The Commander of U.S. Space Command, General Stephen N. Whiting, will keynote the 27th annual AMOS Conference to be held on Maui September 15-18. Presented by Maui Economic Development Board (MEDB), the AMOS Conference is the premier technical conference in the nation devoted to space situational/domain awareness.
As the Commander of U.S. Space Command, General Whiting is responsible for defending U.S. and Allied interests in the space domain while providing space-enabled combat effects to joint warfighters around the globe. He exercises combatant command authority over Soldiers, Marines, Sailors, Airmen, and Guardians operating ground and space-based systems around the world.
A 1989 distinguished graduate of the U.S. Air Force Academy with a degree in aeronautical engineering, General Whiting is a space operations officer and has commanded the 13th Space Warning Squadron; the 614th Air and Space Operations Center and Joint Space Operations Center; the 21st Space Wing; and the Combined Force Space Component Command and 14th Air Force. Read full bio
“We’re honored to welcome General Whiting back to Maui in September,” said Annette Lynch, Program Director Conference Services with MEDB. “He inspired the audience in 2018, and then again during our all-virtual AMOS in 2020, and it’s especially meaningful to host him now as a four-star general.”
General Stephen N. Whiting, Commander, U.S. Space Command will give the opening Keynote for the 2026 AMOS Conference
Bringing together policymakers and experts from the private sector, academia, the military, and government agencies, the conference attracts papers and presentations from the world’s foremost scientists and leaders working in /SDA. The AMOS program features keynote speakers, policy forum topics, featured presentations, technical sessions, technical short courses and an exhibit venue.
AMOS Policy Forum
The AMOS Policy Forum is a series of paired keynotes and panel discussions that lead each of the three days of the conference and focus on specific policy topics relevant to the AMOS community. A collaboration with Secure World Foundation, the Policy Forum brings together the developers and implementers of SSA capabilities and the thought-leaders of SSA policy to discuss a landscape that is rapidly evolving.
The Day 1 keynote with General Whiting will be followed by a Policy Forum panel on “Much Ado About Tracking: Navigating Dual-Use SSA.” The technologies used for civilian SSA can also be used to monitor military satellites or space assets of adversarial nations. This is especially true for some of the new in-space SSA constellations. There is an increasingly blurred line between inspector satellites and SSA satellites and as the U.S. government continues to turn to space as a service model, this makes the line between what is/not a military space capability amorphous.
The panel will discuss considerations for SSA operators and providers and what the current state is of policies and governance mechanisms, with the goal of providing clarity to both sides for how to allow this evolution to continue while also ensuring a stable, predictable space environment for all.
On Day 2 of AMOS, Mike Nicholls, SVP, Starlink, SpaceX will deliver a keynote address before a panel discussion on “Where Does Basic SSA Service Begin and End?” Government space safety systems are in the process of defining and operationalizing basic SSA and space safety services. Programs such as TraCSS and EU-SST have been working jointly to research and map alignment between offerings as the baseline services are defined. At the same time, a United Nations Expert Group is seeking to establish basic space traffic coordination principles at the international level; and a leading satellite operator has announced a system to provide free of charge certain public SSA services based on information collected through operations. Throughout all of these, a still-emerging commercial SSA industry is working to build out value-added services and products based on SSA information and analysis.
This discussion will center on the question of what is the basic minimum SSA information or service that should be provided as free or public good and the models for doing so, while at the same time enabling commercial or fee-based services to develop.
Mike Nicolls will give the keynote on Day 2 of AMOS 2026
The Policy Forum on Friday will focus on “Mind the Gap: Coordinating Launch, Tracking, and Re-entry.” As launch operations increase in tempo and become more routine occurrences, the need to address a number of operational challenges in the integration of SSA information into launch operations become more acute. These issues including addressing and reducing the “COLA gap;” clarifying the respective roles of satellite and launch operators in identification and tracking immediately after separation; improving SSA information related to re-entry of space objects and launch vehicles; and addressing growing questions around the integration of launch activities into air traffic operations.
This panel will discuss current policy and operational efforts to address these issues and examine where progress has been made to date. It will also look at how best to improve integration of launch operations into national and international space traffic coordination systems.
Featured Presentations
Featured presentations are sprinkled through the program including Brian Weeden, Director of Civil and Commercial Policy, The Aerospace Corporation; Colonel Russell Teehan, Portfolio Architect, Air Force Space and Missiles System Center; Jeremy Andrews, Director, Science, Technology, & Engineering, SAF/SQT; and Barbara Golf, U.S. Space Force, Strategic Advisor for SDA, Space Systems Command.
There will once again be a featured presentation by leaders of Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) and Space Systems Command (SSC) that will highlight the collaborative framework between the two organizations securing space from vLEO through to CisLunar.
The AMOS conference is hybrid with livestreaming of all oral presentations for those unable to travel to Maui. The high demand to attend led to the early closing of in-person registration and start of a waitlist. Virtual attendees have access to all presentations as well as online networking.
Barb Golf will return to Maui to present at AMOS 2026
The AMOS Conference is preceded by the 9th Annual EMER-GEN® program, a professional development opportunity for young professionals and students enthusiastic about careers in space. A joint initiative with the Space Generation Advisory Council (SGAC) EMER-GEN puts the focus on fostering innovation and entrepreneurship. The program features mentoring sessions with renowned space specialists; networking; technical short courses; and interactive professional development sessions designed to enhance the young professionals’ effectiveness in a global environment.