You are Invited to the National Space Society Space Forum
Thursday, August 5, 2021, 9:00 pm EDT to 10:15 pm EDT
NASA’s Space Launch System: Countdown to Launch

Register for the Space Forum


With Guest Speaker Brian P. Matisak
Deputy Director, Systems Engineering & Integration Office
NASA Space Launch System Program
Marshall Space Flight Center

NASA’s new super heavy-lift rocket, the Space Launch System (SLS), is currently being assembled at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. SLS will launch with more thrust than the mighty Saturn V and will be used for a new generation – the Artemis generation – of crewed lunar missions. While the SLS Block 1 vehicle is being stacked right now and undergoing a series of tests leading up to launch of the uncrewed Artemis I test flight with the Orion spacecraft, teams at Marshall Space Flight Center, Johnson Space Center, and Kennedy Space Center are training for the launch day.

In addition, the SLS Program and its industry partners are building the second SLS Block 1 rocket for the Artemis II mission, which will launch astronauts to cislunar space for the first time since the Apollo Program. SLS will evolve to progressively more powerful variants and be available for both crew with payload fairings to launch science missions. Don’t miss this informative insider’s view of the SLS from Brian Matisak, the deputy manager of the Systems Engineering and Integration Office (SEIO) for the Space Launch System (SLS) Program. Mr. Matisak will describe the development of the SLS, the preparations for the first launch and the next phases of the program.

Brian Matisak currently serves as the deputy manager of the Systems Engineering and Integration Office (SEIO) for the Space Launch System (SLS) Program at the Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC).

Mr. Matisak previously served as the Ground Operations Liaison Office (GOLO) Manager for the SLS Program. In that role Mr. Matisak led the team responsible for programmatic integration between the SLS Program and Kennedy Space Center’s Exploration Ground Systems (EGS) Program. Prior to serving on the SLS Program leadership team, Mr. Matisak was the Integration, Analysis, and Test (IA&T) Manager in the Reusable Solid Rocket Booster (RSRB) Project Office.

Mr. Matisak earned a bachelor’s degree in Aerospace Engineering in 1989 from Auburn University and a master’s degree in Industrial and Systems Engineering from the University of Alabama-Huntsville in 1998. Mr. Matisak has received NASA’s Space Flight Awareness Leadership Award, among other NASA achievement awards, throughout his career.

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Register no later than August 5 at 8 pm EDT

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