Embry-Riddle Hosts Worldwide Space Traffic Management Conference Nov. 12-13

Keynote Speakers Include Director for the Office of Space and Advanced Technology, U.S. State Dept.; U.S. Congressman on the Science, Space and Technology Committee; Director of NASA’s Kennedy Space Center; Senior Officer of Bigelow Aerospace

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – The Commercial Space Operations Program and Applied Aviation Sciences Department of Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University will host its second annual Space Traffic Management Conference, “An Evolving Landscape,” on Nov. 12-13 at its Daytona Beach Campus.

“Last year’s inaugural conference brought the roadmap to the stars into focus, identifying and prioritizing issues,” said Diane Howard, conference chair and assistant professor of Commercial Space Operations at Embry-Riddle. “This year’s objective is to explore the next steps for collaborative, responsible, sustainable coordination of space traffic with other procedures.”

Topics at this year’s conference will build on the inaugural meeting, including air and space traffic integration, meteorology and space weather, and operations and activities in space. Keynote speakers include:

Thursday, Nov. 12

· Kenneth Hodgkins, Director for the Office of Space and Advanced Technology in the Bureau of Oceans, Environment and Science, U.S. State Dept. Hodgkins’ office is responsible for bilateral and multilateral cooperation in civil and commercial space and high-technology activities. He serves as the U.S. Representative to the United Nations Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space. He has been the State Dept. representative for major presidential policy reviews on remote sensing, the Global Positioning Satellite system, orbital debris and the use of space nuclear power sources.

· Jim Bridenstine, Congressman from Oklahoma’s First District and Chairman of the Environment Subcommittee in the U.S. House of Representatives’ Science, Space and Technology Committee. Bridenstine served nine years in the U.S. Navy, flying combat missions in Iraq and Afghanistan. After leaving active duty, he became executive director of the Tulsa Air and Space Museum & Planetarium. Bridenstine’s background also includes a triple major at Rice University, an MBA from Cornell University and business experience in real estate, ranching, aerospace and defense contracting.

Friday, Nov. 13

· Robert Cabana, Director of NASA’s John F. Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Cabana manages all NASA facilities and activities at the spaceport, including the team of civil service and contractor employees who operate and support numerous space programs and projects. Selected as an astronaut candidate in 1985, Cabana logged 38 days in space as pilot or mission commander on four space shuttle flights, including the first assembly mission of the International Space Station. After retiring as an astronaut and colonel from the Marine Corps in 2000, he served in numerous senior management positions at Johnson Space Center. In 2007, Cabana was appointed director of NASA’s John C. Stennis Space Center. A year later, he was reassigned as director of Kennedy Space Center.

· Michael Gold, Director of Washington, D.C., Operations and Business Growth, Bigelow Aerospace. Gold is responsible for a broad array of activities at Bigelow Aerospace, including international business development; export control; media, corporate and federal relations; NASA Space Act Agreement implementation; patent report maintenance; and general strategic planning. Before joining Bigelow Aerospace in a full-time capacity, Gold assisted the company as an attorney in the Washington, D.C., office of Patton Boggs LLP. He has also served as a state aerospace business development officer, an attorney in the Washington, D.C., office of McGuire Woods LLP and a summer law clerk at NASA Langley Research Center. Bigelow Aerospace is a space technology company founded by Robert Bigelow in 1998. Based in North Las Vegas, Nev., it is pioneering the use of expandable space station modules in a partnership with NASA. Industry observers have noted that Bigelow is demonstrating boldness in developing such a market in the capital-intensive, highly regulated spaceflight industry.

For more information on the Space Traffic Management Conference go to http://commons.erau.edu/stm/ or contact Diane Howard at diane.howard@erau.edu.

MEDIA CONTACT: James Roddey, Communications and Media Relations Manager, Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, Daytona Beach, Fla.; Office: (386) 226-6198; james.roddey@erau.edu

ABOUT EMBRY-RIDDLE AERONAUTICAL UNIVERSITY
Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, the world’s largest, fully accredited university specializing in aviation and aerospace, is a nonprofit, independent institution offering more than 75 baccalaureate, master’s and Ph.D. degree programs in its colleges of Arts & Sciences, Aviation, Business, Engineering and Security & Intelligence. Embry-Riddle educates students at residential campuses in Daytona Beach, Fla., and Prescott, Ariz., through the Worldwide Campus with more than 125 locations in the United States, Europe, Asia and the Middle East, and through online programs. The university is a major research center, seeking solutions to real-world problems in partnership with the aerospace industry, other universities and government agencies. For more information, visit http://www.embryriddle.edu, follow us on Twitter (@EmbryRiddle) and facebook.com/EmbryRiddleUniversity, and find expert videos at YouTube.com/EmbryRiddleUniv.