45 young professionals and students participated in the 9th annual EMER-GEN® program for an immersive experience requiring innovation, teamwork, and leadership. A joint initiative of the AMOS Conference and the Space Generation Advisory Council (SGAC), the program presented by the Maui Economic Development Board (MEDB), continues to cultivate and equip the next generation of space leaders.
Through a variety of activities – flash mentoring, policy game, innovation challenge, interactive presentations – the cohort were engaged in lively discussions and brainstorming sessions. They were also exposed to networking opportunities to foster connections to help nurture their careers. Designed for young professionals and students enthusiastic about careers in space, the cohort included nineteen Hawaii-based participants.
“We are grateful for the many space industry leaders that contributed their time and expertise to the program,” said Annette Lynch, Program Director, Conference Services with MEDB and manager of the EMER-GEN Program. “Whether it is delivering a presentation, mentoring the delegates, or helping us in the months prior to shape the program, it’s a valuable contribution making an impact on the next generation.”
The three young professionals on the planning committee helped to shape the specific challenges and topics within the program. Two representatives were nominated by SGAC – Vatasta Koul is a student at the Kyushu Institute of Technology and The Institute of Statistical Mathematics in Fukuoka, Japan; and Nate McCoun is a Senior Space Systems Engineer with a.i. solutions. They were joined by Maui resident, Liliana Royer, an Application Engineer at the Maui High Performance Computing Center.
Challenge to Secure the Lunar Frontier
A series of three pre-webinars were presented to introduce participants to its central themes and prepare them before they met on Maui, Hawaii for the two-and-a-half-day immersive program. Webinar one introduced this year’s Innovation Challenge – centered on designing an integrated architecture for securing the lunar frontier, encompassing autonomous operations, defense, commercial viability, and international policy. The challenge was designed by planning committee member Nate McCoun with the assistance of long-time supporter of the program, Tom Kubancik of Trusted Space.
McCoun stated the core challenge question: ” How can we develop an integrated architecture for “Securing the Lunar Frontier” that enables persistent, autonomous operations through the lunar night while simultaneously establishing a resilient defense posture, a profitable commercial marketplace, and a policy framework that ensures long-term sustainability and cooperation for all of humanity? “
Keynote speaker Jerry Krassner provided a historical overview of cislunar studies over the past five years (including domain awareness, national security, and economic studies.) On securing the lunar frontier he emphasized the need for safe, predictable operating environments for both manned and robotic operations; highlighted the importance of accepted norms of behavior as foundational to investor confidence and conflict reduction.
A second webinar brought together a panel of experts to discuss the challenge from different perspectives. — Kyle Charles, Sr Director, Space Operations and Training, Trusted Space; Dr. Diane Davis, Associate Professor, Texas A&M University: Justin Kugler, Sr Director of Business Development, Intuitive Machines; and Victoria Samson, Chief Director, Space Security and Stability, Secure World Foundation.
Key themes included the rapid growth of cislunar traffic, the need for updated governance and debris disposal policies, the importance of domain awareness, and the blurring of civil and military space roles. A recurring warning across all speakers — the cislunar environment is consistently and significantly underestimated in complexity.
Teams for the challenge were announced once onsite, and they had just 3 hours on the final day of EMER-GEN to brainstorm and formulate their ideas and solutions to come up with a 6-minute pitch for a panel of judges. The three judges were: Paul Kervin, AFRL, retired and AMOS Technical Chair; Arthur Grijalva, SpaceWERX; and Kawai Hall, KBR.
“What was really impressive was the range of ideas,” said McCoun. “We had concepts ranging from autonomous lunar navigation, multiple approaches to surviving the lunar night by using deployable mirrors and assets in space to redirect sunlight, atomic clocks distributed across the lunar surface and intelligent infrastructure for operating throughout the lunar domain. But more importantly, the teams didn’t just focus on the technology. They really bought into the intent of the challenge and considered the business case, the security implications, and the long-term sustainability of what they were proposing.”
The winner of the 2026 EMER-GEN Innovation Challenge was Ahi O Mahina, which translates to ‘fire of the moon’. The judges thought that their solution, to provide sunlight on demand for the lunar night, was innovative and possible. Engraved bamboo surfboard trophies were awarded to all team members — Carter Franz, Trusted Space; Jaxson Pahukula, KBR; Justin Kellum, LaunchDetect; Matthew Madayag, University of Hawaii Manoa; Xela Makanani Burke, Hawaii Space Flight Laboratory.
