Leading Space-Related Business Conference to be Presented by Space Florida

Washington D.C. — As part of Space Investment Summit 4 (SIS-4), entrepreneurs and investors will meet on May 28, 2008 at the Capital Hilton Hotel to engage in a frank dialogue about the best investment opportunities in new space-related ventures. The summit comes at an exciting time for space-related business, with space startups like Richard Branson’s Virgin Galactic and Elon Musk’s SpaceX nearing commercial operations, while space-related ventures like Google Earth and Garmin expand to reach global markets.

“A massive shift is underway in the aerospace industry,” stated Steve Kohler, President, Space Florida, “and it is clear that the future we are envisioning is possible, and it will arrive more rapidly than we expect.”

Promoting innovation in space-related commerce worldwide, SIS-4 has much to offer leading seed and early stage investors, space-related entrepreneurs, established companies, government, academia, and non-profit organizations. The event provides a unique opportunity to expand networks, join peer-to-peer discussions, and assess pre-screened entrepreneurial business plans from companies with high growth potential.

Sponsored by Space Florida and a group of leading space-related companies, the summit is organized by the Space Investment Summit Coalition and hosted by the National Space Society (NSS). The event will be held immediately prior to the International Space Development Conference, the annual conference of NSS. Space News will act as the exclusive media sponsor of the Space Investment Summit and the 2008 International Space Development Conference. This conference is a global nexus of the most important developments in space and attended by leading space-related entrepreneurs, government managers and thought-leaders.

“The summit has been designed to help educate the investment community about opportunities in space-related commerce and to assist the space-related entrepreneurial community in better understanding the expectations of investors,” said Paul Eckert, summit coordinator and Boeing international and commercial strategist. Each summit is held in a location that provides access to important investor communities, such as Silicon Valley and Wall Street, and the Washington DC location provides particularly easy access to investors along the East Coast. Eckert added the action packed one-day event will make excellent use of investors’ and entrepreneurs’ time, providing outstanding networking opportunities.

The summit series is designed to help investors gain knowledge that might guide future investment decisions. Entrepreneurs will gain from an increased investor interest in their efforts, but established companies may also benefit by promoting the development of new opportunities to partner with, invest in, be suppliers to, or do studies for entrepreneurial companies.

A fifth space-related investment summit is already being planned to take place in Los Angeles, California on October 15, 2008. Those interested in the May 28 summit will no doubt also want to mark their calendars for the fall event.

For more information on the summit, including how to register or exhibit, please visit: http://spaceinvestmentsummit.com.

Companies interested in presenting their business plans at the Summit should send an email message with company name and contact information to info@spaceinvestmentsummit.com.

About the Space Investment Summit Coalition

The Space Investment Summit Coalition is a dynamic international group of companies and nonprofit organizations, organizing Space Investment Summits to educate entrepreneurs regarding how to attract seed and early-stage investment, while simultaneously informing investors about space-related business opportunities. Through an incremental process of improvement in business plan quality and increased investor support, the Coalition is working to encourage development of new space-related markets. www.spaceinvestmentsummit.org

About Space Florida

Space Florida was created by the Florida Legislature to sustain Florida’s position as the global leader in space exploration and commerce, and is the principal organization charged with promoting and developing Florida’s aerospace industry. Created as a unique special district, Space Florida serves as the single point of contact for aerospace with federal agencies, military, State agencies, universities, and the private sector. As part of its mission, Space Florida promotes aerospace economic development across Florida, and drives industry-related education and workforce development initiatives, expanded and upgraded spaceport operations, innovative research and development, and financing. If your future is in space, your next step is to contact Space Florida. For more information: www.spaceflorida.gov.

About the National Space Society

The National Space Society (NSS) is an independent, grassroots organization dedicated to the creation of a spacefaring civilization. Founded in 1974, NSS is widely acknowledged as the preeminent citizen’s voice on space. NSS counts thousands of members and more than 50 chapters in the United States and around the world. The society also publishes Ad Astra magazine, an award-winning periodical chronicling the most important developments in space. For more information about NSS, visit www.nss.org.

About Space News

Space News International, a division of Imaginova Corp., is a business media company covering all aspects of the space business – military, commercial and civil. Since 1989, Space News has delivered accurate, competitive and timely reporting that our readers have come to depend on. Space News products include: Space News weekly newspaper, Space News Digital; SpaceNews.com; Space News TV and the Space News Early Bird e-Newsletter. Space News is also a co-host for Strategic Space and Defense annual conference. For more information about the company visit http://www.spacenews.com.

Ed Memi
Boeing Space Exploration
edmund.g.memi@boeing.com
(281) 226-4029

Karina Drees
National Space Society
karina.drees@nss.org
(617) 777-0800

Deb Spicer
Space Florida
dspicer@spaceflorida.com
(321) 730-5301 x243