The 2025 AMOS Conference, presented by Maui Economic Development Board (MEDB) September 16-19 was reported by many to be the best ever with collaboration emerging as a central theme. The top scientific conference in the nation devoted to Space Domain Awareness hosted 1097 in-person attendees and 216 participating virtually, representing a total of 29 countries.
In her welcome remarks, Leslie Wilkins, MEDB President and CEO, said, “Since MEDB assumed stewardship in 2006, AMOS has evolved into a premier global forum for technical experts, policymakers, industry innovators, academics, and international partners — all committed to advancing space sustainability. AMOS is where technical depth meets strategic policy dialogue, forging meaningful collaboration across sectors.”
Held on Maui at the Wailea Beach Resort, the opening segment of the conference included a traditional Hawaiian invocation to bring place and purpose to the week and remind the audience of their Kuleana (responsibility) as stewards of the islands and of the shared space domain.
The annual AMOS Conference program featured daily keynote speakers, policy forums, featured presentations, technical oral and poster sessions, exhibits, technical short courses and networking receptions. Both in-person and livestream attendees had access to a virtual platform to facilitate networking and collaboration before, during and after the conference.
Technical Conference
The Call for Papers early in the year attracted over 300 abstracts from 27 countries resulting in 164 papers being presented at AMOS 2025 as oral or poster presentations. The technical committee with conference co-chairs Paul Kervin and Daron Nishimoto; and twenty session chairs help to shape and guide the integrity of the year’s program. The American Astronautical Society’s Space Surveillance Committee (AAS-SSC) also provide guidance throughout the year. Technical sessions this year covered the topics of Astrodynamics; Atmospherics/Space Weather; Cislunar for SDA; Conjunction/RPO; Machine Learning for SDA Applications; Satellite Characterization; SDA Systems & Instrumentation; Space-Based Assets; Space Debris; and Space Domain Awareness.
Attendees had access to all 100 technical posters through the virtual platform presented in digital format with accompanying briefings. This year AMOS introduced in-person dynamic touchscreen monitors for the presentation of posters in the exhibit venue. Attendees were able scroll through posters at their leisure. In addition, 57 authors were scheduled to present their poster in 10-minute slots during the evening Poster Sessions.
“We were excited to introduce the digital monitors to AMOS after considering it for many years,” said Sandy Ryan, AMOS Conference Director. “Even though some still prefer the traditional print method, overall the reaction was positive. Thank you to all our presenters and attendees for embracing this change with enthusiasm and curiosity.” In-person poster presenters also had an opportunity to give a 30-second pitch on the main stage to attract attendees to view their posters and their presentation. The changes are part of a continuing effort to evolve and elevate the conference experience by providing a platform for more authors to share their technical advances with the SDA community.
Digital touchscreen monitors were introduced this year for the viewing of technical posters.
Awards and Journal Publication
Select papers are invited for a peer-review process for publication in the 2025 Journal of Astronautical Sciences, and on the last day of the conference the AAS-SSC recognized outstanding efforts by presenting awards.
Best Paper for 2025 AMOS Conference was awarded to Roger Hunter, NASA for ‘NASA’s Starling Mission and Space Situational Awareness Implication.’ Allan Shtofenmakher, MIT won the Best Student Paper Award for ‘Optimal Tasking and Scheduling of Satellite Constellations for Space Situational Awareness.’
Four awards were presented for Poster presentations. The Golden Ticket Award was won by Greg Furlich, University of Colorado Boulder for ‘Utilizing Civilian Launches as Live Exercises for Evaluating a Federated Protect and Defend SDA Battle Management System.’ This award goes to the best overall poster – a poster so good that it wins a guaranteed oral presentation slot for the following year.
Most Creative poster is awarded to the poster with the most ambitious goal and/or most unexpected methodology to solve—this year it was presented to Brian McReynolds, U.S. Air Force Academy for ‘Unlocking Accurate Photometric Reconstruction of Dim, Unresolved Point Source Objects with an Event-based Vision Sensor.’
Sarah Luettgen, University of Colorado Boulder won the Newcomer Award as top poster presenting at AMOS for the first time. Her paper is ‘Coupling of Thermosphere-Exosphere Helium Dynamics for Improved Satellite Drag Physics.’
