Capitol Hill, Wall Street and a little bit of Hollywood will touch down in Colorado Springs this week for the 22nd National Space Symposium.
As expected, NASA, the Pentagon and aerospace giants such as Lockheed Martin and Raytheon will also have a strong footprint at the event.
This year’s conference, expected to draw a record crowd of 7,000, will focus on a broad range of topics, from human and robotic space exploration to Wall Street’s view of space companies.
“Our conference is very much an integrated show, with what we call civil, commercial and national security space,” said Steve Eisenhart, senior vice president of policy and public for the Colorado Springs-based Space Foundation, which organizes the event. “All three sectors are very much poised for a lot of new development.”
Two-time Oscar winner Tom Hanks will receive an award for his role as a space-exploration advocate at a reception tonight at the Broadmoor hotel to kick off the four-day symposium.
Hanks won’t attend but will have a representative accept the award and read a letter on his behalf.
Former astronaut Buzz Aldrin will receive a lifetime- achievement award.
Keynote speakers will include National Aeronautics and Space Administration chief Michael Griffin, Air Force Undersecretary Ron Sega, PayPal founder and space entrepreneur Elon Musk, and U.S. Rep. Mark Udall, D-Colo.
The symposium will feature more than 50 speakers, and roughly half will be first-time presenters at the event.
The conference has grown steadily over the past several years. About 135 companies and organizations will have a presence in the exhibit hall, up from 112 last year.
“We view it as one the best events in the space market every year,” said Gary Evins, a Colorado Springs-based vice president for ARINC, a defense contractor that develops transportation communications systems.
Evins has attended the event each of the past five years on behalf of ARINC, which is head- quartered in Annapolis, Md.
In recent years, local economic-development officials have also taken notice of an event started by a small group of Colorado Springs-based space advocates.
“For a long time, we just had a token presence,” said Dick Hinson, vice president of the Aurora Economic Development Council. “It’s really become a cooperative effort at the state level, at the regional level and at the local level to promote the state industry.”
Staff writer Andy Vuong can be reached at 303-820-1209 or avuong@denverpost.com.
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