Program
Three Days. One Mission. Chart your path from Earth to the Final Frontier. The Texas Space Summit runs like a mission: align, execute, and decide, with keynotes and mainstage moments paired with Immersive Sector Worlds, where interactive breakout storylines serve as mission sets for fast-hit briefings, firesides, and tabletop demos in simulated space environments, while Startup and Policy Competitions run in parallel.
Pick your path through the program, but expect one throughline: Tap into Texas' Relative Advantage and plug into National and Global Space Efforts.
MON, 21
TUE, 22
WED, 23
MONDAY PROGRAM
Monday, September 21, 2026
Henry B. Gonzalez Convention Center
8AM | Exhibit Hall Opens
9AM - 9:30 AM | Opening Keynote – How Texas Aligns with NASA’s National Strategy
Civil space, exploration, and human spaceflight are anchored in Texas, and how Texas industry plugs into NASA’s national mission.
9:30AM - 10:15AM | Fireside Chat - Aligning NASA Johnson Space Center and the Texas Space Commission
Aligning NASA Johnson Space Center and the Texas Space Commission A strategic conversation about synchronizing state priorities around missions, workforce, and infrastructure.
11AM - 12PM | Immersive Sector Worlds (Breakout Rooms)
HOUSTON COMMAND
11AM — 12PM | Future of Mission Control – Range Station and Traffic Operations from Earth to Cislunar
Format: Interactive Ops Demo Presentation
Attendees step into a live-style mission run that blends range safety, station ops, and traffic management, seeing how operators and data providers coordinate to keep complex networks running.
NAVARRO GOVERNANCE
11AM — 12PM | Funding Innovation and State Strategy in How Texas Powers NASA’s National Mission
Format: Presentation or Fireside
Big-picture view of how federal programs and Texas incentives intersect.
ZAVALA SYSTEMS
11AM — 12PM | Policy Competition – Chatham House–style policy consultation
Teams (6–8) meet confidentially with state and federal advisors to refine position papers on: “How Texas plugs into federal space efforts and Texas Space Commission strategy.” Deliberations are non-attributable under Chatham House rules, behind-closed-doors advisor “war rooms.”
LAMAR EXPANSION
11AM — 12PM | Startup Competition – Mentor Office Hours
Founders get rapid-fire feedback on how to make their startups fundable and “Texas-anchored.”
CROCKETT SCOUT
11AM — 12PM | Commercial Space Stations as the New Ports of Call
Format: Interactive Presentation
A visual and operational tour of commercial station concepts as “ports” on the Deep Space Superhighway, covering orbits, inclinations, and service offerings from power and data to hosted payloads and research labs.
TRAVIS RESILIENCE
11AM — 12PM | ECLSS, Human Performance, and Spacesuit Development
Format: Interactive Presentation
Training footage and test data illustrate how human performance research, from ground facilities to station-based studies, drives suit design, EVA procedures, and safety margins.
BOWIE FRONTIER
11AM — 12PM | Edge-of-Survival Ops – Secure Comms and ISR at the Frontier
Format: Interactive Presentation Case Lab
A scenario where a station or forward outpost operates with degraded comms and partial sensor coverage, showing how secure links and ISR keep crews alive and informed.
AUSTIN SETTLEMENT
11AM — 12PM | From Dirt to Doorstep: Lunar Regolith and Landing Pads
Format: Interactive Presentation Design Charrette
How Texas-based companies turn raw regolith into precision landing pads for sustained lunar operations.
12PM | Lunch (Exhibit Hall Floor)
2PM — 3PM | Immersive Sector Worlds (Breakout Rooms)
HOUSTON COMMAND
2PM — 3PM | Space Domain Awareness, Space Traffic Infrastructure, Keeping Lanes Clear for Cislunar
Format: Interactive Ops Scenario
A live “conjunction alert” walk-through where attendees see how different ops centers share data and make decisions to protect satellites and stations in crowded orbits.
NAVARRO GOVERNANCE
2PM — 3PM | Inland Launch and Outer Space Land Rights
Format: Fireside Chat.
Plain-language breakdown of which infrastructure projects and policies help support Inland Launch and Land Rights for commercial space.
ZAVALA SYSTEMS
2PM — 3PM | Policy Competition – 1v1 Working Sessions
Teams sharpen their resolutions and implementation paths in focused clinics under Chatham rules.
Treaty room where sponsors shape frameworks, alliances, and station governance models, ideal for closed-door, Chatham House–style discussions. 6 Teams, 3 Scenarios, & 1 take-home policy for TSC consideration.
