Voices at the Forefront of Space Settlement
The Space Settlement Summit’s workshops are led by hands-on strategists, systems architects, and subject-matter domain experts who turn visionary concepts into actionable roadmaps. Drawing from real-world execution across aerospace engineering, closed-loop life support, space law, off-world resource utilization, and venture financing, these facilitators bring the critical technical depth and interactive guidance needed to solve space settlement's most complex challenges.
2026 Space Settlement Summit Speakers
Space Architect and Industrial Designer
Phnam Bagley is a space architect and industrial designer based in San Francisco, dedicated to solving global challenges with breakthrough hardware design. As co-founder of Nonfiction, she leads work across neurotech wearables for sleep improvement with UC Berkeley, renewable energy systems for rural Africa, deep space food systems designed around sensory pleasure, and orbital habitats … Read More
Chief Marketing Officer, Star Catcher
Camille Bergin serves as Chief Marketing Officer of Star Catcher, where she leads the company’s global marketing, communications, and brand strategy to accelerate the deployment of the world’s first orbital energy grid. Building on her background in aerospace engineering, Camille brings extensive experience in aerospace marketing and communications. Prior to joining Star Catcher full-time, she … Read More
Associate Provost for Space, University of Central Florida
Dr. Greg Autry is a leading expert in the business of commercial space and a globally recognized leader in space policy. He is the Associate Provost for Space at the University of Central Florida. He is the author of Red Moon Rising: How America Will Beat China on the Final Frontier (Post Hill 2024, w. P. Navarro), A … Read More
President and COO, Blackstar Orbital Technologies Corporation
Sean Hollis is President and Chief Operating Officer of Blackstar Orbital Technologies Corporation. He is responsible for the daily operations of the company and for converting Blackstar’s reusable-spacecraft architecture into a disciplined system for fabrication, integration, testing, recovery, inspection and turnaround. Hollis brings an operations background spanning NASA Artemis, Liquid Oxygen, Liquid Hydrogen, and Main … Read More
Special Representative to the Chairman and CEO, Voyager Technologies
Jeffrey Manber is President of International and Space Stations at Voyager Technologies. He also serves as Chairman of the Board for Nanoracks (since acquired by Voyager). Jeffrey is the Co-Founder and was the first employee of Nanoracks. He served as the Chief Executive Officer from 2009 until 2021 where he broke barriers for access to … Read More
Co-founder and CEO, Max Space
Saleem leads Max Space’s strategic direction and international growth, leveraging extensive expertise in scaling disruptive technology companies globally. Saleem Miyan has successfully led startups, growth initiatives, turnarounds, and international expansions in technology-driven sectors. He previously headed Philips Semiconductors’ global IoT unit, managed strategic acquisitions at Checkpoint Systems, and founded a GPS/satellite tracking startup acquired by … Read More
Space Strategist and Program Leader
Allison Nicholls is a space strategist and program leader working at the intersection of governance, policy, operations, and emerging space systems. Founder of Aligned Orbits, her experience spans government, industry, multinational space initiatives, and emerging technologies and infrastructure supporting future human activity in space. Her work includes FAA commercial space integration with Advanced Sciences and … Read More
Editor-in-Chief, Ad Astra Magazine | Co-Host, This Week in Space | Author, Journalist, Filmmaker
Rod Pyle is an author, journalist, television producer, and Editor-in-Chief of Ad Astra magazine. He has written 17 books on space history, exploration and development, including “Space 2.0,” “Innovation the NASA Way,” and “Destination Mars,” and writes for space-related periodicals including Popular Science, Space.com, LiveScience and “Sky at Night.” Pyle co-authored the “Apollo Leadership Experience” … Read More
President and CEO, USRA
Before joining USRA, Dr. Talaat was Director of the Office of Space Weather Observations at NESDIS where he provided leadership and oversight in the development, acquisition, integration, installation, and acceptance of major system elements for NOAA’s operational and environmental satellite systems. Prior to that, Dr. Talaat was the Chief Scientist of the Heliophysics Division at … Read More
