The Canadian Space Summit Returns to Ottawa

There’s something about Ottawa and the Canadian Space Summit. Each year the Canadian Space Society holds their annual summit in a different city. However, as the Summit returns to Ottawa this year, there’s an expectation that the conference will deliver more, and it usually does.

A lot of the attraction for the Summit in Ottawa has to do with the political and military roots the city has which adds another level of interest.

The invited gala keynote speaker this year will be Nicole Verkindt, CEO of OMX and a Dragon on the CBC’s Next Gen Den. It should be noted that Nicole also just won Woman Entrepreneur of the Year award at the Startup Canada Awards.

Nicole Verkindt of OMX receiving her Startup Canada award. Credit: OMX.

The two day summit will offer a mix of keynotes, panels and topical sessions.

Keynote speakers include;

Sylvain Laporte, President Canadian Space Agency
Mike Gold, Vice President of Washington Operations and Business Development for SSL, a business unit within Maxar Techbologies
Brigadier General Kevin Whale, Director General Space, Canadian Armed Forces

The Innovation keynote speaker will be Dr. Kazuya Yoshida, Chief Technology Officer of ispace inc., and a member of Team HAKUTO, Google Lunar XPRIZE.

The rest of the summit will feature panels and topical sessions. They include an; Innovation panel, Journalists panel, which I’ll be on, and sessions covering these topics, Start-ups, Life Sciences, Space Exploration, Education and Outreach, Space Law and Policy, Space Art and Culture, Women in Space, Critical Infrastructure, and an Arm Chair sessions.

Registration is limited, so to guarantee a ticket it is suggested you register as soon as possible.

Here’s the list of other current confirmed speakers which looks really good.

Dr. Marie Lucy Stojak, Chair of the Space Advisory Board
Francois Chopard, Founder and CEO, Starburst Accelerator
Stephane Germain, CEO, GHGSat
Peter Mabson, President, exactEarth Ltd.
Michelle Mendes, Executive Director, Canadian Space Commerce Association
Larry Reeves, President, Canadian Satellite Design Challenge Management Society
James Costa , Founder and CEO, Phuse
Jessica West, Program Officer, Project Ploughshare
Isabel Deslauriers, Manager, Let’s Talk Science Outreach
Dr. Zoe Szajnfarber, Associate Professor of Engineering Management and Systems Engineering and of Space Policy, the George Washington University
Dr. Al Scott, Honeywell
Dr. Marianne Mader, Managing Director of Earth & Space/Fossils & Evolution at the Royal Ontario Museum
Chris Kitzan, Director General of the Canada Aviation and Space Museum
Andrej Litvinjenko, Vice President, Public Policy and Global Affairs, Canadian Space Commerce Association
Dr. Odette Laneuville, Associate Professor in the Department of Biology at the University of Ottawa & Co-Investigator, MARROW Project
BGen Kevin Whale, Director General Space, CAF
Iain Christie, Executive VP, AIAC
Lt-Col Catherine Marchetti, Director Space Strategy and Plans, CAF
Ewan Reid, CEO, Mission Control Space Services
Dr. Nadeem Ghafoor, VP Space Exploration, Canadensys
Monsi Roman, Centennial Challenges Program Manager, NASA
Dan King, Director of Business Development, MDA
Nicole Mortillaro, Senior Writer: Science and Technology, CBC
Adam Keith, Managing Director (former), Euroconsult Canada
Lorene Shyba, RumbleSat
Steve Bellingham, Nav Canada
Paul Harrison, Magellan Aerospace
Nicole Mortillaro, CBC
Elizabeth Howell, freelance journalist
Jose Ocasio-Christian, Caelus