • Harriet Brettle, Executive Director, Keck Institute for Space Studies
  • Will Bruey, CEO, Varda
  • Tory Bruno, President, Blue National Security, Blue Origin
  • A.C. Charania, Senior Vice President of Space Business Development, Zeno Power
  • Anne Cheever, Founder, Vela Scientific
  • Carissa Christensen, Founder and CEO, BryceTech
  • Jonathan Cirtain, CEO & President, Axiom Space
  • John Conafay, CEO, Integrate Space
  • Katie Cranor, Executive Director, Office of Operational Safety, Office of Commercial Space Transportation, FAA
  • Shawn Domagal-Goldman, Director, Astrophysics Division, NASA
  • Jonny Dyer, CEO, Muon Space
  • Shirley Dyke, Donald A. and Patricia A. Coates Professor of Innovation in Mechanical Engineering, Purdue University
  • Debra Facktor, Head of US Space Systems, Airbus US Space & Defense
  • David Goldstein, Principal Guidance, Navigation and Control Engineer, SpaceX
  • James “Jim” Green, CEO, Space Science Endeavors
  • Dana “Keoki” Jackson, Senior Vice President and General Manager, MITRE National Security, and AIAA President-Elect
  • Taylor Jordan, Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Environmental Observation and Prediction, NOAA
  • Mike Kincaid, President & Executive Director, Challenger Center
  • Josef Koller, Head of Space Safety and Sustainability, Amazon Leo
  • Joe Landon, Co-Founder & President, Rendezvous Robotics
  • Kris Lehnhardt, M.D., Director, Space Medicine Program, UTHealth Houston
  • Dana Levin, Director of Space Medicine and Human Research, Vast Inc.
  • Janna Lewis, Senior Vice President, Policy & General Counsel, Astroscale US
  • Robert Lightfoot, President, Lockheed Martin Space
  • Laura Lucier, Chief, Astromaterials Research and Exploration Science Division, NASA
  • Ray Lugo, CEO, ISS National Laboratory
  • Sandra Magnus, Principal, AstroPlanetview LLC
  • Scott McLaughlin, Executive Director, Spaceport America
  • Kristen McQuinn, Mission Head, Roman Space Telescope, Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI)
  • Rob Meyerson, CEO, Interlune
  • Mike Moses, President, Spaceline, Virgin Galactic
  • Clay Mowry, CEO, AIAA
  • Michelle Murray, Deputy Director, Office of Strategic Management, Office of Commercial Space Transportation, FAA
  • Clive Neal, Professor of Planetary Geology, University of Notre Dame
  • Charles Norton, Chief Technology Strategist, NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory
  • Michael Roberts, Chief Scientist, ISS National Laboratory
  • Ryan Shepperd, Lead SSA Engineer, Iridium
  • Erika Wagner, Lead, US Business Development, The Exploration Company-US
  • Matthew Weinzierl, Professor & Senior Associate Dean, Harvard Business School
Dynamic Sessions Featured All Week
  • Deep technical content scheduled. AIAA events are well known for the depth of technical content presented, with over 200 technical presentations and collaborative sessions at ASCEND. ISS National Laboratory will bring even more technical presentations from its microgravity community that has been conducting research onboard the orbiting lab.
  • CSF will host its two-day Commercial Space Policy Summit (CSPS), 19–20 May. From launch cadence and regulatory reform to lunar and orbital infrastructure, national security, and the future of commercial space stations, this year’s Summit will tackle the most pressing issues shaping the space economy. Registration for CSPS includes access to ASCEND.
  • The Aerospace Corporation will host a Classified Day at the TS/SCI level on 18 May at its Chantilly, Virginia, office, with additional registration required. Additionally, they will host the Space Transformation Track on 21 May, comprising sessions designed to accelerate the space industrial base and progress in national priority areas for space.
  • BryceTech will host its inaugural Start-up Space Pitch Competition. Start-ups from across space and space-adjacent industries (series A or earlier) can apply. Finalists will pitch start-up space experts during ASCEND 2026. One winner will receive a Start-up Space Advisory Package from BryceTech, a one-year AIAA Corporate Membership, and more. Applications are open through 19 April.
  • The Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum will host a three-session deep dive into preserving the ISS National Laboratory as we prepare for its end of mission. Why save ISS heritage? What should be saved from the ISS? How will we recover items from ISS?
  • SGAC will host its SGx 2026 event, 17–18 May, focused on cultivating the next generation of space leaders with “lightning talks” followed by moderated Q&A panels that tackle pressing issues and innovative ideas to inspire the next generation of space leaders. Additional registration required through SGAC.
Early-Bird Registration Rates Available

Registration for ASCEND 2026 is open now, with early-bird rates available until 20 April. Journalists should 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.

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.

