The ISDC 2026 Morning Plenaries serve as the cornerstone of the conference, bringing together legendary astronauts, commercial leaders, and scientific visionaries to launch each day’s programming. All attendees are welcome to join these plenaries for an essential look at our future in space—from the rapid expansion of the cis-lunar economy and the untold history of the Space Shuttle program to the practical roadmap for establishing a permanent base on the Moon.
Captain Robert “Hoot” Gibson entered the United States Navy after college and served as a fighter pilot in the F-4 “Phantom” and F-14 “Tomcat” aircraft, flying combat missions in Southeast Asia and making more than 300 carrier landings aboard the aircraft carriers USS Coral Sea and USS Enterprise. After attending the Navy Fighter Weapons School, better known as TOPGUN, and the Navy Test Pilot School, he served as a flight Read More
Commander Susan Kilrain is an astronaut, a navy test pilot, an aerospace engineer, and a world traveler. She was one of the first women selected to fly the F-14 Tomcat and the youngest person, and one of only three women, to pilot the space shuttle. She served twenty years in the Navy paving the way for women. She has flown more than 3,000 flight hours in more than thirty different Read More
Steven Hawley grew up under the dark skies of rural Kansas, where the dream of space travel seized him for a lifetime. Inspired by Astronaut Al Shepard’s first flight beyond the atmosphere, Hawley pursued academic degrees in astronomy, physics, and astrophysics, and later earned a seat in the “Thirty-Five New Guys,” NASA’s first class of astronaut candidates to include civilian scientists and engineers, women, and people of color. Dr. Hawley made history deploying Read More
Jim Green, now retired, was a scientist and senior advisor in the Office of the Chief Scientist at NASA. Prior to this appointment, he had been NASA’s Chief Scientist and was the longest serving director of the Planetary Science Division with the overall programmatic responsibility for the New Horizons spacecraft flyby of Pluto, the Juno spacecraft to Jupiter, and the landing of the Curiosity rover on Mars, just to name Read More
Daniel is an engineer and serial entrepreneur. He has build a dozen satellites, developed nuclear instrumentation for the mining industry, and helped create the first high-bandwidth Ka-band transponders for microsatellites. He invented satellite refueling, created the de facto standard RAFTI “satellite gas cap”, and build Orbit Fab to almost 100 employees. Prior to that, he ran Deep Space Industries and developed thruster that can run on asteroid-derived propellants, selling them Read More
Lisa is an investor and global entrepreneur with a penchant for tech and venture finance. She’s built seven companies, raised over $225M, introduced over $8 billion of VC into emerging markets, and has served as an adviser to four incubators, three VC funds, and 100+ SMEs. Lisa has invested (angel + VC LP) in 76 early-stage companies (internet, medical device, software) and as a venture architect and advisor has planned, Read More
Laine is President of LiftPort Group, the commercial effort to build the Lunar Space Elevator. A member of the NASA Institute for Advanced Concepts (NIAC) research team since 2001, Laine founded LiftPort to turn that foundational research into reality. Since 2008, the company has been 100% committed to constructing an elevator on the Moon — achievable with current materials, rocketry, robotics, and communications for under $350M. More than an idea Read More
Dr. Pascal Lee is a planetary scientist with the SETI Institute, the Mars Institute, and NASA Ames Research Center in Mountain View, California. He is also professor of planetary sciences at Kepler Space University, and chief scientist for Ceres Robotics, a NASA Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) industry provider. He also serves as the National Space Society’s Vice-President for Planetary Development. Dr. Lee holds an M.E. in geology from the Read More
Dr. Dana Levin has dedicated his life to supporting human health in space and other extreme environments. He is board certified in Emergency Medicine and Aerospace Medicine and has more than a decade of experience caring for humans on all 7 continents, beneath the sea, and in space. He currently serves as the Medical Director and Chief Flight Surgeon for Vast Space. In this role he is part of a Read More
For over three decades, Mr. Olson was a corporate IT systems engineer and analyst. In addition, he spent several years in the Financial Services sector (cash and fund management). Today he serves as Director of Business Development for Avealto, Ltd., an early-stage firm that will soon provide High Altitude Platforms distributing internet and mobile services to under-served areas around the world. He is also Chair and Founder of the Read More
Following his Air Force career in fighter aircraft and the building of national brands for companies like Rockwell Avionics and Miller Brewing, Dr. Anthony Paustian created a technology-focused college campus that was named one of the nation’s most innovative organizations. The campus has received national media attention for its groundbreaking initiatives, ranging from advances in educational delivery systems to its inspiring Celebrate Innovation Live! (ciLive!) event. Dr. Paustian has authored Read More
Rod Pyle is an accomplished author, editor, and keynote speaker, renowned for his extensive work in space exploration and development. He has penned 18 influential books, with standout titles like "Space 2.0," "Interplanetary Robots," and "Heroes of the Space Age." His articles have enhanced the prestige of organizations like NASA/JPL and Caltech. Pyle holds a pivotal role as the Editor-in-Chief of "Ad Astra" magazine, the official publication of the National Read More
Dale Skran worked with Bell Labs (AT&T and Lucent Technologies) for seventeen years and continued his career in executive leadership at several other companies including Ascend Communications, Sonus Networks, and CMWare. He was also a rapporteur at the UN International Telecommunication Union where he led the development of international internet standards for video conferencing and voice-over IP (VOIP) services. Skran holds a Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering from Michigan Read More
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