Congressman Dave Weldon to address Space at the Crossroads

U.S. Representative Dave Weldon (R-FL), vice chairman of the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Science, State, Justice and Commerce, will address leaders from the nation’s space and policy community May 18 at Space at the Crossroads, a one-day conference covering national security, civil and commercial space activities. Presented by the Space Foundation and Space News, the event takes place at the U.S. Navy Memorial and Naval Heritage Center in Washington, D.C.

Also confirmed as a featured speaker is the new NASA Administrator, Mike Griffin. Joining Weldon and Griffin are senior Congressional staff, including Mr. Bill Adkins, staff director of the House Space and Aeronautics Subcommittee; Mr. Jeff Bingham, staff director of the Senate Subcommittee on Science and Space; Mr. Brendan Curry, senior legislative assistant for U.S. Representative Dave Weldon and Mr. Tim Hughes, majority counsel for the House Committee on Science.

Adding to the distinguished list of panelists are senior leaders from the national security and civil space communities including Mr. Courtney Stadd, Maj Gen Michael C. Kostelnik, USAF (Retired), and Dr. Michael Lembeck of NASA; Mr. Larry Fineran of the National Association of Manufacturers; Mr. Joseph Rouge of the National Security Space Office; Mr. Troy A. Thrash of Futron Corporation; Mr. David Cavossa of the Satellite Industry Association; COL Tim Coffin of the U.S. Army, and Mr. Benjamin L. Gimeno of the National Reconnaissance Office.

A special panel will address the issues facing today’s entrepreneurial space companies and features Mr. George Whitesides of the National Space Society, Mr. David Gump of Transformational Space Corporation LLC, Ms. Debra Facktor Lepore of Kistler Aerospace Corporation, and Mr. Rich Pournelle of XCOR Aerospace.

The conference includes a continental breakfast co-sponsored by CSP Associates, Inc., refreshment break co-sponsored by International Space University, a networking luncheon at The Caucus Room and a closing reception co-sponsored by Lockheed Martin.

Space at the Crossroads is presented in association with the U.S. Department of Commerce, Satellite Industry Association, National Space Society and Washington Space Business Roundtable. This is the third year for the program, which is designed to provide a focused space industry update for Congressional, administration, and agency staff and the aerospace/defense and contractor community. Full program details and on-line registration are available at www.SpaceCrossroads.org.