SmallSat Alliance

The SmallSat Alliance was proud to host its first-ever Miami Space Summit - an event that brought together investors, leaders in the space industry, and government officials from the satellite and space sectors. From insightful panels to hearing directly from industry experts, the summit highlighted the best ways to operate and succeed in the new space environment, whether you're on the investor side, in the space industry, or part of the government. A huge thank you to our incredible speakers, sponsors, partners and attendees for making this event a success. The energy and collaboration were truly inspiring, and we can't wait for next year! Please enjoy a brief video recap of the event. AE Industrial Partners, LP, UBS, U.S. Chamber of Commerce, InterVallo, LLC, Christopher Harris, Citadel, Icebreaker Strategies, LLC, Lockheed Martin, Defense Innovation Unit (DIU), United States Space Force

Last week, I had the privilege of joining industry leaders, investors and government experts at the Miami Space Summit, hosted by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the SmallSat Alliance. At a time when space is more critical than ever to national security, economic growth and technological leadership, we need to take a hard look at how we build and sustain our industrial base. During the summit, we discussed how industry and government can work together to create the right incentives for long-term growth, foster effective partnerships, reduce barriers to innovation and ensure the U.S. stays ahead in an increasingly competitive space domain. The bottom line? Sustained U.S. space leadership requires stronger partnerships, faster acquisition and a shared commitment to investing in transformational defense capabilities. The more we work together, the better positioned we are to meet the needs of national security and the broader space economy. #MiamiSpaceSummit #Space #Defense

The inaugural Miami Space Summit was one for the books. Two packed days of insightful conversations exploring the evolving landscape of space innovation, defense, and industry collaboration. I especially enjoyed the conversation between my colleague Caroline Baldwin and Jen Ross on investing in R&D to scale. Thank you to the SmallSat Alliance, U.S. Chamber of Commerce and InterVallo, LLC for hosting! #MiamiSpaceSummit #SpaceInnovation #NationalSecurity

?? Last week at the Miami Space Summit, SpiderOak’s Matthew Erickson joined an expert panel to discuss the evolving landscape of space operations in the era of AI, cyber, and data. On the "Space 2.0" panel, Matt was joined by: ?? Dr. Jacob Oakley, Technical Director, SIXGEN ?? Samuel Visner, Space ISAC ?? Luke Fischer, CEO, SkyFi ?? David Mitlyng, CEO, Xairos ?? Moderated by Dr. Angel Smith, SAS The Miami Space Summit brings together top investors, industry leaders, and government experts to shape the future of the space economy. Great conversations, big ideas, and a look ahead at what’s next for secure and resilient #space operations. ?? #MiamiSpaceSummit #SpaceTech #CyberSecurity #AI #Cyber #SecureByDesign #SpaceOps

It was a great couple of days at the Miami Space Summit digging into the how to better blend policy and finance, government and private sector, to build a robust space economy. Thanks to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, InterVallo, LLC and the SmallSat Alliance for hosting a great event in Space Florida‘s backyard. Thanks also to Peter Schumacher for framing an awesome chat on the importance of space infrastructure and logistics in winning the next war; a topic I can blather on about. Good to catch up and meet with so many others from across industry, finance and government. John Neal Jen Ross Stephen Kitay John Shaw Ron Lau Richard Kniseley Eric F. Sanders Margaret Abernathy Richard Miller Zachary Hauser Jim Thomas Patrick Barrett Rob Spicer Pete Trainer Jeff Rowlison Andrew Rush

Thank you to SmallSat Alliance and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce for a great and productive #MiamiSpaceSummit! One of our board members at AeroAI Global Solutions, Kevin O'Connell, moderated a great panel: “Partnering with Congress and the New Administration to Build the Space Industrial Base.” Valuable discussions and promising opportunities ahead for the space sector. #space #innovation #miami

AE Industrial Partners was proud to partner with the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and SmallSat Alliance to present the Miami Space Summit last week. The event offered a deep dive into key aspects of the space industry, from private equity’s influence on market dynamics to the financial challenges and opportunities within the space industrial base. Expert speakers, including AEI’s very own Kirk Konert, Peter Schumacher and Jonathan Lusczakoski and AEI PortCo CEO Dirk Wallinger of York Space Systems, gathered to share their insights and visions for the future of space exploration. A big thank you to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and SmallSat Alliance for including us in such a successful event. We look forward to next year!

