Conference Update – Downlink 12

We are excited to announce that Dave Redl, Assistant Secretary for Communications and Information and Administrator, National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) will be our special guest Government & Military Forum speaker on Wednesday, March 14 at 9:30 a.m. Mr. Redl was sworn in as Assistant Secretary for Communications and Information at the Department of Commerce in November 2017. He serves as Administrator of the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA), the Executive Branch agency that is principally responsible for advising the President on telecommunications and information policy. He was previously the chief counsel at the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Energy and Commerce. In that role, he served as principal legal advisor to the chairman and members of the Energy and Commerce majority on communications and technology matters.

Also, we are honored to have Simonetta Di Pippo, Director, United Nations’ Office for Outer Space Affairs (UNOOSA) speak on our opening general session, “Space Sustainability,” on Thursday, March 15. Ms. Di Pippo leads UNOOSA’s strategies, policies and activities, ensuring that they are implemented in accordance with the mandates of the General Assembly, the Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space (COPUOS), and the established policies of the United Nations. She supervises the United Nations Program on Space Applications and UN-SPIDER. Ms. Di Pippo also advises the Secretary-General of the United Nations and Director-General of UNOV and provides expertise on matters relating to the peaceful uses of outer space, and the use of space science and technology for sustainable development and disaster risk reduction. Ms. Di Pippo also discharges the Secretary-General’s obligations under international space law, including overseeing the United Nations Register of Objects Launched into Outer Space. She serves as Secretary of COPUOS and manages the arrangements and coordination of UN-Space.

Other additions to the SATELLITE 2018 conference program include:

Rich Pournelle, VP of Business Development, Nanoracks will be joining the speaker panel for the session, “New Launch Options to Orbit Part 1: Ridesharing and Small Satellite Launch Specialists,” on Monday, March 12.

Dr. Selman Nas, Executive Vice President of Space Systems, Turkish Aerospace Industries, Inc. will participate in the Regional Forum session, “Africa / Middle East: Connecting People, Businesses and Governments through Collaboration,” on Tuesday, March 13.

Victoria Samson, Washington Office Director, Secure World Foundation will be speaking on the panel, “International Cooperation for Space Situational Awareness,” scheduled for Thursday, March 15.

Peter Platzer, CEO and Founder, Spire will be joining the session, “Commercial Earth Observation Data for Government: Use Cases and Regulatory Pathways,” on Wednesday, March 14.