Get closer to demand.
Connect with buyers and operators around real sourcing and qualification needs.
The Space Industrial Leadership Forum
October 28, 2026 / El Segundo, California
SCALING
SPACE.
The next industrial advantage starts with the people who build it.
Connect with the buyers, manufacturers, investors, and institutions shaping U.S. space production.
Participation by approval · Limited to 60 participants
DateWednesday, October 28
Time8:00 AM–2:00 PM PT
VenueSpaceWERX / THE BR-DGE
FormatKeynote + four working tracks
Access with purpose
The next wave of space growth
needs an industrial base.
Build relationships around sourcing needs, production capacity, and financing.
Meet the people who can turn a production challenge into a business opportunity.
Find your next production partner.
Explore capabilities, capacity, and technologies that can help your business scale.
Put capital in context.
Connect financing conversations to equipment, working capital, facilities, and growth.
The opening conversation
Four perspectives.
One industrial opportunity.
Stephen Cheung opens the morning, followed by Ryan Johnson, Wentao Fu, and Tony Glebe.
01
Opening keynote
Stephen Cheung
President & CEO
Los Angeles County Economic Development Corporation
Perspective
The industrial opportunity. Southern California’s manufacturing competitiveness, investment, and the conditions that enable production to scale.
02
Capital for production
Ryan Johnson
Managing Partner
Subutai Capital Partners
Perspective
Where capital meets capacity. The investment and operating perspective on financing space, aerospace, and advanced manufacturing businesses.
03
Manufacturing intelligence
Wentao Fu
Founder
Centumake
Perspective
A clearer view of production. Demand, capacity, and structural gaps—and how manufacturing intelligence can help connect them.
04
Risk, contracts & execution
Tony Glebe
Risk Strategist
IMA Financial Group
Perspective
Making growth executable. The risk and insurance requirements that influence customer contracts, financing, and reliable production.
Program and session assignments are subject to refinement.
Across the ecosystem
Industry and institutions
in the program.
Organizations represented in the developing October 28 program. Participation details are being finalized.
Strategic event partners
Centumake
The value of the room
Your next move needs
the right people.
For leaders with a production need, a relevant capability, or expertise to contribute.
OEMs & buyers
Build a stronger supplier base.
Bring a sourcing requirement, qualification challenge, or production constraint.
Manufacturers & suppliers
Find a path to more business.
Bring a distinctive capability, available capacity, or a concrete expansion need.
Banks & investors
Find the needs behind the numbers.
Meet operators facing equipment, working-capital, facility, and growth decisions.
Government & institutions
Connect policy to operating reality.
Bring procurement, program, workforce, or economic-development expertise.
Technology & infrastructure
Put your capability to work.
Connect robotics, manufacturing intelligence, facilities, and automation to production.
Risk, insurance & legal
Make the next agreement executable.
Help address the contractual and operating requirements that shape delivery.
Where the opportunity gets specific
Four working tracks.
One focus: production.
Work with buyers, manufacturers, capital providers, and specialists to identify opportunities and agree on next steps.
Explore production that adapts to mission requirements while balancing speed, cost, and scale.
Strategic Demand & Production PartnershipsTurn demand into production partnerships.01
Explore upcoming OEM and government requirements, sourcing priorities, and customer commitments that help suppliers prepare for repeat production orders.
Intended output
Buyer requirement briefs, relevant supplier introductions, and agreed sourcing or proposal follow-ups.
Industrial Capacity & Supplier AccessBuild the capacity buyers need.02
Identify available capacity, missing capabilities, and qualification barriers. Connect buyers with suppliers and the testing, equipment, workforce, and facilities needed to deliver.
Intended output
A capacity-gap map, buyer–supplier matches, and next steps for qualification reviews or facility visits.
Adaptive Factory / OperationsCustomized to the mission. Built at scale.03
Explore how AI, robotics, and advanced manufacturing can enable rapid, cost-effective mass customization: production tailored to concrete demand and tasks, with the flexibility to absorb engineering changes.
Intended output
An adaptive-production roadmap: priority use cases and pilot candidates, with measures for quality, unit cost, schedule, throughput, and changeover speed.
Capital for ProductionFinance the next production milestone.04
Connect equipment finance, working capital, private investment, and non-dilutive funding to the milestones needed to expand and modernize production.
Intended output
Specific financing needs paired with relevant capital-provider conversations.
90 minutes of focused dialogue. Shared findings. Agreed actions.
View the full programWednesday, October 28
A morning
with momentum.
From the strategic picture to specific opportunities—and the conversations that continue over lunch.
See every session
8:00 AM
Arrive. Connect. Get the context.
Breakfast, Stephen Cheung’s keynote, and three industry perspectives.
10:35 AM
Join your executive track.
Four parallel working tracks followed by report-outs and commitments.
1:20 PM
Continue the right conversations.
Lunch and targeted introductions. The forum concludes at 2:00 PM.
Beyond October 28
A relationship is the beginning.
Progress is the point.
Bring a priority.
Share what you need and what you can contribute, so the Forum can shape relevant conversations.
Identify a next step.
Surface opportunities and record agreed actions with an owner and a follow-up date.
Carry it forward.
Use the action record to advance introductions, qualification, financing, and potential production pilots.
October 28 · Participation by approval
Be part of what
gets built next.
Bring the need, the capability, or the perspective that can move U.S. space manufacturing forward.
YOUR INVITATIONParticipation
Participation
by approval.
Apply through Luma with your role and the need or capability you bring.
- Standard
- $245
- Government / Military
- Complimentary
Attendance is confirmed after approval. Current fees and ticket terms are listed on Luma.
Planning your visit
A few useful details.
Who is this forum for?
Leaders with an active manufacturing need, buying responsibility, capital to deploy, or expertise that can help move production forward. The room is curated across OEMs, suppliers, capital providers, government, and specialist partners.
How do I request an invitation?
Use the invitation link to open the October 28 event on Luma. Share your role and the need or capability you bring. Participation is subject to approval; your confirmation and joining details come through the registration process.
What is the registration price?
Standard registration is $245. Government / Military access is complimentary. Both categories require approval. Luma shows the current ticket availability, fees, and applicable terms before you complete your request.
Where and when is the forum?
Wednesday, October 28, 2026, from 8:00 AM to 2:00 PM Pacific at SpaceWERX / THE BR-DGE in El Segundo, California. Arrival and access instructions will be provided to confirmed participants.
What happens in the working groups?
Four facilitated groups examine strategic demand and production partnerships, industrial capacity and supplier access, adaptive factory operations, and capital for production. Each group aims to identify opportunities and actions with owners and follow-up dates.
Is this the same event as STEF 2027?
October 28 is the focused SCALING SPACE: The Space Industrial Leadership Forum. SpaceTech Economic Forum 2027 is the flagship gathering planned for May 2027 in Los Angeles / El Segundo, with its own application on this website.
The flagship gathering · May 2027
SpaceTech
Economic Forum.
A gathering of leaders across capital, policy, and space technology.
Discover STEF 2027