LAMAR EXPANSION
2PM — 3PM | Focused Founder Sessions (1-on-1 Mentor Sessions)
Deep dives on milestones, pilots in Texas, dual-use pathways, and scaling strategy.
CROCKETT SCOUT
2PM — 3PM | Advanced In-Space Propulsion & SMRs for Cis Lunar
Format: Interactive Tabletop Exercise
A short tabletop displaying space propulsion capabilities; attendees see methods and capabilities, while keeping transportation routes intact to get us to Mars in 60 days or less.
TRAVIS RESILIENCE
2PM — 3PM | Space Medicine and Station Research for Mission and Community
Format: Interactive Presentation
Case examples from ISS and commercial launch show how microgravity research on bone loss, radiation, and human performance translates into better medical protocols for astronauts and new tools for communities on Earth.
BOWIE FRONTIER
2PM — 3PM | Operating in the Red – Lessons from Harsh-Environment Bases
Format: Interactive Case Study Presentation
From Arctic bases, desert test ranges, and undersea habitats, show how procedures, equipment, and training adapt when resupply is slow. Failure margins are thin and then map directly to orbital and station scenarios.
AUSTIN SETTLEMENT
2PM — 3PM | Mining the Moon and Mars, Feeding the Texan Off-World Economy
Format: Interactive Case Study Session
How regolith and subsurface resources become metals, shielding, propellant, and construction feedstock for off-world industry.
4PM | Closing Keynote – How America Buys Space and How Texas Must Plug In
How procurement, programs, and policy come together, and the explicit next steps for Texas companies.
5PM | Opening Reception (Exhibit Hall Floor)
Networking, live demo stations, and “meet the mentors” zones.
9PM | Immersive Sector Worlds (Breakout Rooms) Close
MON, 21
TUE, 22
WED, 23
MONDAY PROGRAM
Monday, September 21, 2026
Henry B. Gonzalez Convention Center
8AM | Exhibit Hall Opens
9AM - 9:30 AM | Opening Keynote – How Texas Aligns with NASA’s National Strategy
Civil space, exploration, and human spaceflight are anchored in Texas, and how Texas industry plugs into NASA’s national mission.
9:30AM - 10:15AM | Fireside Chat - Aligning NASA Johnson Space Center and the Texas Space Commission
Aligning NASA Johnson Space Center and the Texas Space Commission A strategic conversation about synchronizing state priorities around missions, workforce, and infrastructure.
11AM - 12PM | Immersive Sector Worlds (Breakout Rooms)
HOUSTON COMMAND
11AM — 12PM | Future of Mission Control – Range Station and Traffic Operations from Earth to Cislunar
Format: Interactive Ops Demo Presentation
Attendees step into a live-style mission run that blends range safety, station ops, and traffic management, seeing how operators and data providers coordinate to keep complex networks running.
NAVARRO GOVERNANCE
11AM — 12PM | Funding Innovation and State Strategy in How Texas Powers NASA’s National Mission
Format: Presentation or Fireside
Big-picture view of how federal programs and Texas incentives intersect.
ZAVALA SYSTEMS
11AM — 12PM | Policy Competition – Chatham House–style policy consultation
Teams (6–8) meet confidentially with state and federal advisors to refine position papers on: “How Texas plugs into federal space efforts and Texas Space Commission strategy.” Deliberations are non-attributable under Chatham House rules, behind-closed-doors advisor “war rooms.”
LAMAR EXPANSION
11AM — 12PM | Startup Competition – Mentor Office Hours
Founders get rapid-fire feedback on how to make their startups fundable and “Texas-anchored.”
CROCKETT SCOUT
11AM — 12PM | Commercial Space Stations as the New Ports of Call
Format: Interactive Presentation
A visual and operational tour of commercial station concepts as “ports” on the Deep Space Superhighway, covering orbits, inclinations, and service offerings from power and data to hosted payloads and research labs.
TRAVIS RESILIENCE
11AM — 12PM | ECLSS, Human Performance, and Spacesuit Development
Format: Interactive Presentation
Training footage and test data illustrate how human performance research, from ground facilities to station-based studies, drives suit design, EVA procedures, and safety margins.
BOWIE FRONTIER
11AM — 12PM | Edge-of-Survival Ops – Secure Comms and ISR at the Frontier
Format: Interactive Presentation Case Lab
A scenario where a station or forward outpost operates with degraded comms and partial sensor coverage, showing how secure links and ISR keep crews alive and informed.
