New Speakers Added to Space Business Forum: New York Roster

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (May. 19, 2009) — Tom Henricks, president of AVIATION WEEK and former space shuttle astronaut, will be the keynote speaker at Space Business Forum: New York, June 4 at the Hilton New York Hotel in New York City.

Also joining the roster of impressive financial and space industry speakers will be: Andrew Africk, senior partner, Apollo Advisors; Ken Davidian, EFP Program Lead, Federal Aviation Administration’s Office of Commercial Space Transportation (FAA-AST); Andrew Nelson, chief operating officer of XCOR Aerospace, Inc.; and Patti Grace Smith, former FAA associate administrator for Commercial Space Transportation and current consultant for Virgin Galactic.

Presented by the Space Foundation in association with Toffler Associates, Space Business Forum: New York will examine the financial outlook and opportunities in the $257 billion space industry in a setting that encourages discussion among financial analysts, investment bankers, institutional advisors, venture capitalists, insurers, and space industry leaders. Topics include historical financial performance, outlooks and trends, business models, and business opportunities, as well as a look at government acquisition processes and the role of space in national security.

The event is co-sponsored by ISDR Consulting and by Lockheed Martin, which is sponsoring distribution of The Space Report 2009: The Authoritative Guide to Global Space Activity to attendees (see www.TheSpaceReport.org). AVIATION WEEK is the official Forum media partner.

To register, go to www.SpaceBusinessForum.com/register.html or contact Space Foundation customer service at 1-800-691-4000. Members of the media, who are invited to attend at no cost, can sign up at www.SpaceBusinessForum.com/media.html.

For complete Forum information, including the agenda, speakers list and accommodation information, go to www.SpaceBusinessForum.com/. Additional speakers, including senior industry and financial executives, will be announced as they are confirmed.

About Henricks
President of AVIATION WEEK magazine since 2006, Henricks has broad space and aeronautics background. He retired from the U.S. Air Force with the rank of Colonel, after serving as an F-4 pilot, an F-16C test pilot and chief of the 57th Fighter Weapons Wing Operating Location. He has made 749 parachute jumps, has a Master Parachutist rating, has logged more than 6,000 hours in 30 different types of aircraft, and holds an FAA commercial pilot rating. As an astronaut, Henricks was the first person to log more than 1,000 hours as a Space Shuttle pilot/commander. Since leaving government service in 1997 to pursue a career in business, Henricks has worked with The Timken Company, and served as vice president of Government Business Development at Bell Helicopter with Textron Inc., the V-22 deputy director, an exchange assignment with joint venture partner, Boeing Inc., and director of program management with Textron Information Services.

About Africk
Africk is a senior partner of Apollo Advisors, L.P., which, together with its affiliates, acts as managing general partner of the New York City-based Apollo Investment Funds, a series of private securities investment funds valued at more than $37 billion. Its portfolio holdings include movie theater chain AMC Entertainment, Berry Plastics, CEVA Logistics, Claire’s, Harrah’s Entertainment, Jacuzzi Brands, Hexion Specialty Chemicals, Norwegian Cruise Line, specialty manufacturer RBS Global, and realty franchiser Realogy. Africk, who has been with Apollo since 1992, also serves on the Board of Directors of Hughes Telematics and SOURCECORP, Incorporated.

About Davidian
Davidian works as the program lead for the “Encourage, Facilitate, and Promote” mission element in the Federal Aviation Administration’s Office of Commercial Space Transportation in Washington, D.C. He previously worked as a contractor on NASA’s Centennial Challenges prize program and for Whitney, Bradley & Brown, Inc. (WBB), a technical and management consulting company to both the government and commercial sectors, and its DMG operating division. He then reentered civil service when he was hired by NASA Headquarters, becoming both the program manager for Centennial Challenges and the ESMD commercial development policy leader.

About Nelson
Chief operating officer of XCOR Aerospace, Inc., Nelson previously worked on Wall Street as an advisor at Morgan Stanley and Lehman Brothers. Prior to that, he served as a senior management and strategy consultant at Booz Allen & Hamilton and led teams designing and implementing avionics systems in military and civil aircraft at MITRE Corporation, where he also participated in the International Civil Aviation Organization and U.S.-based regulatory and standards committees.
 

About Smith
Smith is an aerospace consultant with Patti Grace Smith Consulting, working with Virgin Galactic (The Virgin Group), CSSI, Inc., and a number of other aerospace companies. She previously served as associate administrator for Commercial Space Transportation for the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), U.S. Department of Transportation. Smith has more than 25 years of experience and knowledge of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), the FAA, and the U.S. Department of Transportation. She has also held positions in the private sector at the National Association of Broadcasters, Westinghouse Broadcasting Corporation, and Sheridan Radio Network, and she currently serves on the Space Foundation Board of Directors.
 

About the Space Foundation
Founded in 1983, the Space Foundation is an international nonprofit organization advancing space-related endeavors to inspire, enable, and propel humanity. An expert in all aspects of the global space industry, the Space Foundation publishes The Space Report 2009: The Authoritative Guide to Global Space Activity and provides three indices that track daily performance of the space industry (www.SpaceFoundation.org/spaceindex). The Space Foundation is a leader in space awareness activities, educational programs that bring space into the classroom, and major industry events. In addition to Space Business Forum: New York, the Space Foundation along with partnering organizations will sponsor the USSTRATCOM Space Symposium in Omaha, Neb., Nov. 2-4, 2009, and the 26th National Space Symposium in Colorado Springs, April 12-15, 2010. Headquartered in Colorado Springs, Colo., the Space Foundation conducts research and analysis and government affairs activities from its Washington, D.C., office and has field representatives in Houston, Texas, and Cape Canaveral, Fla. For more information, visit www.SpaceFoundation.org. Follow us on Twitter: SpaceFoundation.