October 31, 2019.
Last week, Washington DC was the scene of the 70th International Astronautical Congress (IAC), the annual fall event that connects key players in the development and exploration of outer space. Public and private organizations from all across the world were in attendance, as well as noted policymakers, thought leaders, advocates, and visionaries . NASA had a major presence at this event, and many of Stellar’s Civil Programs staff who support the TPMS contract at NASA Headquarters were intendance along with Richard Rogers, VP for Civil Programs and Mohamed Yousif, Director for MENA (Middle East/North Africa).
Stellar Presenters and Co-Authors
As part of the IAC 2019 Technical Programme, several Stellar personnel presented or were co-authors of technical papers.
| A5 IAA SYMPOSIUM ON HUMAN EXPLORATION OF SOLAR SYSTEM, Sess. 4-D2.8: Space Transp. Solutions for Deep Space |
| EmPowering Innovation: The Gateway Power and Propulsion Element Public-Private Partnership.. Ronald Ticker (NASA), Christopher Zavrel (Stellar), Kathleen Schubert (NASA), David Frate, (NASA), David Manzella (NASA) _______________________ |
| B3 IAF HUMAN SPACEFLIGHT SYMPOSIUM, Session 1: Governmental Human Spaceflight Programs (Overview) |
| NASA’s Human Lunar Landing Strategy. Greg Chavers (NASA), Nantel Suzuki (NASA), Marshall Smith (NASA), Lisa Watson-Morgan (NASA), Steve Clarke (NASA), Walt Engelund (NASA), Lindsay Aitchison(NASA), Shawn McEniry, Laura Means, Michael DeKlotz (Stellar), Shanessa Jackson (Stellar) _______________________ |
| B3 IAF HUMAN SPACEFLIGHT SYMPOSIUM, Session 7. Advanced Systems, Technologies & Innovations for Human Spaceflight |
| NextSTEP Habitat Risk Reduction for Gateway. Tracy Gill (NASA), Michael Ching (Stellar), James Clawson (Stellar), Alexandra Cross (Stellar), Elisabeth Moore (NASA), Mark Dillard, NASA, Paul Kesslern (NASA), Douglas Craig (NASA) _______________________ |
| D4. IAA SYMP. VISIONS & STRATEGIES FOR FUTURE, Session 2: Contr. of Space Activities to Solving Global Societal Issues |
| Thriving In and From Space for All Humankind. Marguerite Broadwell (NASA), Shobhana Gupta (NASA), Denise Silimon-Hill (Stellar) _______________________ |
| E1. IAF SPACE EDUCATION & OUTREACH SYMPOSIUM, Session 5: Enabling the Future – Developing the Space Workforce |
| Revolutionary Aerospace Systems Concepts Academic Linkage (RASC-AL) Challenge. Carol Galica (Stellar), John Guidi (NASA), Patrick Troutman (NASA), Shelley Spears (NIA), Stacy Dees (NIA) _______________________ |
| E3. IAA SYMPOSIUM ON SPACE POLICY, REGULATIONS & ECONOMICS, Session 2. 50 Years After Apollo 11: The Future of |
| Women in Exploration: Lessons from the Past as Humanity Reaches Deep Space. Shanessa Jackson (Stellar), Patricia Knezek (NASA), Denise Silimon-Hill (Stellar), Alexandra Cross (Stellar) _______________________ |
| E3. IAA SYMPOSIUM ON SPACE POLICY, REGULATIONS & ECONOMICS, Session 6. Economics of Procurement in Space |
| Gateway Program Acquisition Strategy Overview. Emma Lehnhardt (NASA), Christopher Zavrel (Stellar), Douglas Craig (NASA), Nicole Hermann (NASA) _______________________ |
In addition, numerous students affiliated with Stellar-supported NASA University Engagement programs presented as part of the Student Symposium.
NASA Exhibit Support
NASA presented three major exhibit areas including a primary agency exhibit, a “Driven To Explore” Mobile Exhibit, and Physical Sciences Informatics area. The Stellar team at NASA HQ was instrumental in planning and staffing the NASA presence at IAC.
| Denise Hill and Valerie Chabot | Mohamed Yousif |
 |  |
| Mike Ching | Chris Zavrel |
 |  |
| Zach Talpas | |
 |
Program Highlights
In its prior 70 years, this major international conference has been held in the U.S. only four other times – the last being in 2002 which was the 53rd IAC in Houston. Before that, the 43rd IAC (1992) took place in DC, the 19th IAC (1968) was held in New York, and the 12th IAC (1961) occurred in DC. As Mike Lencioni previously noted, this year the Honorable Mike Pence, Vice President of the United States (and chair of the National Space Council) delivered welcome remarks as part of the IAC Opening Ceremony for delegates.
Heads of Major Space Agencies were also in attendance:
- Jim Bridenstine, NASA Administrator
- Johann-Dietrich Woerner, Director General of European Space Agency (ESA)
- Hiroshi Yamakawa, President of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA)
- Sylvain Laporte, President of the Canadian Space Agency (CSA)
- Sergey Krikalev, Executive Director for Piloted Spaceflights for Roscosmos (Russian Space Agency)
- S. Somanath, Director of Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre, Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO)
Other ESA members were also heavily involved or represented, such as Belgian Space, Centre National D’Etudes Spatiales (CNES), German Aerospace Center (DLR), Italian Space Agency, Luxembourg Space Agency, Romanian Space Agency, Netherlands Institute for Space Research (SRON), Polish Space Agency (POLSA), Swedish Space Corporation, and contingents representing Spain and the UK. In addition, many new and emerging space agencies were represented at the conference, to include Australian Space Agency, Israel Space Agency (ISA), Korea Aerospace Research Institute (KARI), Mohammed Bin Rashid Space Centre (MBRSC) and United Arab Emirates Space Agency (UAESA), Singapore Space and Technology Association, South African National Space Agency (SANSA), and the New Zealand Space Agency (NZSA).
In addition, many of Stellar’s partners and customers took part in the congress—too many to name!
Congratulations to the team for a job well done!