The leadership of America's new commercial space industry will converge on Seattle's Museum of Flight this fall for a special one-day event.
The Space Enterprise Symposium, which will take place on Saturday, November 13, is sponsored by the Space Frontier Foundation, the Northwest Venture Group, the MIT Enterprise Forum of the Northwest, the Museum of Flight, and ProSpace America.
"The space frontier is open for business," said symposium chairman Edward Wright, "And the movers and shakers are coming to Seattle. The symposium will provide a unique opportunity for the Northwest business community and interested public to see, meet, and speak with the entrepreneurs, investors, and engineers who are making it happen."
Main sessions will focus on Cheap Access to Space and Reusable Launch Vehicles, Financial and Policy Aspects of New Space Ventures, Space Station Commercialization and Business Opportunities, and Commercial Space Travel and Exploration. In addition, the symposium will include a catered gourmet luncheon, astronaut reception, and exhibits of actual space hardware.
A partial list of companies and organizations speaking at the symposium includes:
Rotary Rocket Company, which is developing a revolutionary reusable piloted single-to-stage-to-orbit launch vehicle, called Roton. Rotary recently completed the successful first flight of its Roton ATV atmospheric test vehicle.
Kistler Aerospace, a Redmond, Washington-based company developing a reusable two-stage rocket which Kistler hopes to test-launch from Australia next year.
Pioneer Rocketplane, a California-based company working on a spaceplane that uses mid-air refueling before boosting into orbit. According to recent press reports, Pioneer will soon relocate to the Northwest, becoming a tenant at the new Utah Commercial Spaceport near Cedar City.
Kelly Space and Technologies, which plans to use a 747 to tow its commercial spaceplane off the ground.
Universal Space Lines, a company founded by members of the former McDonnell Douglas Delta Clipper team, which built and flew the Delta Clipper Experimental (DC-X) for the Strategic Defense Initiative Organization and NASA.
Orbital Properties, which has served as a consultant to NASA and Boeing on space station commercialization and plans to place a World Wide Web camera aboard the International Space Station.
Tethers Unlimited, a Washington-based company developing an orbital tether with applications for commercial satellites, space stations, and other purposes.
SpaceDev, which recently announced the first commercial customer for its privately financed Near Earth Asteroid Prospector mission.
LunaCorp, which is expected to make an exciting announcement about its commercial lunar rover mission, Lunar IceBreaker.
The Robotics Institute at Carnegie Mellon University, which is working on the development of mobile robots for commercial space missions.
Space Adventures, a travel company, currently offers astronaut training and space-related tours to the general public. Space Adventures is working with the reusable rocket companies to offer suborbital space travel to the public in the near future.
Admission to this one-day event is $45 through September 30, $50 through November 1, and $55 thereafter. The catered gourmet luncheon, with speaker, is $25. Registration is available through the Space Frontier Foundation web site