Poster Session Chairs Matthew Stevenson, LeoLabs; and Pat Patterson, Space Dynamics Laboratory, hosted both the Poster Presentations and the Lightning Pitch Presentations. The in-person poster presenters were given the opportunity to give a 30-second pitch on the main stage in three distinct sessions to encourage listeners to come view and hear more about their posters. Stevenson and Patterson were joined by Valerie Skarupa of DarkStar Space to judge and award the Best Poster Lightening Pitch. The award was presented to Ryan Shepperd, Iridium, for his creative pitch for his poster ‘Iridium’s Use of Mean Elements in Collision Assessment.’
Keynotes and Policy Forums
2025 Best Student Paper Award Winner – Allan Shtofenmakher, MIT; and Best Paper Award winner – Roger Hunter, NASA
Poster prize winners from L to R: Zachry Theis, AFRL Space Vehicles (accepting on behalf of Brian McReynolds, U.S. Air Force Academy); Greg Furlich, University of Colorado Boulder; Sarah Luettgen, University of Colorado Boulder; and Ryan Shepperd, Iridium
Day 1
General Chance Saltzman, Chief of Space Operations for the U.S. Space Force, delivered a keynote at the AMOS Conference emphasizing the urgent need to modernize and expand SDA capabilities. He highlighted the importance of collaboration across government, industry, and international partners to avoid operational surprise and maintain strategic advantage in an increasingly contested and congested space environment.
“To win in space, we must understand the domain,” said Saltzman. “We must move beyond just a potpourri of sensors and data into an era of true decision-quality understanding.”
Saltzman praised initiatives like the SDA Tools Application and Processing (TAP) Lab and the Apollo Accelerator for fostering innovation and rapid capability development. He called for a shift from transactional relationships with industry to deeper, trust-based partnerships, and stressed the need for routine interaction to achieve true integration across stakeholders. His remarks underscored the Space Force’s commitment to responsible counter-space campaigning, readiness, and leveraging commercial technologies to enhance mission resilience.
General Chance Saltzman presented the opening keynote at AMOS 2025
The keynote was followed by the first of three AMOS Policy Forums. The panel discussion on ‘International Military Space Domain Awareness (SDA) Sharing,’ moderated by Victoria Samson of the Secure World Foundation, brought together senior defense representatives from the UK, US, Australia, and India to explore collaborative approaches to SDA.
Panelists emphasized the importance of multinational cooperation over competition, highlighting the need for interoperable systems, standardized data formats, and trust-building through joint exercises and agreements.
“The game is the collaboration, not the competition,” said Lieutenant Colonel Amandeep Singh, Officer Commanding, Space Domain Awareness, The Indian Army, Ministry of Defence. He was joined on the panel by Group Captain Nicholas Bewley, Deputy Head Capability – Operations, Royal Air Force; Barbara Golf, Strategic Advisor for Pivot SDA, USSF/SSC and Group Captain Rex Harrison, Director Space Domain Awareness, Defence Australia.
L to R. Victoria Samson, Secure World Foundation; Lieutenant Colonel Amandeep Singh, The Indian Army, Ministry of Defence.; Barbara Golf, USSF/SSC; Group Captain Nicholas Bewley, Royal Air Force (UK); and Group Captain Rex Harrison, Defence Australia
Key themes of this panel included the integration of commercial capabilities, the challenges of classified data exchange, and the evolving role of alliances like NATO, the Quad, and AUKUS. The discussion underscored that while technical progress is accelerating, policy, security, and resourcing hurdles remain, particularly in managing the pace of innovation and ensuring resilience in the face of cyber threats. Looking ahead to 2030, panelists envisioned a more integrated, collaborative SDA environment, but cautioned that code sharing, security tagging, and operational alignment will require sustained effort and innovation.
Day 2
Keynoting on Day 2, Aarti Holla-Maini, Director of the United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs (UNOOSA) provided a recorded presentation and followed up with live Q&A with the in-person audience. She emphasized the urgent need for global cooperation and multilateral governance to ensure the long-term sustainability of outer space.
“UNOOSA is first and foremost secretariat to COPUOS, the Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space,” said Holla-Maini. “The office is also a capacity builder. We help member states deepen their knowledge and understanding around complex issues, all the way from rights and obligations under space law to current important topics such as SSA, STC, and more generally other space sustainability issues.”
