2026 Hawaii SBIR Conference on MAUI

Focuses on moving Indo-Pacific strategy into implementation through operational readiness, deterrence, forward force posture, alliances and partnerships, defense industrial capacity, and regional economic resilience. Themes include delivering combat power forward through speed, scale, and sustainment; coalition integration and networked deterrence; mobilizing industrial capacity; decision advantage through AI, data, and the information domain; and securing supply chains and strategic resources. Discussion topics include distributed logistics and sustainment, forward maintenance and repair, space-enabled sensing and missile defense, information-sharing and interoperability, integration of Pacific Island nations, production and repair acceleration, acquisition and contracting authorities, allied industrial capacity, private investment, operational uses of AI and data, and manufacturing and energy investments that reduce strategic vulnerabilities. The forum emphasizes operational examples, identifying barriers to execution, connecting industry and venture capital with government needs, and developing actionable recommendations for policymakers, planners, and industry.

The program addresses Executive Order implementation, the FAA Reauthorization Act, secure supply chains and the FCC Covered List, aircraft certification, and airspace coordination. Featured officials include Steven Haines, Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Industry & Analysis; Congresswoman Dina Titus; and Senator Peter Welch. Sessions examine NASA’s plans for future air transportation; federal agency UAS operations and procurement; FAA EIPP progress; state and local pathways for advanced air mobility; vertiports, corridors, grid integration, and spectrum allocation; large-UAS operational approvals; collision avoidance and detect-and-avoid; FCC enforcement; automated flight rules; retail and commercial drone markets; and the policy agenda for drones and AAM. Further program topics include counter-UAS policy for major events, Part 146 certification, industry responses to NPRM 2209, air traffic control investment, coordination between first-responder and commercial drone operations, UAS supply-chain security and domestic manufacturing, cellular integration and spectrum access, U.S. export opportunities, EU certifications and cybersecurity regulations, and state, local, and tribal drone operations.

The summit presents an integrated, three-track program connecting aviation, advanced air mobility, space, and defense through shared priorities in supply chains, testbeds, capital, and workforce. Tracks are Flightline (Advanced Air Mobility & Aviation), Orbitline (Space & Space-Enabled Services), and Frontline (Defense, Dual-Use & Manufacturing). Sessions address Arizona entry points into U.S. and allied aerospace ecosystems; corridors, ranges, manufacturing capacity, and emerging spaceports for pilots and multi-domain experiments; intersections of aerospace with microelectronics, biosciences, AI, and advanced manufacturing; and converting strategy into pilots, partnerships, commitments, mission briefs, and Global Aerospace Commitments for 2030.

Hosted by WGA Chair and Hawaiʻi Governor Josh Green, the meeting includes a discussion of Pacific prosperity and U.S. regional security, including how states, territories, and the federal government can identify and mitigate emerging risks, strengthen regional resilience, and advance shared security and prosperity. A panel on energy infrastructure examines how states, developers, and local leaders can align large projects with growing electricity demand while supporting local economies and delivering lasting benefits to host communities. Other agenda topics include workplace substance misuse, mental health, and worker safety under the Health Beyond Healthcare initiative; and tourism policies and educational campaigns that help communities honor their homelands and heritage while supporting sustainable economic development.

The program combines a shared market program with concurrent Capital, Markets & Deal Strategy and Energy Innovation & Investment tracks. Sessions address capital availability, tax equity and credit transfers, private credit, project bankability, investment risk, insurance, and the effects of policy and market changes on project finance. Topics include macroeconomic and geopolitical forces affecting U.S. energy investment; capital deployment across renewables, gas-fired generation, storage, transmission, and digital infrastructure; financing firm power amid rising electricity demand; and project-finance trends and capital sources. The innovation track covers emerging energy asset classes, post-tax-credit renewable and storage economics, AI and data-center power demand, permitting and commercialization barriers, small modular reactor economics, construction risk, geothermal, long-duration storage, and distributed energy. Closing discussions consider which energy technologies and business models may scale by 2030, what makes infrastructure bankable, and investment lifecycle strategies including M&A, value creation, and exits.

The symposium focuses on space and missile defense, with organization updates from Space and Missile Defense Command, Space Command, Golden Dome for America’s Direct Report Program Manager, T2COM, CUAS, Northern Command, PAE Fires, the Missile Defense Agency, and space and missile defense companies. Panel themes include SPACECOM, Missile Defense System Next, International Space, INDOPACOM, industry, next-generation space and missile defense, and PAE Fires. The program also includes a technology track with technical paper presentations, a small-business showcase, and an exhibit hall featuring technology and products.

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.

The 2027 forum theme, “Resilience in a Changing World,” examines tools, approaches, and breakthroughs intended to strengthen resilience across aerospace, defense, and the broader engineering enterprise amid rapid technological and global change. The program combines technical sessions focused on research and technologies addressing specific problems with plenary and Forum 360 sessions on issues affecting aerospace. It serves civil, commercial, and national security sectors and connects academic, industry, and government professionals. Featured speakers include James Kenyon, Associate Administrator of NASA’s Research and Technology Mission Directorate; Daniel Hettema, Director of Digital Engineering, Modeling & Simulation at the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering; and Sha-Chelle Devlin Manning, Chief of Commercial Strategy at DARPA.

A premier aerospace R&D forum exploring the science, technologies, and capabilities transforming aerospace. The 2027 theme, “Resilience in a Changing World,” focuses on adaptation and innovation across aerospace, defense, and the broader engineering enterprise. Featured speakers include Tim Costa, Vice President and General Manager for Industrial and Computational Engineering at NVIDIA; Kerri Phillips, Technical Director for Missiles at Hanwha Defense USA; Will Roper, Founder and CEO of Istari Digital; and Brig. Gen. Douglas P. Wickert, USAF, Commander of the Air Force Research Laboratory.