Executive Order Aims to Advance Space Industry by Reducing Environmental Regulation

Defense One reports, “The U.S. government must reduce environmental and other regulations to make it easier for commercial space companies to launch rockets, expand launch facilities, and perform “novel” space activities, according to a new executive order. “It is the policy of the United States to enhance American greatness in space by enabling a competitive launch marketplace and substantially increasing commercial space launch cadence and novel space activities by 2030,” says the order, signed Wednesday by President Donald Trump.”
Full Story (Defense One)

The Space Industry Dilemma of Moving from Innovator to Integrator

FROM THE INSTITUTE
Having long tackled the innovators’ dilemma to adjust to technological transformation, the space industry is now poised to tackle the integrators’ dilemma: what to do with all that innovation and how to use it. A panel discussion at 2025 ASCEND explored the theme, tapping experts in academia and industry.
Full Story (Aerospace America)

NOAA Says Evidence of Rare Metals in Stratosphere Likely from Rocket Launches

The Washington Post reports NOAA researchers collected and analyzed particles in the stratosphere that indicates the presence of rare elemental metals niobium and hafnium, which “are common in spacecraft manufacturing and can be found in semiconductors, rocket chambers and other applications.” The discovery “sheds light on the environmental aftermath of a growing number of rockets, satellites and other human-made spacecraft that give off metal vapors as they reenter the atmosphere.” The researchers also “identified aluminum, lithium, copper and lead in the stratosphere – all of which are linked to alloys used by the aerospace industry.” It is still unclear “how the existence of these rare metals and other elements in the stratosphere might influence the climate.”
Full Story (Washington Post – Subscription Publication)

Commercial Space Industry Projected to Experience 41% Growth Over Next Five Years

Fortune reports that the global space economy “grew 8% to $546 billion in 2022 and is projected to climb another 41% over the next five years, according to a leading space nonprofit.” The sector is expected “to show resiliency in the coming years, despite uncertainty about the global economy and a recent slowdown in space investment.” Companies are seeing “continued revenue growth from commercial space assets and governments around the world boosting expenditures, according to a report from the Space Foundation, a Colorado Springs, Colorado-based space flight advocacy group.” The analysis “considered spending from 51 governments, as well as commercial revenue from companies in 11 space industry sub-sectors.” Space Foundation Director of Research and Digital Programming Lesley Conn said, “Commercial space is the vital growing sector of the overall space economy. Within five years, certainly you’re going to see a real acceleration and an expansion of space and space assets.”
Full Story (Fortune)

What to Expect in the Space Industry in 2023

The New York Times reports that in 2022, NASA “wowed us with cosmic scenes captured by the James Webb Space Telescope.” The DART mission “slammed an asteroid into a new orbit. Artemis I set humanity on a course back to the moon.” China finished “building a new space station in orbit, SpaceX launched 61 rockets in 12 months, and the invasion of Ukraine imperiled Russia’s status as a space power.” It’s a lot “to measure up to, but 2023 is bound to have some excitement on the launchpad, the lunar surface and in the sky.” SpaceX is building Starship for Artemis III and “numerous other rockets may take flight for the first time in 2023.” The most important, Vulcan Centaur by United Launch Alliance, “will eventually replace that company’s Atlas V, a vehicle that has been central to American spaceflight for two decades.” A number of “American private companies are expected to test new rockets in 2023, including Relativity and ABL.” They could “be joined by foreign rocket makers, including Mitsubishi Heavy Industries which could test Japan’s H3 rocket in February, and Arianespace, which is working toward a test flight of Europe’s Ariane 6 rocket.” We’re guaranteed “at least one lunar landing attempt in 2023.” A Japanese company, ispace, “launched its M1 mission on a SpaceX rocket in December.” It’s taking a “slow, fuel-efficient route to the moon and is set to arrive in April, when it will try to deploy a rover built by the United Arab Emirates, a robot built by Japan’s space agency, JAXA, as well as other payloads.”
Full Story (New York Times)

Space Industry Warned of Recession Impact

Space News reports that United Launch Alliance CEO Tory Bruno on Monday warned of the negative impact on the space industry by a possible recession. Quilty Analytics reported, “We expect the slowdown in public capital markets activity to continue, at least in the near-term, until market volatility remains subdued for a sufficient period of time.” Bruno noted the current environment is not favorable for high-risk investments, including those in the space sector. Bruno added, “There may be some companies that would have been great to have saved. But the ones that do get invested in are going to get a lot more attention and have a better chance of surviving.”
Full Story (Space News)

James Webb Space Telescope Damaged by Meteoroids

BBC News reports that one of the main mirrors of the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) has been damaged by impact of a small meteoroid. NASA reports the meteoroid struck the space observatory “sometime between 23 and 25 May,” but is unlikely to affect mission performance.
Full Story (BBC News)