AUSTIN SETTLEMENT
11AM — 12PM | From Dirt to Doorstep: Lunar Regolith and Landing Pads
Format: Interactive Presentation Design Charrette
How Texas-based companies turn raw regolith into precision landing pads for sustained lunar operations.
12PM | Lunch (Exhibit Hall Floor)
2PM — 3PM | Immersive Sector Worlds (Breakout Rooms)
HOUSTON COMMAND
2PM — 3PM | Space Domain Awareness, Space Traffic Infrastructure, Keeping Lanes Clear for Cislunar
Format: Interactive Ops Scenario
A live “conjunction alert” walk-through where attendees see how different ops centers share data and make decisions to protect satellites and stations in crowded orbits.
NAVARRO GOVERNANCE
2PM — 3PM | Inland Launch and Outer Space Land Rights
Format: Fireside Chat.
Plain-language breakdown of which infrastructure projects and policies help support Inland Launch and Land Rights for commercial space.
ZAVALA SYSTEMS
2PM — 3PM | Policy Competition – 1v1 Working Sessions
Teams sharpen their resolutions and implementation paths in focused clinics under Chatham rules.
Treaty room where sponsors shape frameworks, alliances, and station governance models, ideal for closed-door, Chatham House–style discussions. 6 Teams, 3 Scenarios, & 1 take-home policy for TSC consideration.
LAMAR EXPANSION
2PM — 3PM | Focused Founder Sessions (1-on-1 Mentor Sessions)
Deep dives on milestones, pilots in Texas, dual-use pathways, and scaling strategy.
CROCKETT SCOUT
2PM — 3PM | Advanced In-Space Propulsion & SMRs for Cis Lunar
Format: Interactive Tabletop Exercise
A short tabletop displaying space propulsion capabilities; attendees see methods and capabilities, while keeping transportation routes intact to get us to Mars in 60 days or less.
TRAVIS RESILIENCE
2PM — 3PM | Space Medicine and Station Research for Mission and Community
Format: Interactive Presentation
Case examples from ISS and commercial launch show how microgravity research on bone loss, radiation, and human performance translates into better medical protocols for astronauts and new tools for communities on Earth.
BOWIE FRONTIER
2PM — 3PM | Operating in the Red – Lessons from Harsh-Environment Bases
Format: Interactive Case Study Presentation
From Arctic bases, desert test ranges, and undersea habitats, show how procedures, equipment, and training adapt when resupply is slow. Failure margins are thin and then map directly to orbital and station scenarios.
AUSTIN SETTLEMENT
2PM — 3PM | Mining the Moon and Mars, Feeding the Texan Off-World Economy
Format: Interactive Case Study Session
How regolith and subsurface resources become metals, shielding, propellant, and construction feedstock for off-world industry.
4PM | Closing Keynote – How America Buys Space and How Texas Must Plug In
How procurement, programs, and policy come together, and the explicit next steps for Texas companies.
5PM | Opening Reception (Exhibit Hall Floor)
Networking, live demo stations, and “meet the mentors” zones.
9PM | Immersive Sector Worlds (Breakout Rooms) Close
MON, 21
TUE, 22
WED, 23
MONDAY PROGRAM
Monday, September 21, 2026
Henry B. Gonzalez Convention Center
8AM | Exhibit Hall Opens
9AM - 9:30 AM | Opening Keynote – How Texas Aligns with NASA’s National Strategy
Civil space, exploration, and human spaceflight are anchored in Texas, and how Texas industry plugs into NASA’s national mission.
9:30AM - 10:15AM | Fireside Chat - Aligning NASA Johnson Space Center and the Texas Space Commission
Aligning NASA Johnson Space Center and the Texas Space Commission A strategic conversation about synchronizing state priorities around missions, workforce, and infrastructure.
11AM - 12PM | Immersive Sector Worlds (Breakout Rooms)
HOUSTON COMMAND
11AM — 12PM | Future of Mission Control – Range Station and Traffic Operations from Earth to Cislunar
Format: Interactive Ops Demo Presentation
Attendees step into a live-style mission run that blends range safety, station ops, and traffic management, seeing how operators and data providers coordinate to keep complex networks running.
NAVARRO GOVERNANCE
11AM — 12PM | Funding Innovation and State Strategy in How Texas Powers NASA’s National Mission
Format: Presentation or Fireside
Big-picture view of how federal programs and Texas incentives intersect.