She pointed out that while industry expertise is vital, decision-making must remain member state–driven to build trust and legitimacy. Through initiatives like the UN Space Bridge and Space Sustainability Days, UNOOSA has successfully fostered dialogue between governments and industry, leading to the creation of an expert group on SSA.
“Space sustainability is one hell of a global challenge. We need your help,” Holla-Maini stressed. She called on industry to actively engage with national delegations and support UNOOSA’s efforts, noting the office’s limited resources despite its expansive mandate.
Ian Christensen of the Secure World Foundation led the AMOS Policy Forum on Day 2 exploring the urgent need possibilities for ‘U.S. China–Space Safety Information Sharing’ amid the rapid growth of both nations’ satellite constellations. Christenson was joined on stage by Siamak Hesar, Founder & CEO, Kayhan Space; Josef Koller, Head of Space Safety and Sustainability, Amazon Kuiper; and Audrey Schaffer, Vice President of Strategy and Policy, Slingshot Aerospace. Kristin Burke, Senior Space and Counterspace Researcher, China Aerospace Studies Institute joined virtually and Zhang Peng, Director of Solutions, Galaxy Space, Ltd. provided pre-recorded remarks.
L to R. Ian Christensen, Secure World Foundation; Siamak Hesar, Kayhan Space; Josef Koller, Amazon Kuiper; Audrey Schaffer, Slingshot Aerospace; and on screen Kristin Burke, China Aerospace Studies Institute.
The conversation highlighted the growing operational need for coordination between U.S. and Chinese satellite operators, especially as their constellations increasingly occupy overlapping orbital regimes. Hesar presented data showing hundreds of thousands of monthly conjunctions between Chinese and non-Chinese satellites, emphasizing the risks posed by the lack of maneuver transparency. Koller echoed this concern, noting that only half of the 1,500 satellites Kuiper identified in its orbital path had contact information available, and only eight responded to outreach—underscoring the fragility of current coordination mechanisms.
Burke provided insight into China’s SSA capabilities, noting that while China maintains a separate catalog and uses different tracking methods (e.g., space-based sensors), much of its data is gated behind login portals, mirroring the U.S. system. Schaffer emphasized the strategic imperative for engagement, arguing that space safety should be disentangled from space security and treated as a shared interest, even amid geopolitical tensions.
Zhang Peng’s video message offered a rare Chinese commercial perspective, affirming the mutual interest in avoiding collisions and proposing a three-point path forward: technical dialogue, a dedicated alert channel, and multilateral guidelines via the UN.
Panelists emphasized that while technical solutions exist, the real challenge lies in diplomatic and regulatory barriers. They advocated for separating space safety from space security and using multilateral forums like the UN to build trust and shared norms.
Day 3
Day 3 of the AMOS Conference started with a fireside chat titled “Reflections on the Evolution of U.S. Policy for Space Traffic Management” bringing together three key figures who have helped to shape U.S. space policy across administrations – Richard DalBello, Principal, RDB Space; Diane Howard, Senior Strategy Advisor, MITRE & Principal at sur l’espace P, LLC; and Kevin O’Connell, Founder & CEO, Space Economy Rising, LLC.
All three have served at the U.S. Office of Space Commerce (OSC), starting with O’Connell taking on the Director role 2018-2021. Howard joined the office in 2019 to serve as Chief Counsel until 2021. DalBello took over as OSC Director from 2022-2024. Howard also served as Director, Commercial Space Policy at National Space Council during 2021-2024.
L to R: Richard DalBello, Diane Howard, Kevin O’Connell
The discussion centered on the uncertain future of the TraCSS system, a civil space traffic management initiative originally launched under Space Policy Directive-3 (SPD-3) which in 2018 directed that the Department of Commerce would take over the public space flight safety data and services function from the Department of Defense.
O’Connell emphasized the enduring relevance of SPD-3, noting, “On the one hand, the policy has held up. On the other hand, it means we’ve only made some progress toward the ambitions of SPD3…we haven’t completed the work at this point.” He advocated for leveraging the robust commercial ecosystem to address urgent space safety challenges.
Richard DalBello highlighted the lack of coherence in current policymaking, attributing it to budget-driven decisions rather than strategic planning: “There isn’t today this coherence that we might have seen…it’s quite possible that they’ll do something like that in the future.”
