The 5th Annual International Symposium for Personal and Commercial Spaceflight (ISPCS) will held in Las Cruces, New Mexico on October 21 and 22 at the New Mexico Farm and Ranch Heritage Museum. This annual conference brings together the current space community, academics, the innovators and entrepreneurs, and the civil and military government communities to discuss the current and future growth of global space commercialization.
Keynote speakers and panel chairs for the event include:
- Gary Payton, Deputy Under-Secretary of the Air Force, Space Systems
- Lori Garver, Deputy Administrator, NASA
- Yngve Bergqvist, CEO and Founder, Ice Hotel
- Wayne Hale, Deputy Associate Administrator for Strategic Partnerships, NASA
- James Van Laak, Deputy Associate Administrator for Space Transportation, FAA
- Bill Klanke, Vice President and Publisher, Space News
- Jeff Greason, CEO, XCOR Aerospace
- Tom Burton, Department Head, Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering , New Mexico State University
- Alan Stern, former NASA Associate Administrator for Space and Earth Science
- Clay Mowry, President, Arianespace, Inc.
- Marshall Kaplan, Ph.D., Space Department – Applied Physics Laboratory, Johns Hopkins University
- Keith Beck, General Manager, Jacobs Technology
As a prelude to this year’s conference, a workshop and tour of the NASA White Sands Test Facility is scheduled for Tuesday, October 20th. It will include a panel of experts who will speak to assets in the local community that are capable of supporting the commercial space industry. On Friday, October 23rd, there will be a tour of Spaceport America led by Steve Landeene and Dr. Jerry Brown. Both tours require separate registration and seating is limited.
All ISPCS sessions are plenary, allowing everyone to receive the same information simultaneously. Responding to feedback, ISPCS has created multiple means of engaging the audience in discussions with speakers during the sessions. Additional networking opportunities are scheduled throughout the two days.
A video from the 2008 International Symposium for Personal and Commercial Spaceflight is available on YouTube.
A complete agenda of session topics and panelists is available on the ISPCS website. Early bird conference registration ends October 1st and online registration closes October 16th.