“Teamwork was the main takeaway that allowed us to enhance our innovation process,” said Kellum. “When we first started we all had ideas and as a team voted through them until we settled on a consensus and focused on creating the most innovative pitch possible.”
Teams work on their project during the EMER-GEN Innovation Challenge
Arthur Grijalva, Kawaii Halland Paul Kervin, judges of EMER-GEN 2026
Winning team of the EMER-GEN 2026 Innovation Challenge – Ahi O Mahina
Teams collaborate and negotiate during the Great Policy Game at EMER-GEN 2026
Jeff Schloemer (left) assisted presenter Tahara Dawkins (right) to facilitate and guide the cohort during the Great Policy Game
The Great Policy Game
A third pre-webinar set up the Great Policy Game, designed and presented by Tahara Dawkins of Astroscale. This year’s game was an interactive real-life scenario titled, ‘Shadow Constellation — Registration, Responsibility, and the Race for Orbit.’ Dawkins was joined on the webinar by Diane Howard, Principal, sur l’espace PLLC who delivered a comprehensive overview of the international space law framework, covering the five UN space treaties, key articles of the Outer Space Treaty, the Liability Convention, and the Registration Convention.
During the game at EMER-GEN, the cohort was split into 12 Actors/roles that made up four teams. Specific instructions and objectives were provided for each role and to each team as to what they knew and how they would respond to an incident occurring in orbit. Jeff Schloemer of Astroscale was also present to assist Dawkins and the cohort with the game.
“This wasn’t a purely hypothetical exercise,” said Vatasta Koul, who’s role on the planning committee was to help with the policy game. “Commercial space activity today is genuinely multinational and modular, yet the governing frameworks were potentially built for a simpler world. Over the course of the session, the delegates worked through several difficult questions together.”
“Questions mattered more than answers,” continued Koul. “The cohort raised a substantial number of questions throughout the session. In a domain where technology has outpaced the law, asking the right question is often as important as arriving at a confident answer.”
Local Culture Introduction
The cohort met in-person on Maui on Sunday, September 13 with an Aloha Reception at the Wailea Beach Resort, providing the opportunity to connect over dinner and ice-breaking activities.
The following morning, the program opened with a cultural keynote by Devin Chu, the Resident Astronomer at the ‘Imiloa Astronomy Center, who spoke of how the Native Hawaiian science of voyaging and wayfinding was an impressive, and well-crafted practice, propelling migration and exploration across thousands of miles, without any western instrumentation.
“We wanted our diverse cohort to gain a sense of appreciation for what it means to be here, having this conference, in Hawai’i.” said planning committee member Liliana Royer. “Native Hawaiians were excellent astronomers, using star compasses, star lines, and other mental constructs to enable them to make the necessary precise decisions to bring them home to the islands in the middle of the Pacific.”
Royer concluded, “The cohort were left with the understanding of what it means to acknowledge the space that we occupy. That underneath the stories of science discovery and cultural revitalization, is the greater message of consistently driving change and innovation.”
Devin Chu of ‘Imiloa Astronomy Center introduced the EMER-GEN cohort to Native Hawaiian science of voyaging and wayfinding
The morning session continued with a presentation by Doug Loverro titled “Can Space Traffic Management make it to Adulthood?” He listed the challenges of operating within the rules that currently exist, agreeing upon new rules to enforce, legislating/enforcing those rules and then how to balance between regulation and innovation.
Loverro was joined by two guest speakers, Mike Hoot of Space X and Amber Charlesworth of Amazon LEO, to provide perspectives on the solutions being driven by current industry leaders. Delegates were then challenged to draft their own new rules for space traffic management, taking after the industry practices of ephemeris sharing, while also adding provisions about ensuring 24/hr hotlines and environmental regulations regarding planned demise.
The exercise gave delegates an understanding of the complexity of centralization, information sharing, and how customary practices fall short in the absence of space law.
