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Commercial Space Supply Chain Forum

Commercial Space Supply Chain Forum

Building a Resilient and Competitive U.S. Space Industrial Base

What Is the Commercial
Space Supply Chain Forum?
Why This
Conversation Matters
Frequently Asked
Questions
Venue &
Practical Information

The Office of Space Commerce (OSC), in partnership with the Aerospace Industries Association (AIA), invites members of the commercial space community to join us for the Commercial Space Supply Chain Forum, the latest in our “Commercial Space Competitiveness Forum” series.

The U.S. commercial space industry is evolving quickly. Understanding whether the industrial base can keep pace requires listening to the companies, suppliers, manufacturers, integrators, and other organizations operating across the ecosystem.

We want to hear what you are experiencing. We want to learn where the system is working, where it is not, and where bottlenecks may affect the industry’s ability to grow, compete, innovate, and deliver.

Event Details

Tuesday, August 18, 2026
 8:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.

Aerospace Industries Association
Arlington, VA

In-Person Participation:

Participants will join industry and government leaders for a full day of evidence-based discussion, facilitated engagement, and hands-on working sessions.
Continental breakfast and lunch will be provided by AIA.

Virtual Participation:

A registration link for virtual participation will be posted on this webpage as soon as it is available.

Advance registration is required. Space is limited.

For registration details, contact: Space.Commerce@noaa.gov

About the Forum

The Commercial Space Supply Chain Forum is a one-day government-industry engagement hosted by the Office of Space Commerce in partnership with the Aerospace Industries Association. The forum is designed to strengthen the connection between the commercial space ecosystem and the Federal Government.

Throughout the day, participants will hear perspectives from industry and government, examine conditions affecting the commercial space industrial base, and work through key issues in structured discussions.

We are particularly interested in understanding what is happening deeper within the supply chain, including the experiences of Tier 2 and Tier 3 suppliers, manufacturers, emerging technology companies, and other organizations whose capabilities are essential to the industry’s continued growth.

Forum discussions will be conducted on a Chatham House, non-attributable basis. Participation does not imply endorsement of any policy position, and no commitments will be made on behalf of participating organizations or agencies.

Why This Conversation Matters

A resilient commercial space economy depends on more than the companies building and operating spacecraft. It depends on a broader industrial base capable of supplying the components, technologies, infrastructure, manufacturing capacity, workforce, and services needed to support commercial growth and government mission demand.

Across that system, companies are navigating interconnected questions:

  • Do suppliers have enough visibility into future demand to justify investment?
  • Where are component dependencies or supplier concentration creating risk?
  • What makes it difficult for new suppliers and technologies to enter the market?
  • Where do testing, qualification, regulatory, export, or compliance requirements create friction?
  • And what conditions would give companies greater confidence to invest, scale, and expand domestic capacity?

The “Commercial Space Supply Chain Forum” creates an opportunity for industry and government to examine them together.

What We’re Here to Learn

Understand Supply
Chain Conditions

We want to develop a clearer picture of the conditions affecting suppliers, manufacturers, integrators, and emerging technology companies across the commercial space industrial base.

This includes understanding where companies are experiencing constraints, where capacity may not be keeping pace with demand, and where conditions differ across levels of the supply chain.

Identify Recurring and
Structural Challenges

We want to understand which challenges are isolated and which may reflect broader conditions across the ecosystem.

Discussions will explore manufacturing capacity, component dependencies, supplier concentration, demand visibility, capital access, testing and qualification, regulatory and compliance requirements, and barriers to technology adoption.

Connect Industry Experience with Government Perspective

The forum will create opportunities to understand what companies are experiencing, what government mission owners need the industrial base to deliver, and where gaps in information, expectations, processes, or coordination may exist.

Explore Potential
Pathways Forward

We want to learn where practical opportunities may exist to improve conditions affecting the commercial space industrial base. Participants will help surface potential policy priorities, actions, coordination mechanisms that warrant continued engagement.

How the Forum Works

The Commercial Space Supply Chain Forum is designed as part of a broader process for connecting ecosystem experience with government policy making.

Listen


We begin with the people and organizations experiencing these conditions directly.


Industry participants will have opportunities to share what they are seeing across the supply chain, including the conditions affecting investment, production, qualification, sourcing, market participation, and growth. Government participants will provide perspectives on mission demand, acquisition, and the capabilities the federal ecosystem needs from the industrial base.

Analyze


OSC will capture forum inputs through a structured, non-attributable process. We will look across what we hear to identify recurring conditions, areas of alignment and divergence, information gaps, and issues that may require deeper understanding.

Convene


The forum brings industry and government into the same conversation. Structured discussions will allow participants to examine issues from different perspectives, test assumptions, and explore where better information, coordination, policy, or continued dialogue may be useful.

Inform


OSC and AIA will capture and summarize the conditions and themes surfaced through the forum. That work will help inform continued engagement, additional analysis, and potential policy development.

What We’ll Explore

The forum will focus on several interconnected conditions affecting the resilience and competitiveness of the U.S. commercial space industrial base, including:

Domestic Manufacturing Capacity

What affects a supplier’s decision to invest in additional U.S. manufacturing capacity? What demand signals, market conditions, tools, or incentives influence those decisions?

