Now, more than ever, we must come together as an industry to continue to further our efforts in aerospace and AIAA is here to help. ASCEND 2026 exists to serve the aerospace profession as part of its core mission. With 2,000+ attendees, 130+ sessions, and 190 technical papers with speakers representing the entire industry, the event focuses on helping engineers, scientists, and technologists expand their knowledge and stay current with developments in their fields to accelerate space commerce, exploration, and discovery.

The program is strengthened through expanded content partnerships with organizations including the Commercial Space Federation (CSF), The Aerospace Corporation, ISS National Laboratory, BryceTech, the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum, and the Space Force Association (SFA). These collaborations bring curated content and broader participation across civil, commercial, and national security space communities.

Top Reasons to Participate in ASCEND 2026

• Gain knowledge and insights to help you do your job; find all of the sessions and topics relevant to you by using the search feature or selecting the topics filter in the program.
• Find out what lies ahead, as leaders in aerospace and related fields discuss their programs, challenges, and solutions during keynote and panel sessions.
• Expand your knowledge, as expert engineers and scientists from around the world share their latest research and development findings in the technical program.
• Gain access to the online proceedings when you register at the full conference price.
• Network, advance your organization’s brand, discuss challenges, and share ideas during technical sessions, luncheons, coffee breaks, Expo Hall and social activities.
• Build your workforce. ASCEND will attract hundreds of aerospace students and young professionals – your future workforce.

If you prefer to draft your own request form, here are some suggestions you may wish to consider:

• Focus on what you will bring back to your organization as a result of your participation, so your supervisor understands the return on investment.
• Offer to share the agenda with your supervisor and colleagues to see if there are topics/sessions you can attend to bring back information of interest.
• Offer to prepare a trip report and deliver a short presentation to your colleagues to share what you learned from the event.
• Remember that registering for the full conference gives you access to all technical papers presented during the forum.