The inaugural Keystone Space Collaborative Annual Conference will be held in Pittsburgh, PA, April 2022. The Conference will convene national and regional stakeholders and participants in the rapidly growing commercial space industry, to celebrate and amplify the region’s existing space industry activity, and to build on the region’s strengths in robotics, AI, advanced manufacturing and life sciences innovation to drive awareness and highlight opportunities for the region to emerge as a leader in the global space ecosystem.
Activities begin for VIP attendees, with a choice of a tour of Pittsburgh’s internationally recognized Robotics Row, or the similarly renowned McGowan Institute for Regenerative Medicine. A VIP and conference speaker dinner will follow on Mt. Washington.
The conference will be highlighted by keynote speakers representing top NASA, DOD, Legislative and Regional Industry thought leadership, and will kick off with the public debut of the KSC Regional Space Ecosystem Map and Industry Report.
A Commercial Space Tri-State Ecosystem Map and Report, funded by a grant from the Richard King Mellon Foundation, will characterize the composition and distribution of the space industry in the PA, WV, OH area, serve as a resource for the industry and community, and identify areas for targeted growth. Speaker sessions and panels will follow, featuring regional industry leaders (such as Astrobotic and Ansys), successful space entrepreneurs, regional and nationally recognized public and private funders, legislators and community stakeholders.
The afternoon will feature a regional space life sciences/medicine panel led by the McGowan Institute for Regenerative Medicine, as well as a supply chain panel chaired by the ARM Institute, one of 16 institutes of the Manufacturing USA initiative, and will conclude with escorted tours of Astrobotic’s new state-of-the-art 47,000 square foot facility.
In the morning, KSC’s Board Chair outlines plans for 2022, and announces an innovative workforce partnership between Astrobotic, Carnegie Science Center, Moonshot Museum, Penn State University, and KSC. The conference concludes with a panel chaired by Innovation Works, the western affiliate of Pennsylvania’s Ben Franklin Technology Partners, featuring senior representatives of Carnegie Mellon University, the University of Pittsburgh, the Ohio State University, West Virginia University, and other regional institutions. This panel will provide a comprehensive overview of regional research capabilities relevant to the space industry.
The conference concludes at 12:00 PM, allowing plenty of time to catch an afternoon flight from Pittsburgh International Airport.
Representatives for commercial space companies, space industry funders (including representatives from NASA and DOD, as well as West Coast VCs), and space researchers from the private and public sectors. We expect that regional attendees will be a mix of industry representatives and KSC members (e.g., Astrobotic, Ansys, Northrop Grumman, Bayer, Bosch, Alcoa, Goodyear, Constellium and others), administrative leaders, researchers and students from regional schools and universities, lawmakers, economic development and community stakeholders, and space enthusiasts.
Invited public sector speakers include NASA Administrator Bill Nelson, Deputy Administrator Pam Melroy, US Space Force Vice Chief of Space Operations General David Thompson, WV Senators Shelley Capito and Joe Manchin, PA Governor Tom Wolf, PA Senators Bob Casey and Pat Toomey, PA Congressmen Matt Cartwright, Connor Lamb and Mike Kelly, OH Congressman Anthony Gonzalez, Astronaut Mike Fincke and others.