The Inaugural Miami Space Summit: A Complete Success! --- A message from our Chairman, Charles Beames. ?? With a grateful heart, Angel Smith and I want to express our sincerest gratitude for the leap of faith you all took with us as we launched our inaugural Miami Space Summit. It was conceived and led by us and our intrepid partners, InterVallo, LLC (Jen Ross) and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce (John Neal). Your attendance, sponsorship, and active participation made it epic! ? For the Summit, we decided on a different path, one never really attempted before: a true Summit, where the “audience” was as much a part of the goings on as the speakers on stage – in fact some just swapped seats for much of the two days.?We put the economics of space at the center, with corporations, bankers, investors, warfighters and the government leaders all coming together to discuss and debate the thorniest financial and investment issues of our time. ? By all accounts from LinkedIn, DMs, and even old fashioned e-mail, it was a resounding success – all thanks to each of you. The reverb from it all this week? “You all HAVE to do this again next year!!” – So, we will! ? Enjoy these snapshots -- we will make many more available on our website for those who want to use them for their own promotional activities. Please stay tuned in the coming months as we design the “2nd?Annual Miami Space Summit” while absorbing the welcomed feedback we continue to get – ? Looking up and looking forward, Chuck Beames #SmallSatAlliance #SpaceInvestment #MiamiSpaceSummit

It is my honor to congratulate Dr. Angel Smith for being nominated for Via Satellite's Celebrating Women in Satellite 2025! As someone who has had the privilege of working with Angel, I can confidently say that her leadership has been transformative for the space and satellite industry. She has been truly instrumental in guiding the SmallSat Alliance as our Executive Director and continues to shape the future of the organization in amazing ways. Her expertise in smallsat technology, cloud computing, AI/ML and autonomous systems has positioned smallsats as key enablers for innovation. Her mentorship and vision have been a driving force in advancing the industry, and it was a privilege to nominate her for this recognition. Please join me in congratulating Angel! https://lnkd.in/e3aNyT6E

Last Friday I had the pleasure of speaking with Jennifer D. Elzea, Director of Strategic Engagement at the Space Development Agency at the inaugural Miami Space Summit.?Here’s a few things I learned: ???While leadership transitions are underway at the Pentagon and SDA, the agency remains focused on delivering space-based capabilities to the warfighter and is committed to its culture of rapid, agile acquisitions leveraging commercial industry innovation. ?? Aligning with its mission, SDA has a Warfighter Council and Warfighter Integration Cell to ensure it’s building to meet the needs of the warfighter. ? ?? SDA continues to press ahead to get its Tranche 1 space vehicles into orbit and operational as quickly as possible. ? ?? Tranche 3 solicitations are moving full speed ahead. Tranche 3 should include about 140 Transport Layer satellites across three variants. * The Tracking layer anticipates a minimum of 54 space vehicles with infrared sensors in six orbital planes. * Scheduled delivery begins in FY28 and SDA is pressing ahead with its acquisition schedule.? * First RFI was released in December – still anticipating an award this summer. ? ?? We looked back at Tranche 0 and the capabilities that have been demonstrated to enable military operations downrange: ? * Link-16 comms demo that connected space satcom to ground-based radios, to an airframe on deck of a U.S. Navy aircraft carrier operating in international waters. * Developed an optical comms standard for vendors to build against. ? ?? Iron Dome Executive Order (EO) – SDA has been doing a lot of missile defense work already and is actively participating in planning to solidify responsibilities for rapid delivery of the requirements.?SDA has an open call for papers related to the EO which closes Feb 28th. * SDA’s Tracking Layer is on its way to delivering some of the required capabilities for Iron Dome MW/MT and defense. * Looking at the available tech and funding plans to accelerate operationalizing plans for a PWSA Custody Layer. ? ?? Supply Chain Successes and Challenges SDA has attracted a diverse set of vendors.?By acquiring a fully integrated space vehicle that is part of a larger architecture that helps grow the pool of suppliers. * Challenges exist with a limited pool of Tier 2 and Tier 3 suppliers. * Optical Comms and encryption are two areas where SDA would like to see more choice? * To encourage that, SDA publishes its technical roadmap to signal to the market what it will need in the future. * SDA is employing creative solutions to get in front of supply chain issues working directly with prime vendors and supporting flexibility with suppliers. Constantly assessing risk to understand what changes can be made and still deliver a usable capability ASAP. Thanks Jennifer D. Elzea and Space Development Agency for joining us at the Summit! SmallSat Alliance InterVallo, LLC Jen Ross U.S. Chamber of Commerce Angel Smith