ASCENDANTS
This exclusive community of passionate thought leaders are dedicated to preserving a debris-free off-world environment.
Meet the 2025 ASCENDANTS
The 2025 ASCENDANTS shared their passion and excitement for a sustainable off-world future in Las Vegas, Tuesday, 22 July 2025.
NIGERIA
Adeife Ayomide Jide-Omole
Associate, International Aviation Law, AQE
CAMEROON
Charles-Aime Nzeussi Mbouendeu
Environmental, Social, and Corporate Governance & Climate Action Specialist, SES Satellites
ETHIOPIA
Eden Abeselom Habteslasie
Aerospace Engineer, Space Science and Geospatial Institute
INDONESIA
Farah Diya Yasmine
Legislative Drafter, Secretariat General for the House of Representatives, Republic of Indonesia
NEW ZEALAND
Fay Ghani
Research Technologist, Center for Regenerative Biotherapeutics
UNITED STATES
Hohmann Kline
Advanced Systems Engineer, Virgin Galactic
SOUTH KOREA
Antonio (KangSan Kim) Stark
Global Alliance Lead, ispace, Inc.
ARGENTINA
Marcelo German Boldt
Structural Engineer, POLARIS Spaceplanes
NIGERIA
Oluwarantimi Bukola
Project Manager, Vortyx Space
INDIA
Rashika Sugganahalli Natesh Babu
PhD Student, Stevens Institute of Technology
Our ASCENDANTS Are from All Over the World!
Browse the map and hover over each dot to view ASCENDANTS essays from previous years.
You can use the controls on the top left to navigate and zoom in.
2025 ASCENDANTS Op-Eds
The 2025 ASCENDANTS cohort are influential thinkers and emerging leaders from around the globe. These individuals represent an exclusive ASCEND community built over the past five years of exceptionally minded and passionate activists devoted to realizing a sustainable future beyond Earth. These authors are the featured speakers in a series of rapid-fire lightning talks highlighting their vision for a sustainable space ecosystem. What needs to happen for space to be more transparent, more predictable? How can we use a globally accessible pool of evidence to help us make decisions and hold people accountable for their behaviors in this shared domain?
Past ASCENDANTS Highlights
2025 ASCEND Session: ASCENDANTS
About the ASCENDANTS
Created in partnership with renowned astrodynamicist Moriba Jah, co-founder/chief scientist at Privateer and Associate Professor of Aerospace Engineering and Engineering Mechanics at the University of Texas, ASCENDANTS is the exclusive ASCEND community of thought leaders and activists whose intellectual and emotional commitment to keeping the off-world environment sustainable knows no bounds.
“ASCENDANTS is centered on the belief that we’re more similar than we are different, and action is best when born from compassion,” says Jah, a space environmentalist advancing our ability to understand how human objects in space create both services and risks of collisions.
In an effort to address this topic, and coming from a place of honoring and respecting the relationships and relatedness among all things, as well as of acting with compassion, Moriba Jah has partnered with ASCEND to create a one-of-a-kind annual event that invokes unique voices from humanity to tell the world about salient issues in space safety, security, and sustainability.
ASCEND’s ASCENDANTS members have the opportunity to:
- Craft an impactful opinion essay that will be shared with the ASCEND community.
- Present visionary ideas as a thought leader at the ASCEND event.
- Unleash new opportunities by expanding professional networks.
ASCENDANTS members also receive:
- Roundtrip coach airfare to the ASCEND conference
- ASCEND registration
- Accommodations for three nights at an official event hotel
