The View From Here
A Matter of Pride
Written by: developer
As we prepare to launch the 33rd Space Symposium, I’d like to share with you how proud I am of your Space Foundation team, and how hard they have worked together over the past months to guarantee the success of this Symposium.
Because of their personal and untiring efforts, this Symposium will offer participants more opportunity than ever to collaborate with a diverse range of global space professionals. More than any previous year, the 33rd Space Symposium will bring together space leaders of all ages and backgrounds to conduct business, exchange ideas and help shape the future of our industry.
We’re proud of the relationships we’ve built on your behalf with space agencies around the world. Delegations from many of those agencies will join us next week, representing China, France, Germany, Korea, Japan, Russia and the European Commission. Validating the international scope of the meeting, the Symposium program will open on April 4 with a panel discussion by 16 of the world’s top space agency leaders. In addition, the Space Symposium will host featured international speakers, including Elżbieta Bieńkowska, Commissioner, European Commission, and Yulong Tian, Secretary-General, China National Space Administration (CNSA).
We are proud to continue supporting the development of even greater numbers of future space leaders as we, once again, host the Space Generation Fusion Forum before the Symposium kicks-off, and by encouraging those participants to stay as a part of our growing New Generation Space Leaders program. In addition to enjoying several networking opportunities for New Gen professionals to build relationships with each other and with industry veterans, they will spend a full day examining what it will take to get us to Mars, with three panels exploring preparation for a Mars mission, the journey there and how to live and work on the red planet.
To spark the interest of young students, we continue to invite select school and youth groups to tour the Boeing Exhibit Center and Pavilion and share in the excitement of the Symposium. The Symposium offers a unique opportunity to inspire these future space professionals and to share with them our belief in the value of international collaboration and cooperation to achieve shared goals.
Every year we try to introduce something new to the Symposium and this time we are proud to shine a light on the valuable role women play in the space industry by introducing a new addition to the Symposium for 2017, the Women’s Global Gathering luncheon, which is open to Symposium participants, both men and women, as well as the general public.
The registrations continue to pour in, the unique exhibits are arriving, and a “Who’s Who” of industry, government and military leaders will soon be gathering in Colorado Springs. As the excitement and energy build, we hope you’ll join all of us at the 33rd Space Symposium in support of your Space Foundation’s mission: To advance space-related endeavors to inspire, enable and propel humanity.
ADM James O. Ellis, Jr., USN (Ret.)
Chairman, Space Foundation Board of Directors
This article is part of Space Watch: April 2017 (Volume: 16, Issue: 4).