Director, Moon Base Transportation Office, Moon Base Program, NASA
Mark Wiese serves as director of the Moon Base Transportation Office within NASA’s Moon Base Program. The office leads the acquisition and integration of transportation capabilities spanning mission manifesting, launch, in-space transportation and cargo delivery to the lunar surface. This work carries forward Deep Space Logistics responsibilities for moving cargo from Earth to deep-space destinations, … Read More
2026 Space Settlement Summit Facilitators
Senior Fellow in Defense Studies, American Foreign Policy Council
Lt Col Peter Garretson, USAF, is a former member of the NSS Board of Directors. He came into contact with the space advocacy community while serving as the Chief of Future Technology Branch for the headquarters of the Air Force. In that context he reviewed the most promising and far-term concepts, and participated in forums … Read More
Executive Director, Center for Air and Space Law, University of Mississippi
Michelle L.D. Hanlon is a leading American space lawyer and advocate for responsible space exploration. Dubbed “Godmother of Space Law,” she serves as Executive Director of the Center for Air and Space Law at Ole Miss. She is Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Space Law. Hanlon is co-founder, President, and CEO of For All Moonkind, … Read More
Professor of Practice, Space Electrical/Power, University of Central Florida
Dr. Chris Iannello brings unparalleled breadth in space electrical and power systems, with 35 years in electrical and power systems across NASA, industry, and academia. Prior to joining UCF, he served as NASA’s longest-tenured Technical Fellow for Electrical/Power, acting as the agency’s senior-most authority in the discipline with an Agency-wide focus across all its lines … Read More
Founder and Executive Director, Expanding Frontiers
Fredrick (Rick) Jenet, Ph.D., is the founder and executive director of Expanding Frontiers, a nonprofit organization based in Brownsville, Texas, with a mission to foster the growth of a commercial space ecosystem. Dr. Jenet is an experienced entrepreneur, visionary researcher, and innovative educator, having founded several initiatives in Texas that are fostering the development of … Read More
Co-founder and Chairman, Mars Institute
Dr. Pascal Lee is a Planetary Scientist at the SETI Institute. He is Co-Founder and Chairman of the Mars Institute, and Director of the Haughton-Mars Project (HMP) at NASA Ames Research Center. He holds an ME in Geology and Geophysics from the University of Paris, and a PhD in Astronomy and Space Sciences from Cornell … Read More
NSS Space Ambassador, Space Farms, St. Louis Space Frontier
Bryce holds undergraduate and graduate degrees in engineering, as well as a graduate degree in biology. He has also logged thousands of hours above and below the surface of lakes, rivers, and oceans, and has spent time working on farms. He writes on space agriculture, focusing on mass flow and balanced menus. Bryce also chairs … Read More
Chief Operating Officer, Andromeda Space Corporation
Doug Owens is the Chief Operating Officer of Andromeda Space Corporation (ASC), a space mobility and logistics company working to become the FedEx of space. Doug is installing a lean operations battle rhythm to allow ASC to raise funds, find customers, and innovate. Doug is also the founder of Space Outcomes LLC, a go-to-market consultancy in the … Read More
Vice President of Partnerships, Chief Scientist & Strategic Counsel, Max Space
Dr. Kartik Sheth is an astrophysicist and Vice President – Partnerships, Chief Scientist & Strategic Counsel at Max Space. Formerly NASA’s Associate Chief Scientist and a senior White House policy strategist, he leads strategic partnerships for expandable space habitats. Through Anekant Strategic Consulting and the Empowered Earth Alliance, he actively bridges space innovation with global … Read More
COO/SVP, National Space Society
Dale Skran worked for 17 years with Bell Labs (AT&T, Lucent Technologies) and continued his career at several companies including Ascend Communications (VP of Enterprise Engineering), Sonus Networks (Director of Engineering), and CMWare (Founder, CEO, COO, and VP of Engineering). He was also a negotiator/manager (Rapporteur) at the UN (International Telecommunication Union) where he led … Read More