New Event Partners Delivering Extensive Speaker Lineup for a ‘DC Space Week’
ASCEND 2026 will open on Tuesday, 19 May, with keynote remarks from Jared Isaacman, the 15th Administrator of NASA. It’s not his first time appearing at ASCEND. Isaacman spoke at ASCEND in 2021, just after returning from commanding Inspiration4, the first all-civilian orbital spaceflight. Now he’ll share perspectives from his new role leading America’s space program.
More than 200 speakers will be featured throughout the week – from the commercial space sector including each of the next-generation space station companies, to national security leaders, government dignitaries, NASA officials, former astronauts, CEOs, and international space organizations. With the new event partners, ASCEND is offering a full spectrum program and unique features combined to deliver a ‘DC Space Week’ experience. Recently confirmed speakers include:
- Brent Blevins, Staff Director, U.S. House Science, Space, and Technology Subcommittee on Space and Aeronautics
- Bryan Dorland, Principal Director for Space Technology, Department of War
- Col. Daniel P. Highlander, USSF, Director, Operations Integration, Assured Access to Space, Space Systems Command
- Maj. Gen. Brook Leonard, USAF (Ret.), CEO, Rogue Space Systems
- Michael Lopez-Alegria, Chief Astronaut, Axiom Space
- Kenneth Mayuga, Founding Director, Space Health Center in the Heart, Vascular, & Thoracic Institute, Cleveland Clinic
- Laura McGill, Director, Sandia National Laboratories
- Tanya Pemberton, President and CEO, The Aerospace Corporation
- Ryan Pettit, Professional Staff Member, Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Defense
- Kate Rubins, NASA Astronaut (Ret.), and Inaugural Director, Trivedi Institute for Space and Global Biomedicine, University of Pittsburgh
- Marshall Smith, CEO, Starlab Space Stations
- Casey Swails, Deputy Associate Administrator, NASA
Explore the full program at ascend.events.
Unique Features All Week
- Classified Day, Monday, 18 May, will take place at The Aerospace Corporation’s corporate headquarters in Chantilly, Virginia. This unique, daylong program comes at a time of intense transformation in the U.S. space community. Headlining the event with a keynote address and Q&A session is National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) Director Chris Scolese. Clearance requirements are TS//SI/TK//NOFORN for the ASCEND Classified Day. (Registration for Classified Day ends Friday, 8 May at 5 p.m. ET.)
- Space Generation Advisory Committee (SGAC) is presenting its SGx program, 17–18 May, opening with a private screening of the Emmy Award-winning film, SALLY, from National Geographic Documentary Films. The program continues with fast-paced, content-rich TEDx “lightning talks” creating an environment where young professionals, industry experts, and government executives gather to network, share insights, and inspire each other.
- The Commercial Space Federation will take the stage anchoring ASCEND’s space policy programming with the Space Policy Summit, 19–20 May. Long recognized as the premier advocacy organization for the commercial space sector, CSF represents satellite operators, launch providers, spaceports, remote sensing companies, commercial LEO destinations, and the broader cislunar exploration community.
- The International Space Station (ISS) National Laboratory will bring a full day of programming on Tuesday, 19 May, plus nearly 60 technical papers on ISS utilization and space-based research to be presented on Wednesday and Thursday, 20–21 May. They will feature how the Orbital Edge Accelerator program is sparking new commercial opportunities in LEO. The “ISS Palooza” trivia-style game show will put attendees’ knowledge of ISS research, investigators, and on-orbit achievements to the test – a lighthearted close that reinforces the day’s key themes.
- The Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum will rally the space community around an urgent mission: preserving the ISS’s legacy before the space station is deorbited. A trio of back-to-back ISS heritage sessions on Thursday, 21 May, will tackle the “why, what, and how” of ISS preservation – why the legacy of the ISS matters, what artifacts should be saved, and how the story of continuous human presence in LEO can be told through real hardware and lived experience.
- The Space Force Association (SFA) will help host the opening plenary session on Wednesday, 20 May, featuring Brig. Gen. Nick Hague, U.S. Space Force, who will offer timely perspectives on national security space priorities and the evolving role of space in defense.
- BryceTech is curating a two-day track that aims to connect investors, entrepreneurs, and other stakeholders across the commercial space ecosystem. Tuesday, 19 May, is Investor Day, centered on how capital flows into the commercial space sector. Innovators Day on Wednesday, 20 May, shifts the lens to the entrepreneurs and technologies that capital enables. A key feature will be BryceTech’s first-ever Start-up Space Pitch Competition, designed to connect promising early-stage companies with investors and technical experts. The competition will feature five finalists, who will pitch a judging panel with a winner named in real-time.
- Novaspace is delivering sessions focused on the space economy, exploring how commercial activity is evolving across downstream services, Earth orbit, cislunar space, and beyond — and the role of government programs and public-private partnerships in enabling markets, reducing risk, and scaling sustainable growth.
