The Greater Huntsville Section of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) is sponsoring a technical symposium (titled "Civil Space 2013") to discuss current challenges, opportunities, and emerging technologies relative to space access and orbital solutions within the civil space market. This discussion includes commercial space providers and the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and NASA.

Civil Space 2013 is scheduled for February 12-13, 2013 in Huntsville, Alabama. Dynetics, Inc. has graciously agreed to host the symposium at their 160,000 square foot corporate headquarters.

This conference provides a unique focus on civil (inclusive of commercial) space access and orbital solutions, challenges, mission assurance, safety, policy, global competition, and vision.

Our invited speakers and panel members will present expert analyses on current and future civil space issues fostering discussion among the government and industry representatives.

This conference is unique in that the focus is not on exploration, but on supporting Earth orbital systems, operations and solutions.

It is a working level conference designed to highlight for discussion some of the biggest challenges facing the market today, including technology gaps, market stability, obsolescence, and integration and safety standards.

Dr. Michael Griffin, former NASA administrator and AIAA president, will be providing a keynote address regarding the world stage and global competition for civil space.

Mr. Steve Cook, former manager of Ares I and V programs at NASA MSFC and current Director of Space Technologies at Dynetics, will be chairing the panel session on Commercial Crew Transportation Systems - Qualified Hardware, Requirement, Standards and Certification.

Representatives across industry will be participating in the panel sessions.

The complete agenda can be found here. The cost to attend is $75 for AIAA members and $150 for non-members.