Countdown begins for 2nd annual Maine Space Conference
COURTESY / SOUBANH PHANTHAY, MAINE SPACE GRANT CONSORTIUM
Terry Shehata, executive director of the Maine Space Grant Consortium, addressed the audience at the inaugural Maine Space Conference last November in Portland.
Organizers of the second annual Maine Space Conference, themed “Building Relationships,” said it has secured keynote speakers, locked in 24 panel discussions and added a pitch competition.
The three-day conference is scheduled for Oct. 23-25 at the Holiday Inn by the Bay in Portland. For more information and to register, click here.
Speakers will explore expanding opportunities for Maine's growing space sector, according to a news release. The theme is designed to provide an opportunity for participants to deepen connections with industry partners and the investment community from inside and outside of Maine.
Last year’s inaugural conference was sold out with over 320 participants.
“Last year we showcased the state’s capacity to develop next-generation resources for data-rich industries,” said Terry Shehata, executive director of the Maine Space Grant Consortium. “This year, we will further Maine’s conviction for becoming a national space player.”
Maine’s emergent industry
The 24 sessions will explore six topics: investment and finance; sustainability and infrastructure; education and workforce development; research and data; national security; and Maine’s emergent aerospace industry.
Groups participating include industry leaders from NASA; the Consortium for Space Mobility and ISAM Capabilities, or COSMIC, a nationwide industry coalition; Aerospace Corp., a nonprofit corporation that operates a federally funded research and development center in El Segundo, Calif.; Global Space Alliance, a network of international spaceports based in Alexandria, Va.; Washington Compact, and a number of universities from around the country.
In addition to highlighting major space-related activities that have broad implications in Maine, the conference will showcase space-related actions underway at Loring Commerce Centre, Brunswick Landing and within higher education and K-12 institutions in New England.
Space shuttle physiologist
Keynote speakers include Steven Platts, the chief scientist in NASA’s human research program. In 2003, Platts joined Johnson Space Center as a senior scientist in the agency’s cardiovascular physiology laboratory and later became laboratory director.
There, he led experiments involving the Space Shuttle, the International Space Station, parabolic flight and more.
In 2013, Platts moved into the role of increment scientist, and later element scientist for the space station’s medical projects. In 2018 he joined the human research program’s leadership as deputy chief scientist and now serves as the program’s chief scientist.
Space and the law
Michelle Hanlon is the executive director of the Center for Air and Space Law at the University of Mississippi School of Law and serves as editor-in-chief of the Journal of Space Law, the world’s oldest journal focused on legal issues in outer space.
She is co-founder of For All Moonkind Inc., a nonprofit dedicated to preserving human cultural heritage in space. Hanlon has extensively written on critical topics such as orbital debris remediation, space solar power, small satellite constellations and environmental considerations in space. In 2023, she was awarded Space Activist of the Year by the National Space Society.
Tech and services
Christina Korp founded SPACE For a Better World, an Orlando, Fla., nonprofit formed to educate people about the ways space technology might benefit life on Earth, through story-telling content, curated experiences, events and educational partnerships. She is president of Florida-based entertainment company Purpose Entertainment.
Greg Richardson is principal engineer at the Aerospace Corp., where he serves as the executive director of the Consortium for Space Mobility and ISAM Capabilities. Richardson leads several aerospace efforts in in-space servicing, assembly and manufacturing, a field called ISAM; space access, mobility and logistics or SAML and rendezvous and proximity operations, or RPO.
James Beletic is chief science officer at Teledyne Space Imaging. He has been part of the Teledyne team for over 20 years and was previously president of Teledyne Imaging Sensors, whose sensors operate in instrumentation at every major ground-based telescope, including the James Webb Space Telescope, the Hubble Space Telescope, the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, Pluto New Horizons, OSIRIS-Rex and weather satellites such as the Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite.
Cynthia Bouthot has helped pioneer a scalable and sustainable low earth orbit marketplace. As the founder of Massachusetts-based Space Commerce Matters, which specializes in the commercialization of space services and products, Bouthot has experience in strategic consulting and commercial development, working with space agencies and private sector entities to match supply with demand. A former founding member of the Center for the Advancement of Science in Space, or CASIS, she has driven significant commercial activity in space, generating over $200 million in funding.
Maj. Gen. Timothy Sejba is the commander of the Space Training and Readiness Command, based at Peterson Space Force Base, Colo.
Space innovators
This year’s conference includes a pitch competition designed to showcase innovative ideas. The evening will be moderated by Meredith Garofalo, an award-winning meteorologist and space/science correspondent.
Winning contestants will be honored at a dinner at Halo at the Point in Portland, where cash prizes between $2,500 to $10,000 will be awarded. The evening will include a 30-minute demonstration about measuring the properties of light from Beletic.
NewSpace hub
With more than 85 aerospace companies operating in Maine, Maine stakeholders cite what they say is the state’s polar orbit geographical advantage and its potential for being a hub for the NewSpace industry, particularly as it relates to the small rocket and nanosatellite markets.
“Maine has a brilliant future in space,” Bill Nelson, a NASA administrator, said during a June 2023 visit to Brunswick. “You’ve got a lot of entrepreneurs here who are ready to go.”
However, that depends on recruiting more space-related businesses; building on research and development and educational capabilities in the state’s institutions of higher education; and building a pipeline of students and workers, according to the release.
The NewSpace economy is envisioned as including a “Maine Space Complex” consisting of three core business units spanning several geographic locations.
In order of priority, the units include:
- A space data and advanced analytics center, which could be located anywhere in Maine due to its virtual nature;
- A space innovation hub, which would be located at Brunswick Landing with a spoke at Loring Commerce Centre; and
- A launch and services unit, which would consist of staging areas and vertical and horizontal launch sites for sending small satellites into polar orbit from Brunswick Landing, Loring Commerce Centre and Washington County.
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