ZAVALA SYSTEMS
11AM — 12PM | Policy Competition – Chatham House–style policy consultation
Teams (6–8) meet confidentially with state and federal advisors to refine position papers on: “How Texas plugs into federal space efforts and Texas Space Commission strategy.” Deliberations are non-attributable under Chatham House rules, behind-closed-doors advisor “war rooms.”
LAMAR EXPANSION
11AM — 12PM | Startup Competition – Mentor Office Hours
Founders get rapid-fire feedback on how to make their startups fundable and “Texas-anchored.”
CROCKETT SCOUT
11AM — 12PM | Commercial Space Stations as the New Ports of Call
Format: Interactive Presentation
A visual and operational tour of commercial station concepts as “ports” on the Deep Space Superhighway, covering orbits, inclinations, and service offerings from power and data to hosted payloads and research labs.
TRAVIS RESILIENCE
11AM — 12PM | ECLSS, Human Performance, and Spacesuit Development
Format: Interactive Presentation
Training footage and test data illustrate how human performance research, from ground facilities to station-based studies, drives suit design, EVA procedures, and safety margins.
BOWIE FRONTIER
11AM — 12PM | Edge-of-Survival Ops – Secure Comms and ISR at the Frontier
Format: Interactive Presentation Case Lab
A scenario where a station or forward outpost operates with degraded comms and partial sensor coverage, showing how secure links and ISR keep crews alive and informed.
AUSTIN SETTLEMENT
11AM — 12PM | From Dirt to Doorstep: Lunar Regolith and Landing Pads
Format: Interactive Presentation Design Charrette
How Texas-based companies turn raw regolith into precision landing pads for sustained lunar operations.
12PM | Lunch (Exhibit Hall Floor)
2PM — 3PM | Immersive Sector Worlds (Breakout Rooms)
HOUSTON COMMAND
2PM — 3PM | Space Domain Awareness, Space Traffic Infrastructure, Keeping Lanes Clear for Cislunar
Format: Interactive Ops Scenario
A live “conjunction alert” walk-through where attendees see how different ops centers share data and make decisions to protect satellites and stations in crowded orbits.
NAVARRO GOVERNANCE
2PM — 3PM | Inland Launch and Outer Space Land Rights
Format: Fireside Chat.
Plain-language breakdown of which infrastructure projects and policies help support Inland Launch and Land Rights for commercial space.
ZAVALA SYSTEMS
2PM — 3PM | Policy Competition – 1v1 Working Sessions
Teams sharpen their resolutions and implementation paths in focused clinics under Chatham rules.
Treaty room where sponsors shape frameworks, alliances, and station governance models, ideal for closed-door, Chatham House–style discussions. 6 Teams, 3 Scenarios, & 1 take-home policy for TSC consideration.
LAMAR EXPANSION
2PM — 3PM | Focused Founder Sessions (1-on-1 Mentor Sessions)
Deep dives on milestones, pilots in Texas, dual-use pathways, and scaling strategy.
CROCKETT SCOUT
2PM — 3PM | Advanced In-Space Propulsion & SMRs for Cis Lunar
Format: Interactive Tabletop Exercise
A short tabletop displaying space propulsion capabilities; attendees see methods and capabilities, while keeping transportation routes intact to get us to Mars in 60 days or less.
TRAVIS RESILIENCE
2PM — 3PM | Space Medicine and Station Research for Mission and Community
Format: Interactive Presentation
Case examples from ISS and commercial launch show how microgravity research on bone loss, radiation, and human performance translates into better medical protocols for astronauts and new tools for communities on Earth.
BOWIE FRONTIER
2PM — 3PM | Operating in the Red – Lessons from Harsh-Environment Bases
Format: Interactive Case Study Presentation
From Arctic bases, desert test ranges, and undersea habitats, show how procedures, equipment, and training adapt when resupply is slow. Failure margins are thin and then map directly to orbital and station scenarios.
AUSTIN SETTLEMENT
2PM — 3PM | Mining the Moon and Mars, Feeding the Texan Off-World Economy
Format: Interactive Case Study Session
How regolith and subsurface resources become metals, shielding, propellant, and construction feedstock for off-world industry.
4PM | Closing Keynote – How America Buys Space and How Texas Must Plug In
How procurement, programs, and policy come together, and the explicit next steps for Texas companies.
5PM | Opening Reception (Exhibit Hall Floor)
Networking, live demo stations, and “meet the mentors” zones.
9PM | Immersive Sector Worlds (Breakout Rooms) Close
*Programming Subject to Change