Diane Howard, who served in both the Trump and Biden administrations, passionately defended the TraCSS program and its foundational policy goals. She reminded the audience of the mission’s civil and international importance: “We have something. Love it, like it, hate it, matters not. We have something.” Howard also stressed the need for stability and continued support, warning against regressive debates.
The panelists agreed that stepping back from TraCSS would undermine U.S. leadership in global space governance. The chat concluded with a call for re-baselining government and industry roles, fostering innovation, and ensuring responsible stewardship of taxpayer dollars and the space environment.
The fireside chat dovetailed into the third AMOS Policy Forum that explored the evolving landscape of “SSA Needs for Novel Space Activities” such as satellite servicing, commercial lunar missions, and space tourism. Moderated by Brian Weeden, Systems Directors, The Aerospace Corporation, the panelists were: Alberto Águeda, Director of Space Surveillance and Traffic Management, GMV; Mariel Borowitz, Director of International SSA Engagement (IPA), Office of Space Commerce, NOAA, U.S. Department of Commerce; Tahara Dawkins, Director of Policy, Astroscale; Pascal Faucher, Chairman EU SST, Defense and Security, CNES; and Carolin Frueh, Harold DeGroff Associate Professor of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Purdue University; Chair COSPAR PEDAS
L to R. Brian Weeden, The Aerospace Corporation; Carolin Frueh, Purdue University & COSPAR PEDAS; Tahara Dawkins, Astroscale; Alberto Águeda, GMV; Pascal Faucher, Chairman EU SST, Defense and Security, CNES; and Mariel Borowitz, Office of Space Commerce, NOAA, U.S. Department of Commerce
Panelists discussed the readiness of current SSA systems—like the U.S. TraCSS and Europe’s EUSS—to support these emerging operations. Borowitz highlighted TRACSS’s pilot program, which already serves over 8,000 spacecraft with high-frequency screening and on-demand results, and is set for global rollout in January 2026. Faucher emphasized Europe’s rapid expansion, noting EUSST’s growth to over 140 sensors and 82 registered operators, supported by over €100 million in commercial SSA projects. Both systems aim to provide basic collision avoidance services, while advanced capabilities for close-proximity operations are expected to be delivered by commercial SSA providers.
Panelists stressed the importance of transparency, coordination, and innovation in SSA. Dawkins underscored that ISAM (in-space servicing, assembly and manufacturing) missions demand more than positional data; they require predictive insights and behavioral analysis. Frueh warned that SSA capabilities for cislunar space are currently inadequate, calling for space-based sensors and better end-of-life practices to avoid repeating Earth orbit’s debris issues. Águeda advocated for machine-to-machine coordination and clear “rules of the road” to manage increasing traffic.
The forum concluded with a call for international collaboration, education, and proactive policy development.
As Pascal noted, a working group of COPUOS agreed to a draft final report with three areas – SSA, space remediation, and ISAM – emerging as top priorities for global space sustainability.
Featured Presentations
The AMOS Conference includes featured presentations sprinkled through the program.
On Wednesday morning, Colonel Jonathan Whitaker, Chief of Staff at NATO’s Combined Forces Space Component Command, emphasized the transformative power of international partnerships in space operations, drawing from his experiences across U.S. SOUTHCOM and NATO. He illustrated how collaboration has evolved from concept to impactful action, enabling life-saving disaster response and countering adversarial influence in regions like South America. At NATO, he highlighted the growing integration of commercial and allied capabilities into a unified space strategy, with a focus on shared burden, mutual trust, and operational readiness.
“From my experience, when we partner, we win.” said Whitaker, emphasizing the importance and necessity of partnerships for global space security. “When we get the people aspect right, all of the rest of our problems are manageable,”
Col. Jonathan Whitaker, NATO
Col. Barry Croker, Mission Delta II
In his featured presentation, Colonel Barry Croker, Commander of Mission Delta II, emphasized the critical role of space domain awareness (SDA) in safeguarding both national security and everyday life. He illustrated how space capabilities—from GPS to environmental monitoring—enable everything from air travel and food delivery to emergency rescue and surfing. Mission Delta II’s purpose, he explained, is to “discover, understand, and maintain custody of all activities in, from, and to space,” with a focus on adversaries who seek to avoid detection. Croker detailed recent organizational and technological advancements, including the integration of cyber and sustainment squadrons, improvements to sensor performance, and the deployment of new satellite systems and software platforms.
