NASA Invites Media to Oct. 26-28 von Braun Symposium in Huntsville

NASA has invited journalists to the 2026 von Braun Space Exploration Symposium, which runs Monday, Oct. 26, through Wednesday, Oct. 28, at the University of Alabama in Huntsville.

The American Astronautical Society organizes the annual gathering alongside NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama. The organization started in 1954 to advance astronautics. The 2026 gathering marks the 19th annual symposium in a series that began in 2008, and Arc identifies Accelerating Exploration as the official theme.

The University of Alabama in Huntsville is located at 301 Sparkman Drive, Huntsville, AL 35899. The AAS event page lists this address for the October 26-28 meeting. The Huntsville site sits near NASA Marshall Space Flight Center, Redstone Arsenal, universities, and a large aerospace workforce. Arc says this concentration supports discussions spanning policy, programme management, science, engineering, and operational delivery.

NASA said the symposium centers on returning humans to the Moon, building sustainable lunar infrastructure, advancing space propulsion, and the evolving space workforce. The advisory identifies these four topics as the central themes. Leaders from government, industry, policy, and academia gather to discuss today’s space exploration landscape and help chart a path forward. Arc calls the three-day meeting a forum centered on decisions, partnerships, and technologies for advancing space exploration.

Panels will cover Artemis II and III, propulsion flash talks, sustainable lunar utilities and infrastructure, Moon base supply chain resilience, space nuclear technology, NASA workforce issues, and engineering the future. Keynote addresses and awards presentations are also on the schedule. The advisory presents these session subjects along with keynotes and awards as program components.

On Sep 29, 2026, AAS published the symposium agenda, listing sessions on Artemis II, Artemis III and beyond, space propulsion flash talks, Moon base supply chain resilience, the new NASA workforce, and engineering the future. The society marked this date in its news and updates. Arc notes the detailed agenda identifies exact missions and speakers.

NASA speakers at the symposium include Deputy Associate Administrator Casey Swails and Stephen Cash, director of NASA Marshall. Other agency speakers are Nicky Fox, associate administrator of the Science Mission Directorate at NASA Headquarters, and Charlie Blackwell-Thompson, Artemis II launch director at NASA Kennedy.

Steve Creech, Human Landing System program manager at NASA Marshall, and Debbie Whitis Korth, acting program manager of the Orion Program at NASA Johnson, are also NASA speakers, and the advisory lists Korth among its agency speakers.

AAS recently confirmed Nicky Fox and Derek Tournear, Director of Space Innovation at Auburn University, as speakers in a Sep 18, 2026 update on its event page. SpaceNews also lists Nicola Fox of NASA’s Science Mission Directorate and Derek Tournear of Auburn University as event speakers. SpaceNews places the symposium on its calendar for October 26-28 at the University of Alabama in Huntsville and notes that registration is open with the agenda available. SpaceNews includes these names among industry leaders for the symposium.

Journalists seeking interviews with NASA speakers during the event should contact Lance D. Davis at lance.d.davis@nasa.gov or Joel Wallace at joel.w.wallace@nasa.gov. Davis is based at Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, and is reachable at 256-640-9065 or lance.d.davis@nasa.gov. The notice closes with Davis’s office location, phone number, and email address. Journalists who want to attend in person or online must contact the American Astronomical Society to register.

The advisory carries number M26-004 from Marshall Space Flight Center. La Primera en Línea reproduced the notice with that advisory number included. The organizer offers separate in-person, virtual, student, and media registration paths. Arc says the organizer publishes these separate access routes for the symposium.

For in-person attendance, AAS members pay $750, non-members pay $875, government and academia pay $795, and students with valid ID pay $125. Virtual attendance is $150 for AAS members, $200 for non-members, $150 for government and academia, and $25 for students with valid ID. AAS posted these prices on its event page for the Huntsville meeting.

Free registration is available to the first 20 college and university students who apply. The society asks students to email aas@astronautical.org for the code. AAS moved the student poster contest submission deadline to September 23, 2026. The society announced the extension in its news and updates section.