SpEC Ignites Collaboration at 39th Annual Space Symposium

The Space Enterprise Consortium (SpEC) Other Transaction Authority (OTA) made a big impact at the 39th Annual Space Symposium Conference, held in Colorado Springs at The Broadmoor. At this four-day event, leaders from around the world come together to discuss, address and plan for the future of space. Space Symposium is the biggest annual space technology conference in the nation. This year, over 10,000 people from more than 40 countries participated, displaying a unified approach for addressing innovation in space.

SpEC Member Event

On April 8th, SpEC hosted a member event at Space System Command (SSC)’s new facility located at 2424 Garden of the Gods.

The event kicked off with opening remarks by NSTXL CMO Shelley Tweedy, who introduced the event and the SpEC team, followed by SpEC Director Mike Malinowski who presented a summary of SpEC highlights and briefly covered open opportunities. Next, Mr. Brian Delong, Chief Technology Officer of U.S. Space Force gave a facility review. This exclusive event also featured Mr. Jonwa Kim, Acting Senior Material Leader, Strategic Missile Warning Ground Acquisition Delta (SNG) Space Systems Command (SSC), Space Sensing Directorate (SN) and Mr. Alvaro “Al” Matos, Enterprise Interoperability Chief Engineer. It also featured a panel discussion with Lieutenant Colonel Julia Faustman, SDA, Major Sean Allen, Chief, SDA TAP Lab and Ms. Jennifer Pittman, National Space Defense Center, moderated by Major Phillip Duddles, SpEC Program Manager, SSC.

To wrap up, Mike Malinowski gifted a special plaque of appreciation to Maj. Duddles for his work for the SpEC OTA in his time as Program Manager. After the award, Maj. Duddles officially passed the baton to Captain Cooke, who will now serve as SpEC Program Manager.

The event wrapped up with a networking reception, where members were encouraged to connect and team with other like-minded individuals in the industry over small plates and beverages. With over 158 members in attendance, the in-person event proved to be valuable both for members and Government partners alike.

Conference Highlights

Throughout the conference, the SpEC team hosted many member and Government conversations at the SpEC booth, including a Col TALX session with Colonel Joseph Roth, MMARC Program Team Briefings and more.

In his Col TALX session, Maj. Duddles sat with Col. Roth at the booth for a Q&A session surrounding some of the innovation and prototyping initiatives going on within SSC over the coming months. Col. Roth was introduced as the innovation and prototyping delta commander located in Kirtland Airforce Base in Albuquerque, NM, with geographically separated units in LA and Houston, to name a few. Together, Duddles and Roth gave an overview of SpEC, pointing out that, to date, the SpEC OTA has seen 121 prototype awards, or $3.4B in negotiate value. They also laid out how SpEC is supporting the prototyping needs for Space Systems Command (SSC), Air Force Research Lab (AFRL) and more.

After the Q&A, Col. Roth opened the floor for attendees to ask ad hoc questions. Shortly after, Col. Roth thanked any members for being a part of the consortium, highlighted the significance of SpEC members, and spoke on the threat and importance of ensuring we are deterring conflict in space and, as a result, ensuring less U.S. conflict on the ground.

In summary, SpEC’s member event, exhibition at Space Symposium, and Col TALX session paved the way for many invaluable conversations between members, industry-Government interactions and insights into Space Force itself. We thank all those who attended the member event and visited us at our booth, and e look forward to seeing you again at the next exclusive SpEC member event.

About NSTXL
NSTXL is focused on building a network of innovators and creators across the most sought-after emerging technology fields. As an open-source platform, our approach was designed to encourage network growth and collaboration without stifling change. NSTXL supports their network by providing commercial-term contracting, open-source technology discovery, modern-day marketing outreach, a strongly interconnected network for easy teaming, and cybersecurity compliance support.

About SpEC

The Space Enterprise Consortium (SpEC) was created in 2017 to bridge the cultural gap between military buyers and commercial space startups and small businesses through Other Transaction Authorities (OTA).  The OTA innovative contracting process allows SpEC to solicit bids from a mix of member companies including companies that have not previously done work with the Department of Defense.  SSC recently awarded management of the SpEC OTA to NSTXL to expedite the contracting between government and industry.  NSTXL is focused on building a network of innovators and creators across the most sought-after emerging technology fields.