“Effective SDA operations in a contested domain require proactive curiosity,” said Croker in a call for vigilance and initiative. “We can’t simply wait until activities are detected—we must seek them out and discover them with the tenacity of a hunter looking for prey.”
The Colonel also highlighted the unique contributions of Maui’s 15th Space Surveillance Squadron, whose location and capabilities provide unmatched visibility into geostationary orbit.
Colonel Richard Beckman, Director, Space Vehicles and Commander, Phillips Research Site Air Force Research Laboratory, AFRL/RV Space Vehicles Directorate of AFRL; and Enrico Jeantete, Deputy Director, Innovation and Prototyping Acquisition Delta, Space Systems Command; gave a joint presentation where they emphasized the critical importance of collaboration between government, industry, and academia to advance SDA and next-generation space mobility.
Beckman outlined AFRL’s strategy to “win the future” repeatedly by leveraging commercial innovation and focusing government efforts on high-risk, high-impact missions such as operations in cislunar space. He stressed the need to offload routine capabilities to industry to allow guardians to concentrate on strategic threats.
Colonel Richard Beckman, AFRL and Enrico Jeantete, Space Systems Command
Jeantete described the transformation of SSC’s Innovation and Prototyping Delta into the Rapid Reaction Delta, which will focus on delivering operational capabilities and training guardians through live experimentation, including on-orbit refueling missions like Tetra 5 and Tracker Prime.
Both speakers called for deeper industry engagement to accelerate SDA capabilities and ensure readiness for emerging challenges. Beckman commented, “I only want my guardians doing that which the guardians must. And where I can leverage off of commercial, I will.”
Jeantete agreed, adding, “Commercial industry …. We need your help, so that we can focus our resources on each military aspect that we’re looking at. So please continue to innovate.”
Barbara Golf, USSF/SSC
Barbara Golf, Strategic Advisor for the Space Development Agency (SDA) at U.S. Space Force’s Space Systems Command, delivered a comprehensive update on the evolving architecture of SDA. She emphasized that SDA extends far beyond cataloging space objects—it encompasses the identification, characterization, and understanding of all factors affecting the space domain, including electromagnetic spectrum operations, ground event monitoring, and environmental impacts.
Golf highlighted significant progress made in the past year, such as improved low Earth orbit (LEO) coverage, operational intelligence, and the integration of commercial data sources for enhanced situational awareness. She also discussed the implementation of tactical space-based electromagnetic interference (EMI) detection and the development of “event ledgers” for machine-to-machine data sharing across classification levels.
“Every satellite is a sensor,” stressed Golf. “And when you take that seriously for commercial SATCOM, we have a commercial SATCOM bird basically every degree at GEO. We have global coverage in order to be able to find jammers affecting SATCOM bands.”
Golf’s presentation underscored the importance of agility, automation, and collaboration with commercial and allied partners to meet the growing demands of space operations.
Networking
In-person attendees of the annual AMOS Conference come to network and they have numerous opportunities with breakfast, lunch, refreshment breaks and nightly receptions included in their ticket.
“You have the chance to talk to all the people you’ve read papers about throughout the entire year,” said Laura Pirovano, NorthStar Earth & Space. “There’s a lot of exchange of information in a short amount of time and I find it very precious.”
On Wednesday evening the Women and Allies in Space Domain Awareness reception was held for the fourth year. Dr. Lovica Ware, Acting Director AFRL/AFOSR. was the guest speaker at the reception aimed to celebrate the power of community among SDA professionals.
The exhibit venue was a draw for attendees throughout the conference with exhibiting sponsors demonstrating their products and services. Exhibiting sponsors were: a.i. solutions, Advanced Scientific Concepts, Astro Haven Enterprises, ATIK Cameras, BAE Systems, Celestron, COMSPOC, EO Solutions, General Atomics Electromagnetic Systems, GMV, Hart Scientific Consulting International, JCO, JHU Applied Physics Laboratory, Kayhan Space, KBR, Kratos, LeoLabs, Lipoa – Maui Innovation Community, LSAS Tec, Maxar, MDA Space, Mitre, Nokomis, Officina Stellare, Planewave Instruments, Rocket Lab, Sea West Observatories, SEAKR, Slingshot Aerospace, SpaceFlux, SpaceMap, SpaceNav, Teledyne, and TOPTICA Photonics.
