SpaceWERX
Arthur F. Grijalva
Director
The inaugural forum · May 11–12, 2026
Forum 2026.
The inaugural gathering.
Two days of company visits, a Bel Air reception, and discussions on the future of the space economy.
Explore the next flagship forumMay 11–12, 2026
Two days. A shared ambition.
May 11 · Bel Air
The opening reception.
Following company visits, guests gathered for an evening connecting Hollywood and space.
May 12 · El Segundo
The main forum.
Keynotes, panels, and working sessions at THE BR-DGE explored demand, infrastructure, frontier markets, and capital.
Supporting the inaugural forum
Forum 2026 partners.
Strategic partner
Event partners
May 2026
Speakers & participants.
Speakers and participants from the May 2026 program. Roles shown are those listed at the time.
NASA
Robyn Gatens
Director, ISS for Space Operations; Acting Director, Commercial Space
NASA SBIR/STTR
Jason L. Kessler
Program Executive
National Security Council
Carole House
Former Special Advisor
NASA · NSA
John P. Keefe
Former Director, Cross-Agency Strategy; former Senior Advisor
NASA JPL
Matthew Wallace
Director, Planetary Sciences
SpaceWERX
Mary Shippy
Strategic Partnerships Lead
City of El Segundo
Christopher Pimentel
Mayor
Firefly Aerospace
Thomas Markusic
Co-Founder
Virgin Galactic
Jameel Janjua
Astronaut and Test Pilot
Former Defense Innovation Unit
Rahul Singh
Regional Engagement Principal
Former In-Q-Tel
Gareth Keane
Partner
Starlab Space
Bob Ess
President
LEOcloud
Dennis Gatens
Founder & CEO
Techstars Space
Gabriel Schlumberger
Managing Director
Rendezvous Robotics
Joe Landon
Co-Founder & President
AstroForge
Matthew Gialich
Co-Founder & CEO
Starpath
Saurav Shroff
Founder & CEO
Stardeck Ventures
Felix Bustos III
Founder & General Partner
GiantLeap Capital
Samir Parikh
Founder & CEO
Sunset Ventures
Brandon Hoffman
General Partner
Honeywell Venture Capital
Victor Yang
Senior Investment Manager
Nova Cell
Wendy Pizarro
Co-Founder & CEO
New Vista Capital
Diana Zhou
Partner
Morpheus Ventures
Howard Ko
Investment Partner
IMA Financial Group
Tony Glebe
Executive Advisor
Tuesday, May 12, 2026
The executive agenda.
May 12, 2026 · THE BR-DGE, El Segundo · All times Pacific
8:30 AM
Registration & Executive Breakfast
Coffee, pastries, and executive badge collection.
9:30 AM
Welcome & Strategic Vision
The Forum’s priorities and the day’s discussion.
9:35 AM
Opening Keynote
Opening perspectives on the space economy.
Chris Pimentel, Mayor of El Segundo; Matthew Wallace, Director, Planetary Sciences, NASA.
9:50 AM
Space 3.0 & Dual-Use Technology
Exploring the macro shifts of the prior 12 months and the intersection of non-dilutive government capital and dilutive private capital.
Opening: Arthur Grijalva. Moderator: Felix Bustos III. Panelists: Mary Shippy, Rahul Singh, Jason Kessler, Gabriel Schlumberger, and Gareth Keane.
10:40 AM
Executive Break
10:55 AM
Demand Signals & Market Formation
Identifying real demand drivers across commercial and civil sectors, and recognizing mature versus premature categories.
Moderator: John Keefe. Panelists: Carole House and Robyn Gatens.
11:35 AM
Star Wars vs. Star Trek
An interactive team-based discussion exploring the balance between government and commercial interests, defense versus deep-space exploration, and geopolitical competition.
12:35 PM
Executive Luncheon
1:50 PM
Space Infrastructure Investability
An economic framing of orbital infrastructure, including launch, satellites, communications, manufacturing, data centers, and quantum computing.
Moderator: Samir Parikh. Panelists: Dennis Gatens and Bob Ess.
2:30 PM
Networking Break
2:45 PM
To the Moon and Beyond
Evaluating frontier bets—the lunar economy, in-space industry, stem-cell research, and asteroid mining—through three- and ten-year investment lenses.
Moderator: Jameel Janjua. Panelists: Thomas Markusic, Joe Landon, Wendy Pizarro, Matthew Gialich, and Saurav Shroff.
3:25 PM
Capital Allocation Underwriting the Space Economy
How venture, growth, and corporate investors assess and manage risk in space businesses.
Moderator: Brandon Hoffman. Panelists: Diana Zhou, Victor Yang, Howard Ko, and Tony Glebe.
4:05 PM
Placing Bets on the Space Economy
A group exercise mapping the space economy. Teams allocated hypothetical capital across themes and identified critical bottlenecks to scale.
4:50 PM
Closing Remarks: The Path Forward
Key takeaways and priorities for continued collaboration.
5:00 PM