En Route to the Moon: Creating a More Resilient Civil Space Architecture

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The En Route to the Moon conference will begin at 10:00 am to accommodate a special address from House Speaker Paul Ryan on national security. We encourage all those registered for the En Route to the Moon conference to join us for the morning address, as all RSVPs for the conference will be honored at both events. The Speaker’s event begins at 8:45 am. For those joining us after the Speaker’s remarks, please note that registration now begins at 9:30 am.

The Trump Administration has emphasized civil and commercial space as one of its top priorities with the reinstatement of the National Space Council, the signing of Space Policy Directive 1, and the recent National Security Strategy, which prioritized the improvement of our U.S. space architecture resiliency.

The Administration’s renewed focus on civil space requires a broader public discussion on America’s current civil space systems and how best to improve their resilience.

En Route to the Moon will focus on how NASA and others can promptly adapt civil space architectures in pursuit of the Administration’s mission objectives.

Lunch will be provided.

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Full Agenda:

9:30 – 10:00     Registration

10:00 – 10:10   Welcome

Sean O’Keefe, Distinguished Senior Adviser, CSIS, and former NASA Administrator
Katharyn White, Senior Vice President and General Manager, MITRE Public Sector

10:10 – 11:10   Panel I: Threats and Vulnerabilities for Civil Space Systems

Renee Wynn, Chief Information Officer, NASA
Dr. Brian Weeden, Director of Program Planning, Secure World Foundation
Zachary Goldstein, Chief Information Officer, NOAA
Moderated by Todd Harrison, Director of the Aerospace Security Project, CSIS

11:10 – 11:20   Lightning Talk I: Navigation and Timing Lessons for Civil Space

Dr. John Betz, Fellow, The MITRE Corporation

11:20 – 11:30   Coffee Break

11:30 – 12:15   Keynote Presentation: Enterprise Protection and Resiliency of Space Systems from a Civil Leadership Standpoint

Robert Lightfoot, Acting Administrator, NASA
Moderated by Sean O’Keefe

12:15 – 12:45  Break for Lunch

12:45 – 1:00    Lightning Talk II: Lessons from Civil Aviation

Chris Hegarty, Director for Communications, Navigation, and Surveillance Engineering & Spectrum, MITRE

1:00 – 2:00      Panel II: Resiliency in Commercial Space Launch

Dan Hart, President and CEO, Virgin Orbit
Tom Tshudy, Vice President and General Counsel, United Launch Alliance
Josh Brost, Senior Director for Government Business, SpaceX
Moderated by Chris Davenport, Reporter, The Washington Post 

2:05 – 3:05      Panel III: Engineering Resilient Civil Space Systems

Scott Kordella, Director, MITRE National Space Program
Dr. Robert Furfaro, Associate Professor, Systems and Industrial Engineering, University of Arizona
James Norman, Director, Launch Services, NASA
Moderated by Todd Harrison

3:10 – 3:25      Coffee Break

3:25 – 3:40      Lightning Talk III: New Perspectives in Civil Space Policy

Peyton Strickland, Student Competition Winner, University of Alabama

3:45 – 4:45     Panel IV: Impact on Disruptive Technologies

Dr. Richard Leshner, Vice President, Regulatory and Government Affairs, Planet
Al Tadros, Vice President, Space Infrastructure and Civil Space, SSL Government Systems
Jenn Gustetic, Program Executive for Small Business Innovation Research, NASA
Jeffrey Manber, CEO, Nanoracks 
Moderated by Mike French, Principal, Port City Strategies

4:45 – 4:55     Closing Remarks

Dr. Kathleen Hicks, Senior Vice President, CSIS

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