Countdown to the 90th: The Texas Space Policy Summit

The 90th Texas Legislature convenes January 12, 2027. Where will space be on the agenda, and is your company ready?

Presented by the Texas Aerospace Partnership and hosted by the University of Houston, Countdown to the 90th puts the Texas space industry in one room with the lawmakers, regulators and institutions shaping the state's space economy, 62 days before the session gavels in.

Just added. Norman Garza, Jr., Executive Director of the Texas Space Commission. Norman is the Commission's first Executive Director, and before that he helped the Legislature pass the bill that created it. If you want to know where Texas space policy and dollars are headed next session, he's the one to hear it from.

He joins Houston Mayor John Whitmire, Rep. Dennis Paul, TCEQ Commissioner Catarina Gonzales, Former Sen. Kip Averitt (TAP Chairman), Jim Henson (UT Austin), Jill Warren (JW Law), Steve Bartz (Greenberg Traurig) and Dr. Luke Brane (Minerva Space Medicine), with more to come.

Your ticket includes:

• Two keynote addresses and two conversation-style panels with lawmakers and industry leaders

• Lunch

• Your choice of breakout: Ecosystem and Workforce, on building regional hubs like Waco and growing the talent pipeline, or Commercial Space and Space Health, on commercial LEO destinations and space medicine

• Networking reception, plus coffee and the attendee directory

Built for connections, not just content. At registration you'll tell us who you're hoping to meet (a lawmaker, an investor, an attorney, a customer) and we'll help make the introduction.

Early registration is $225 through Friday, October 16. After that it's $275, and seats in this room won't last. Grab yours now and bring a colleague while the price is right.

The 90th session starts in January. The relationships start November 12.

Info: 9:00 Ignition, opening and welcome with Gertie Wilson (Vice Chair, TAP, W Public Affairs) and Jason S.M. Smith (Vice Chancellor and Vice President, Government and Community Relations, University of Houston)
9:15 Reading the Telemetry, what the election means for the 90th Legislature, with Dr. Jim Henson (Director, Texas Politics Project, UT Austin)
9:35 Clearing the Launch Pad, TCEQ permit rules and state regulations, with Commissioner Catarina Gonzales (Texas Commission on Environmental Quality)
9:55 From Campus to Cosmos, engineering innovations for deep space missions, moderated by Dr. Ramanan Krishnamoorti with UH's Dr. Mini Das, Dr. Karolos Grigoriadis and Dr. Harish Krishnamoorthy
10:55 Break
11:10 Space City Rising, Houston's role in the Texas space economy, with Mayor John Whitmire

Info: 12:30 From Austin to the Arctic, doing business with state, federal and international partners, with Jill Warren (CEO, VOR Exploration, and Managing Director, The Passage Group)
12:50 Flight Plan, Texas Space Commission update, with Norman Garza (Executive Director, Texas Space Commission)
1:10 T-Minus 90, legislative update and the session ahead, moderated by Former Sen. Kip Averitt (TAP Chairman) with Rep. Dennis Paul and more panelists to be announced
2:10 Break
2:25 Beyond the Horizon, emerging issues in space policy, with Steve Bartz (Attorney, Greenberg Traurig)

Info: Pick one room. Each room lands three asks for the 90th Legislature.
Building the Crew, ecosystem and workforce, with conversation leader Geoff Tudor (President, Space Workforce Incubator for Texas, SWIFT)
Life in Orbit, commercial space and space health, with conversation leader Lucas Brane, M.D. (Chief Executive Officer, Minerva Medical)

Event venue & nearby stays

Hilton University of Houston, 4450 University Drive, Houston, United States

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