U.S. Space Force

The 2026 conference marks NTSA’s 60th anniversary and centers on the U.S. Army lead-service theme, “Beyond the Battlefield: Training Readiness and Lethality for All-Domain Dominance!” The program combines executive presentations, technical papers, tutorials, professional development workshops, special events, and Next Big Thing talks focused on modeling, simulation, training, education, AI, autonomous systems, synthetic environments, operational test and evaluation, acquisition modernization, digital engineering, digital twins, cyber and information warfare, and the defense industrial base. Featured content includes an Industry Keynote by Brandon Tseng, President & Co-Founder, Shield AI; a Featured Government Keynote by Amy Henninger, SES, Ph.D., Director, Operational Test and Evaluation (DOT&E), DoW; and senior-leader discussions involving LTGEN Austin, USMC; MAJ GEN Cropsey, USAF; and MAJ GEN Smith, USSF. Special events include the Congressional M&S Caucus; Digital First discussions on defense acquisition through AI, digital engineering, simulation, and digital twins; Building an AI Ready Military Force; a Naval Aviation Flag Officer Panel; NATO mission-space digital twins; Air Force maintenance training; cyber, electromagnetic, wargaming, and information warfare; and program briefs on training acquisition and the All-Domain Marine. The program also includes perspectives from government, industry, academia, and international partners.

The program focuses on training readiness and lethality for all-domain dominance, with papers, tutorials, workshops, special events, and exhibits on modeling, simulation, training, and education. Topics include military AI and autonomy; synthetic training; digital engineering and digital twins; defense acquisition and sustainment; wargaming; human performance and extended reality; cyber and electronic warfare; and skilled-trades workforce development for national security. Senior-leader discussions address translating operational needs into training capabilities, acquisition priorities, military AI, and service modernization. Other sessions cover NATO mission-space digital twins, small-arms direct-fire science and technology, data-driven readiness, and digital engineering ecosystems. The conference is hosted by the National Training and Simulation Association, an affiliate of the National Defense Industrial Association. Attendance is open to Five Eyes partners, NATO member countries, and countries that profess neutrality.

The program focuses on weapon-system maintenance and sustainment, readiness, and defense industrial base revitalization. Plenary and breakout sessions examine acquisition authorities and faster capability delivery; domestic manufacturing, industrial-base investment, and workforce capacity; contested logistics and forward maintenance; munitions lifecycle management; resilient supply chains; and the application of AI, advanced manufacturing, software, and digital engineering to sustainment. Specific discussions include the Portfolio Acquisition Executive authorities under the Warfighting Acquisition System; the Major Weapon Systems and Critical Munitions Readiness Campaign Plan; EO 14415 supply-chain mapping and illumination; and public-private co-production, technical data and right to repair, intellectual property, and capital requirements for industrial-base expansion. The Weapon Systems Software Summit covers applied AI and autonomous systems, DevSecOps and software factories, cybersecurity and Zero Trust, digital engineering, data and cloud architecture, acquisition policy, and workforce and talent management. Associated forums address corrosion prevention, provisioning and cataloging, defense working-capital funds, depot capabilities, allied co-sustainment, and supply-chain risk management. The program also includes a Maintenance Innovation Challenge and a co-located Maintenance and Logistics Exhibition with a Maintenance Yard.

SpaceCom, in collaboration with NASA, focuses on commercialization, procurement, investment, partnerships, and business growth across the space economy. Its tracks cover infrastructure, manufacturing, mobility, market demand, investment trends, procurement priorities, lunar and cislunar initiatives, emerging technologies, commercial low Earth orbit destinations, AI, and autonomy. Program themes include Artemis cadence and architecture, supply-chain readiness, workforce and industrial execution, lunar infrastructure, robotics, human systems, commercial space stations, nuclear power and propulsion, science missions, orbital manufacturing, and space traffic management. Sessions address space-infrastructure co-investment, manufacturing bottlenecks, commercial procurement and scale, policy and governance, spacecraft servicing, cybersecurity, AI-enabled operations, lunar resource systems, and commercial investment. Headline keynotes include invited NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman and retired NASA astronaut Clayton Anderson.

The week combines the SATELLITE Conference, GovMilSpace, a peer-evaluated Tech Seminar, an executive Inner Circle program, and an exhibit hall. Topics include satellite finance, M&A and market structure; 5G non-terrestrial networks and the road to 6G; direct-to-device connectivity; AI in satellite operations; software-defined networks; sovereign networks; launch economics; and ground-segment modernization. GovMilSpace addresses acquisition and commercial integration, resilient architectures, GEOINT, PNT, defense constellation services, optical communications, and the space industrial base. The Tech Seminar covers ground architecture, spectrum, propulsion, AI, and in-space operations, with white papers accompanying its technical sessions. The program also includes discussions of satellite manufacturing costs and supply-chain pressures, spectrum policy ahead of WRC-27, satellite-network security and interference testing, and orbital logistics. Some Inner Circle briefings and roundtables are exclusive to that executive program.