SPACE SYMPOSIUM AGENDA

The Opening Ceremony celebrates the official start of the annual Space Symposium.  Space Foundation honors outstanding individuals and organizations at several Symposium events, to highlight the best of the best in the space community.  We are excited to announce that the Opening Ceremony for the 36^th Space Symposium will feature the presentation of the General James E. Hill Lifetime Space Achievement Award, the highest honor bestowed by Space Foundation.

Master of Ceremonies:

Thomas E. Zelibor, Rear Admiral, USN (Ret.)

Speaker

Thomas E. Zelibor, Rear Admiral, USN (Ret.)

Co-Sponsor

When visiting the Lockheed Martin Exhibit Center North and South, it becomes evident that going to space is just the beginning! It’s what you do when you get there that matters. Lockheed Martin builds satellites and spacecraft that do amazing things in space for government and commercial customers. The satellites give earlier warning of severe weather, connect troops on the battlefield and deliver GPS directions to a billion people worldwide. Connecting people. Advancing discovery. And protecting what matters most.

Co-Sponsor

Topics: Benefits and drawbacks of LEO constellations, hybrid LEO/GEO systems, successes and failures

Moderator:

• Christopher Baugh

Panelists:

• Maj. Gen. Clinton Crosier, USSF (Ret.)
• Mark Dankberg
• Daniel Jablonsky
• Dr. Fred Kennedy
• Neil Masterson
• Gwynne Shotwell

Speaker

Christopher Baugh

Maj. Gen. Clinton E. Crosier, USSF (Ret.)

Mark Dankberg

Daniel Jablonsky

Dr. Fred Kennedy

Neil Masterson

Gwynne Shotwell

Moderator: 

• Dr. Kathryn C. Thornton

Panelists:

• Dr. Josef Aschbacher
• Philippe Baptiste
• Lisa Campbell
• Sen. Bill Nelson
• Dr. Walther Pelzer
• Giorgio Saccoccia

Speaker

Dr. Josef Aschbacher

Philippe Baptiste

Lisa Campbell

The Honorable Senator Bill Nelson

Dr. Walther Pelzer

Giorgio Saccoccia

Dr. Kathryn C. Thornton

Moderated by: 

• Gen. John W. “Jay” Raymond, USSF
• Kelli Seybolt

Panelists:

• MGEN Michel Friedling, FRA-AF
• AVM Paul Godfrey, OBE, RAF
• Lt. Gen. Klaus Habersetzer
• Gen. Shunji Izutsu, JSDF
• MG. Pasi Jokinen, FAF
• Col. Luis Felipe Saez, FACH

Speaker

MGEN Michel Friedling, FRA-AF

AVM Paul Godfrey, OBE, RAF

Lt. Gen. Klaus Habersetzer

Gen. Shunji Izutsu, JSDF

MG Pasi Jokinen, FAF

Gen. John W. “Jay” Raymond, USSF

Col. Luis Felipe Saez, FACH

Kelli Seybolt

Interviewed by: 

• Morgan Brennan

Speaker

Morgan Brennan

Christopher Kubasik

Moderated by:

• Steve Bochinger

Panelists:

• Massimo Comparini

Speaker

Steve Bochinger

Massimo Comparini

Moderator:

• Eaton Kuh

Panelists:

• Carol Erickson
• Stephen Kitay
• David Ray
• Robert Zitz

Speaker

Carol Erikson

Stephen Kitay

Eaton Kuh

David Ray

Robert Zitz

Two questions have long driven humanity’s curiosity: Where do we come from? And are we alone? In the past, the search for life was a thing of science fiction. Today, we are all embarking on this quest in a very real way together. Join us as we discuss NASA’s Science Mission Directorate’s (SMD) bold missions in pursuit of life beyond our own world and the efforts necessary to bring home this amazing science.

Our panel’s exploration begins right here, in our own local laboratory. NASA SMD’s Heliophysics and Earth Science Divisions explore the delicate relationship between our Sun and Earth, teaching us more about our own heliosphere, the only one we know harbors life. Our growing fleet of Heliophysics missions, including the groundbreaking Parker Solar Probe, help us unravel how our Sun works and in turn how it, and the solar wind it produces, interacts with our home planet, a world teeming with life. 

Our search for life continues as NASA SMD’s Planetary Science Division takes us farther out to the solar system’s many other ocean worlds, most of them moons orbiting the giant planets of the outer solar system. The Europa Clipper flagship mission and the recently awarded Dragonfly mission will explore two of these ocean worlds: Jupiter’s moon Europa, which holds twice as much water as Earth; and Saturn’s largest moon Titan, an alien world with complex organics and two solvents, water and methane, offering us tantalizing new information on extraterrestrial habitability and prebiotic chemistry.

NASA SMD’s Astrophysics Division extends exploration to beyond our solar system. With the Kepler telescope’s discovery that planets are a natural outcome of the star formation process, we now know there are more planets than stars in the universe.  The upcoming James Webb Space Telescope and the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope will observe the atmospheres of these worlds, determine their chemical fingerprints and reveal whether other Earth-like worlds are common in nearby solar systems.

These pioneering missions require large, interdisciplinary teams that span government, education, and commercial sectors. Strengthening these partnerships, along with continued advocacy and technology investments, will maintain these missions’ cadence and success. NASA’s commercial partners must continue to rise to the challenge to help solve the engineering and programmatic challenges of building and deploying uniquely instrumented spacecraft. Our continued exploration of habitable worlds near and far will reshape our understanding of the origin and extent of life itself.

Opening Remarks: 

• Dr. Jason Kalirai

Moderator: 

• Dipak Srinivasan

Panelists:

• Dr. Mercedes Lopez-Morales
• Tommy Sanford
• Dr. Elizabeth “Zibi” Turtle
• Dr. Thomas Zurbuchen

Speaker

Dr. Jason Kalirai

Dr. Mercedes Lopez-Morales

Tommy Sanford

Dipak Srinivasan

Dr. Elizabeth “Zibi” Turtle

Dr. Thomas Zurbuchen

Moderator:

• RDML Eric Ruttenberg

Panelists:

• RDML Michael Bernacchi
• RDML Stephen Donald
• RADM Gene Price
• LtCol Blake Veath

Speaker

RADM Michael Bernacchi, USN

RDML Stephen Donald, USN

RADM Gene Price, USN

RDML Eric Ruttenberg, USN

LtCol Blake Veath, USMC

Presented in association with NASA

Moderator:

• Jesse Klempner

Panelists:

• Peter Beck
• Kari Bingen
• Tim Ellis
• Tina Ghataore
• Dan Hart
• Robbie Schingler
• Dr. Harold “Sonny” White

Speaker

Peter Beck

Kari Bingen

Tim Ellis

Tina Ghataore

Dan Hart

Jesse Klempner

Robbie Schingler

Dr. Harold “Sonny” White

Presented in association with Space ISAC

Moderated by:

• Lt. Gen. Christopher Bogdan, USAF (Ret.)

Panelists:

• Frank Backes
• Carey Smith

Speaker

Frank Backes

Lt. Gen. Christopher Bogdan, USAF (Ret.)

Carey Smith