The International Space Development Conference (ISDC) will be Held on June 4-7, 2026, in McLean, VA
A slate of NASA astronauts and leaders will be appearing at the National Space Society’s 44th International Space Development Conference® (ISDC®), to be held in the Washington, D.C. metro area of McLean, Virginia on June 4-7, 2026. All are welcome to attend.
Three of the featured speakers (illustrated above) are:
Michael López-Alegria is a former NASA astronaut and currently the chief astronaut at Axiom Space. López-Alegria started his career as a naval aviator and test pilot, then as a NASA astronaut flew three space shuttle missions and was the commander of Expedition 14 to the International Space Station. He holds a record for the number of EVAs—10 of them—performed by an American. He also commanded the first all-commercial astronaut mission to the ISS with Axiom Space. He also holds the record for second-longest American residence at the station. López-Alegria is a highly sought speaker internationally.
Dr. Lindy Elkins-Tanton is an American planetary scientist and professor and the Principal Investigator on NASA’s Psyche mission to asteroid 16 Psyche. She is also the vice president of Arizona State University’s Interplanetary Initiative and is the co-founder of Beagle Learning, measuring collaborative problem-solving and critical thinking. She has been a professor at MIT, a lecturer at Mount St. Mary’s college, and a researcher at Brown University and is currently the director of Arizona State University’s School of Earth and Space Science. Elkins-Tanton speaks widely and is active in STEM presentations, sharing her journey to scientific leadership, having been one of few woman in history to compete for and win a NASA deep-space mission.
Jeffrey Manber holds a special place in commercial space development. He started as a space journalist, writing for outlets such as The New York Times and Town & Country. He was then tapped by the Reagan administration to form the Office of Space Commerce under the U.S. Department of Commerce. This led to involvement with the Soviet Union, working to commercialize parts of their space program. Manber worked on the first commercial contract between a U.S. pharmaceutical company and Russia’s Mir space station and his work as the managing director of MirCorp assisted American companies to fly cargo on the Soyuz spacecraft. His efforts also paved the way for space shuttle missions to the Russian station. He formed NanoRacks in 2009, the first company to standardize payload integration to the ISS, and developed the Bishop Airlock that was deployed on the ISS. Since NanoRacks was acquired by Voyager Space Technologies in 2021, Manber has served in a number of executive positions for that company.
Also appearing at this year’s conference are Aarti Holla-Maini, Director, United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs; NASA astronauts Susan Kilrain, Hoot Gibson, and Dr. Steven Hawley; renowned science fiction author David Brin, and president of national security for Blue Origin Tory Bruno, among many others.
The full schedule of speakers is available on the ISDC website.
“We’re thrilled to host these leaders at the ISDC,” said Isaac Arthur, NSS President. “From a record-setting astronaut, to the leader of one of the most daring deep space missions to date, to a pioneer in the private space sector, their experiences and insights will be an inspiration for us all!”
The ISDC is the oldest and largest citizen’s space conference in the world, and anyone is invited to attend. Special discounts are available for seniors, students, and National Space Society members. For more information, see the conference website at isdc.nss.org.