Sponsoring, but not exhibiting, were Advanced Space, Amazon Kuiper, Anduril, Astroscale, AV, Boeing, CACI, ExoAnalytic Solutions, HTDC, L3 Harris, Lockheed Martin, NEC Aerospace Systems, Northrop Grumman, Parsons, Raytheon, SAIC, Secure World Foundation, Space Foundation, Telesat, The Aerospace Corporation, Trusted Space, University of Colorado Boulder, USRA, and Voyager.
Welcome Reception AMOS 2024
Exhibit Venue AMOS 2025
Lovica Ware speaks at Women & Allies in SDA reception at AMOS 2025
Technical Short Courses
Ten in-person and five online technical short courses were selected and offered to attendees for their relevance to the SSA/SDA technical community. Taught by highly regarded industry experts they provided opportunities for professionals to upgrade their technical job skills and remain abreast of recent developments in their respective fields of interest. This year the short courses covered diverse topics, from machine learning, event-based sensing and astrodynamics to observing space debris and wargaming. Learn more about 2025 courses here.
EMER-GEN® Program
The 8th EMER-GEN® program preceded the AMOS conference and brought together 41 young professionals and students, as well as mentors from across the globe for an immersive experience focused on innovation, collaboration, and leadership in space sustainability. A joint initiative of the AMOS Conference and the Space Generation Advisory Council (SGAC), the program continues to serve as a launchpad for the next generation of space leaders.
The main two-day EMER-GEN program featured guest speakers, the Great Policy Game (for consensus building skills), speed mentoring and an Innovation Challenge. Doug Loverro, Loverro Consulting, returned as a guest speaker working with the young professionals to provide perspective on space traffic management.
“The experience of EMER-GEN was great,” said Nate McCoun of a.i. solutions participating for the second year. “I appreciate the fast-paced nature, diversity of thoughts and people, and the efforts that everyone puts in to actively participate.” Read more about the EMER-GEN experience
Student Space Exploration Day
On the Friday morning of AMOS, 150 Maui County middle school students and their teachers arrived for Space Exploration Day. The students met Scott “Scooter” Altman, who shared about his long career as a pilot and astronaut, and they visited designated booths in the exhibit venue for hands-on aerospace activities.
A 5th Grader from Kaunakakai Elementary School commented, “I enjoyed learning about telescopes and how they track satellites, as well as the importance of getting rid of space debris. Plus, meeting an astronaut made me really think about being one!”
Leslie Wilkins, MEDB’s president and CEO, noted, “Each year we see students’ creativity blossom during Space Exploration Day. They learn about the very wide variety of careers and technologies in the space field.”
Middle school students embrace a challenge at Student Space Exploration Day at AMOS 2025
Summary
“I love this conference,” said Lieutenant General Phillip Garrant, attending AMOS for the second time. “What I really love about it is how technical it is, and the fact that you really have to earn your right to present here, whether it’s a paper or a poster or a panel, you have to know your business, you have to be able to represent space domain awareness.”
Echoing the theme of collaboration, Sarah Caddy, University of Melbourne commented, “Space, there are no boundaries in space. There are no borders in space. It’s one of those places where everyone needs to work together and we’re not going to succeed in space unless all of us do it together.”
Cristina Pérez Hernández of the Spanish Space Agency agreed, commenting, “Space belongs to all of us, and if we would like to ensure the access to space, we need to ensure that the space is sustainable.”
“This is the premier space domain awareness conference in the world. There’s no question about that one,” concluded John Weaver of MDA Space. “Great interchange with a number of people from different nations and everyone is here about making space a little bit more safe, a little bit more secure to operate in.”
The AMOS Conference and EMER-GEN are presented by the Maui Economic Development Board, Inc. (MEDB), a nonprofit corporation established in 1982 to focus on diversifying Maui’s economy. MEDB’s mission involves taking innovative actions that strengthen existing industry as well as diversifying through new opportunities. Save the dates for 2026—September 15-18 with EMER-GEN Program on September 13-15.