ASCEND unveils visionary program, inspiring speakers and community spirit

The November event spans six days, two cities and online everywhere

RESTON, Va., September 30, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) – ASCEND, the interdisciplinary community focused on building humanity’s future out of the world faster, today unveiled its six-day program filled with hundreds of visionary sessions and inspiring speakers. Powered by AIAA, ASCEND was launched in 2020 to Aaccelerate Srhythm VStrade, Eexploration, and NOTuh Discovery.

Scheduled for November 8-10 and 15-17, the ASCEND 2021 flagship event will feature a hybrid mix of live programming in Las Vegas and Washington, DC, and online programming over the six days. Details are available at mount.events.

Participants have several options for live, virtual and on-demand participation; Space is limited. Early registration rates are available until Thursday, September 30 at midnight. Journalists around the world are invited to cover 2021 ASCEND; press passes are available for accredited media on demand.

Features of ASCEND 2021

• Kari Byron returns as master of ceremonies! The host of Mythbusters and Crash Test World will be joining us in person in Las Vegas, November 15-17.

• Returning from her suborbital space mission, Sirisha Bandla, Vice President of Government Affairs for Virgin Galactic, will be joining us in person in Las Vegas to share her first-hand account of space travel as a citizen astronaut on board. of his company’s first fully-crewed space flight # Unity22 this summer.

• For one day, ASCEND travels to Washington, DC The East Coast satellite event on November 15 will feature an in-person panel of national policymakers discussing the policy for expanding commercial space opportunities, as well as a live broadcast in live from the ASCEND Las Vegas scene. Speakers are: Representative Don Beyer (D-VA), US House Space and Aeronautics Subcommittee; Mike Gold, Redwire Space; Tom Hammond, US House Space and Aeronautics Subcommittee; Ezinne Uzo-Okoro, White House Office of Science and Technology Policy; Tim Dominick, Chairman, IAEA Public Policy Committee.

• The 24th IAEA International Space Aircraft and Hypersonic Systems and Technologies Conference will be held November 15-17 (in person) in Las Vegas as part of the ASCEND 2021 experience.

• Forum of the Caesars in Las Vegas is the ASCEND 2021 universe hub for in-person sessions, November 15-17.

• All ASCEND content will be broadcast November 8-10 and 15-17, and available on demand online during and after the event for attendees.

Visionary agenda and inspiring speakers
Hundreds of sessions will be presented on today’s hot topics – ranging from space traffic and space debris management – to construction, infrastructure and manufacturing in space – to international cooperation and national security – the development of the space workforce of tomorrow.

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Almost 400 technical session documents will be presented online by the international community of local authors representing 27 countries. Adjacent industries will be represented by speakers from Facebook, AWS, Amazon Alexa, and General Motors Defense, to name a few.

Some highlights of the ASCEND 2021 session include:

• Building worlds that don’t yet exist

• Public-private partnerships: when one shoe doesn’t fit all

• Technology Directors Roundtable (CTO)

• The emerging 5G non-terrestrial connectivity ecosystem

• Arrival: Persevere in the future

• LEO proliferated: managing multiple mega-constellations

• Invest in the space economy

• Space traffic management, including the diverse dozen of 2021

• Leveraging our allies in the national security space

• Space as critical infrastructure

• Sustainable agriculture from space

ASCEND 2021 attendees will experience the energy of presentations from extraterrestrial pioneers on our planet, including Fortune 500 executives, leaders of established space agencies, government and military officials, professional and citizen astronauts, companies from across the world. “New space”, international organizations, university professors and students, and CEOs of start-ups. Confirmed speakers and presenters include:

• Lieutenant-General Nina Armagno, Director of Staff, Headquarters, US Space Force

• MiMi Aung, Former Project Manager, Mars Helicopter Ingenuity, NASA

• Tory Bruno, CEO, United Launch Alliance

• Brian Barritt, Head of Organization, Connectivity, Facebook

• William Callaway, Senior Technical Product Manager, Amazon Alexa

• Major General Susan Coyle, CSC, DSM, Chief Information Officer, Australian Defense Force

• Major General (Retired) Clint Crosier, Director of Aerospace and Satellite Solutions, AWS

• Mary Lynne Dittmar, Executive Vice President, Axiom Space

• Wesley Eddy, Ecosystem Manager, Facebook

• Samer Halawi, Executive Vice President and Commercial Director, Intelsat

• Henry Hertzfeld, Research Professor in Space Policy and International Affairs, Elliott School of International Affairs, George Washington University

• Doug Hollett, Former Assistant Deputy Secretary for Renewable Energy, Office of Energy Efficiency & Renewable Energy, US Department of Energy

• Robyn Gatens, Director, International Space Station, NASA Headquarters

• Dave Goldstein, Senior Guidance, Navigation and Control Engineer, SpaceX

• John Grunsfeld, astronaut, NASA (retired)

• Phil Ingle, Managing Director, Morgan Stanley

• Moriba Jah, Associate Professor, Aerospace Engineering and Mechanical Engineering, University of Texas at Austin

• Nobu Okada, Founder and CEO, Astroscale Holdings Inc.

• Sandra Magnus, Director, AstroPlanetview and Astronaut, NASA (retired)

• Leland Melvin, astronaut, NASA (retired)

• John Mulholland, Vice President and Program Director, International Space Station, The Boeing Company

• Mark Mulholland, Chief Engineer, Space Traffic Management & Space Situational Awareness, Office of Space Commerce, US Department of Commerce

• Lieutenant-General William Liquori Jr., deputy chief of space operations, strategy, plans, programs, requirements and analysis, US Space Force

• Bhavya Lal, Senior Advisor to NASA Administrator for Budget and Finance, NASA

• Kathy Lueders, Associate Administrator, Exploration and Human Operations, NASA

• Joseph Parrish, Program Manager, DARPA

• Walter Scott, Executive Vice President and Chief Technology Officer, Maxar

• Kay Sears, Vice President and General Manager, Military Space, Lockheed Martin

• Lieutenant-General John Shaw, Deputy Commander, US Space Command, US Space Force

• AVM Harv Smyth, Director, Space, UK Ministry of Defense

• Ellen Stofan, Under Secretary for Science and Research, Smithsonian Institution

• Erika Wagner, Payload Sales Manager, Blue Origin

• David M. Van Wie, Chief, Air and Missile Defense, Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory

Community spirit
ASCEND has become known as the community that welcomes all who love space. Attendees can choose how they participate in this year’s event (live or online), depending on what works best for their mind, spirit and budget. Whether live or online, attendees will have unique opportunities to connect with each other and with industry partners supporting this year’s event. Participants will also hear the voices of rising generations who will lead the community into the future. Those attending Las Vegas can enjoy the official ASCEND 2021 beer from Nevada Brew Works, which has outsourced the recipe to the ASCEND community.

Media contact: Rebecca B. Gray, [email protected], cell 804-397-5270

About ASCEND
Powered by IAIA, ASCEND promotes the collaborative, interdisciplinary, and results-driven community of professionals, students and enthusiasts around the world who are accelerating humanity’s progress toward our out-of-world future! For more information visit mount.events, or follow ASCEND on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, and Instagram.

About the IAEA
The American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) is the largest aerospace engineering company in the world. With nearly 30,000 individual members from 91 countries and 100 member companies, the IAEA 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 Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, and Instagram.