The Potomac Officers Club’s symposium on all things space domain is fast-approaching: the 5th Annual Space Summit will be held on March 5 at the Hilton-McLean in Virginia. At the event, the U.S. government’s most formidable space agency leaders will give the audience exclusive insight into where their priorities lie for the year ahead, which trends they’re seeing bubbling up and what technologies they’ll need to weather the storm. Register here now; tickets are going fast!
Here is your comprehensive breakdown of the day’s schedule:
8:05 a.m. – 9:20 a.m.
Getting things started will be opening keynote speaker Gen. Stephen Whiting, commander of U.S. Space Command. In his role, Gen. Whiting works in favor of U.S. and allied missions in the space domain and ensures delivery of space-enabled combat effects to internationally stationed warfighters.
Next up, for the morning keynote, Dr. Derek Tournear, director of the Space Development Agency, will share observations from his position heading up space capability acquisition for this Department of Defense component. Dr. Tournear oversees the capability pipeline in support of earthbound missions via development, fielding and operation of the Proliferated Warfighter Space Architecture.
A networking break will follow, and then you will have the choice between two panels:
9:50 – 10:50 a.m.
Panel 1A: “Optical Space Data Relay Supporting Human Spaceflight Communications,” moderated by Kepler Communications’ Robert Conrad and featuring Major Austin Baker of the Defense Innovation Unit, NASA’s Greg Heckler and Peter Schemmel, also of NASA.
Panel 1B: “Advancements in Commercial Space Imaging to Support Future U.S. Defense & Intel Initiatives,” featuring the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency’s Devin Brande, Space Systems Command’s Col. Richard Kniseley, the National Reconnaissance Office’s Peter Muend and moderated by Royce Geo’s Dave Sterling.
Then, another pair of panels to choose from:
Panel 2A: “Leveraging AI and Autonomous Solutions to Meet Current Threats,” moderated by ARKA’s Eric Stuckey and featuring Booz Allen Hamilton’s Patrick Biltgen and Amazon Web Services’ Dave Wooddell.
Panel 2B: “No Power, No Mission,” featuring Dr. Tabitha Dodson of the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, Lt. Col. Thomas Nix of the Air Force Research Laboratory, Michael Smith of the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition & Sustainment and moderated by Kate Kelley of BWXT Advanced Technologies.
Lunch from 12 – 12:20 p.m.
12:30 – 1:45 p.m.
The penultimate keynote speech of the day will be from Lt. Gen. Heath Collins, director of the Missile Defense Agency. Lt. Gen. Collins will share in his remarks how he is directing and allocating the agency’s $11 billion annual budget and advising the Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering on missile defense programmatic policy, requirements, priorities, systems and resources.
Finally, closing out the day’s sessions will be keynote speaker Lt. Gen. Shawn Bratton. As the U.S. Space Force’s deputy chief of space operations, strategy, plans, programs and requirements, Lt. Gen. Bratton oversees the service branch’s tactical plans, obligations and budget. Like with Collins, look forward to his information on spend allocation and where your tools and services fit in.
In addition to these sessions, there will be plenty of opportunities for candid networking moments and enriching Q&A. The fifth edition of the Potomac Officers Club’s Space Summit — hosted on March 5 — will be the best yet. Register here now!