Tier 2 and
Tier 3 Supplier Conditions

What are companies deeper within the supply chain experiencing? Where are suppliers reducing participation in space markets, declining work, or facing barriers to growth?

Supply Chain Dependencies and Demand Visibility

Where do supplier concentration and critical dependencies create risk? What information could help companies make earlier and more confident investment and capacity decisions?

Capital
Access and
Investment

What prevents suppliers from investing in facilities, equipment, workforce, and production capacity? Where does uncertainty affect investment decisions?

Testing and
Qualification

Where do testing capacity, qualification requirements, and technology validation processes affect supplier entry, technology adoption, or the ability to scale?




Regulatory and
Compliance Pressures

Where do regulatory, export, cybersecurity, classification, or other compliance requirements create friction or disproportionate costs?





Emerging Technology Adoption

What makes it difficult for new technologies and commercial suppliers to enter established government and industry pathways? Where could different approaches to qualification or commercial technology adoption reduce barriers while maintaining mission needs?

What Happens After the Forum?

OSC and AIA will capture and summarize the conditions and themes surfaced throughout the day. Inputs will be analyzed at the pattern level. Individual comments will not be attributed to participants or organizations.

The post-forum process will focus on understanding:

  • What conditions were heard repeatedly;
  • Where industry and government perspectives align;
  • Where perspectives or experiences differ;
  • What information gaps remain;
  • What issues may warrant additional analysis;
  • Where continued government-industry engagement may be valuable; and
  • What potential policy priorities or pathways may warrant further consideration.

The findings will help inform continued engagement and the next stages of work following the forum.

The forum is one day. The learning continues after it ends.

Frequently Asked Questions

Reserve Your Seat

In-person capacity is limited. Virtual livestream access is available. Advance registration is required for both participation formats.

The Commercial Space Supply Chain Forum is designed to bring together perspectives from across the commercial space industrial base and government. We encourage participation from suppliers, manufacturers, integrators, emerging technology companies, industry organizations, and government representatives who can bring direct experience and perspective to the conversation.

In-Person
Registration

Join the Conversation in Arlington
Capacity is limited, register early
to secure your seat.

Attend the Commercial Space Supply Chain Forum in person at the Aerospace Industries Association headquarters in Arlington, Virginia.

In-person participants will have access to the full forum program, including evidence presentations, panel discussions, and structured working sessions designed to surface industry experience and deepen our shared understanding of commercial space supply chain conditions.

Space is limited, and advance registration is required to secure your seat.

In-person participants can expect:

  • Evidence-based presentations and moderated discussions
  • Perspectives from industry and government
  • Hands-on working sessions
  • Opportunities to share your experience and perspective
  • Non-attributable engagement throughout structured discussions
  • Continental breakfast and lunch provided by AIA
Email Us

Virtual /
Livestream Access

Observe Plenary Sessions in Real Time
Breakout sessions are in-person only.

Can’t join us in Arlington? Virtual participants can access designated plenary sessions through the forum livestream.

The livestream provides an opportunity to hear evidence presentations, panel discussions, and other designated plenary programming as it happens.

Breakout and facilitated working sessions are in-person only.

Virtual participants can expect:

  • Live access to designated plenary sessions
  • Evidence presentations and panel discussions
  • Listen-only participation
  • No access to in-person breakout or facilitated working sessions
  • Advance virtual registration required
Register for Livestream

(COMING SOON)

Event Posture
& Guidelines

What to Expect When
You Participate:

The Commercial Space Supply Chain Forum is a government-industry engagement designed to support candid discussion and shared learning.

We are here to listen, learn, and better understand the conditions affecting the commercial space industrial base.

Participants should expect:

  • Structured discussions conducted under a non-attributable, non-binding posture
  • No individual comments attributed to participants or organizations in downstream synthesis products
  • No advocacy, solicitation, or debate during facilitated working sessions
  • No policy commitments made or implied by participating agencies or organizations
  • Forum inputs analyzed at the pattern level
  • A focus on understanding conditions, identifying recurring themes, and informing continued engagement

Questions?
Contact Us: Space.Commerce@noaa.gov

View FAQs

Venue & Practical Information

The forum will be held at the Aerospace Industries Association headquarters in Arlington, Virginia.

Participants should allow sufficient time for arrival, building access, and event check-in.

Venue



Aerospace Industries Association
Arlington, VA

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Getting There

Metro & Transportation
AIA headquarters is located in the Rosslyn area of Arlington, Virginia, with access to public transportation and nearby parking options.

Participants are encouraged to allow additional time for morning travel, building access, and event check-in.

Accessibility

Accessibility & Accommodations
The Office of Space Commerce and AIA are committed to supporting an accessible forum experience.

If you require a reasonable accommodation or have accessibility questions related to participation in the forum, please contact:
Space.Commerce@noaa.gov

Please submit accommodation requests as early as possible before the event to allow time for coordination.

Meals & Refreshments

Continental breakfast and lunch will be provided by our partners at the Aerospace Industries Association.

Additional refreshments may be available during scheduled breaks.

Dietary accommodations may be available upon advance request.

Please identify any dietary requirements during registration.

Contact & Questions

For questions about registration, participation, virtual access, accessibility, or event logistics, please contact: Space.Commerce@noaa.gov

Please include “Commercial Space Supply Chain Forum” in the subject line.

Privacy Act Statement & Public Burden Statement

Updated 7/27/2026