Doug Loverro instructs EMER-GEN 2026 delegates
Career Mentoring
Every year the EMER-GEN program draws upon the broad AMOS Conference community to mentor and guide the young professionals and students. The flash mentoring session was preceded by a brief panel of EMER-GEN alum to share their tips and insights for making the most out of attending big events as a young professional. Thirteen mentors then took their seats for the main event where they would spend short, focused rounds with a group of 3-4 delegates to answer their questions and share their own career transitions and pathways – from academia into industry, from research into policy, and more.
Mentors participating this year were: Michael Barton, a.i. solutions; Amber Charlesworth, Amazon Leo; Heather Cowardin, NASA Johnson Space Center; Steph Earle, DOT/FAA Office of Commercial Space Transportation; Eric Felt, University of Texas El Paso; Chris Grant, Hyperion Vector Systems; Jacqui Hoover, Hawaii Economic Development Board; Moriba Jah, GaiaVerse; Ron Lopez, Astroscale; Doug Loverro, Loverro Consulting, LLC; Jeff Sherk, The Aerospace Corporation; Alex Shi, Secure World Foundation; and Valerie Skarupa, Darkstar Space, LLC.
Justin Kellum said about the mentoring, “My biggest takeaway was that we need to get everyone all across the world into the same room together to talk about what’s important to them and what’s important to us and figure out how can we come to solutions together.”
Mentors joined the cohort in a more informal and relaxing setting at the Pau Hana reception that followed.
EMER-GEN Alum Panel 2026 L to R: Emily Gerber, Ten One Solutions; Matthew Lugo, Privateer; Kristin Shahady, Intuitive Machines; Michael Barton, a.i. solutions; Zack Stein, HiFocus; and moderator Yosef Onodera, MEDB.
Steph Earle, FAA (left) mentors a group at EMER-GEN 2026
Alex Shi, Secure World Foundation, shares career advice during EMER-GEN 2026
Technical Short Course
As part of EMER-GEN, delegates could enroll in an AMOS Conference Technical Short Course led by experts in space situational awareness (SSA). These focused sessions strengthened practical knowledge and provided insight into emerging work across a range of specialties. This year’s offerings explored machine learning, uncertainty propagation, sensor scheduling, cislunar education and hands-on space mission analysis.
Summary
This year’s EMER-GEN offered opportunities for the cohort to network with peers and industry leaders through the interactive sessions, breakfasts, lunches, and social receptions. It concluded with a closing session announcing the winners of the Innovation Challenge and reflecting on the cohort’s achievements.
“EMER-GEN was really fun with a great mix of young professionals and industry people that have the opportunity to learn from each other,” said Matthew Madayag, a student at University of Hawaii Manoa.
“EMER-GEN was an incredible experience that combined learning, mentorship, and networking in a very meaningful way,” offered Srikant Sahoo of Rand Corporation. “The mentoring felt super personal and tailored to each participant’s goals and needs. Getting to meet fellow young professionals and learn about the exciting work they’re doing across the space industry was one of my favorite parts. Overall, it was a great opportunity to learn, connect, and grow.”
Jasper Hudson from Australian Astronomical Optics shared, “It’s been really great to meet a lot of people that I wouldn’t meet outside of my normal work and be able to develop relationships with them. I think international collaboration is hugely important because not only does space belong to everyone, but we want to work with it together as we’re able to do much more than we would just by ourselves.”
“EMER-GEN is a great place for young professionals and aspiring professionals to connect and collaborate in a creative space,” concluded Xela Makanani-Burke, Hawaii Space Flight Laboratory.
EMER-GEN and the AMOS Conference are presented by the Maui Economic Development Board, Inc. (MEDB), a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit corporation established in 1982 with a mission to diversify Maui County’s economy, building pathways to innovation, jobs and opportunity for our residents. Through partnerships with the public and private sector, MEDB undertakes projects that assist growth industries with navigating and thriving in our county, educates and trains residents for new careers, and engages our community in forums that determine future economic directions.
Mahalo to Geo sponsors Privateer and Trusted Space for their support of EMER-GEN, along with LEO supporters Astroscale and Advanced Space.
Save the dates for 2027—EMER-GEN Program on September 12-14 followed by the AMOS Conference September 14-17.
Networking at EMER-GEN 2026
Mentors join the Networking at EMER-GEN 2026
Networking at EMER-GEN 2025