About
The Israel Space Agency is happy to invite you to The 18th Ilan Ramon International Space Conference that will take place during the 2023 Israel Space Week events, from January 29th to February 4th, 2023.
This conference is following in the footsteps of Ilan Ramon to empower the emerging space industry in Israel to become a global innovation center. With the confirmed attendance of heads of space agencies, astronauts, leading space industries, space entrepreneurs, investors, and space professionals, as always, the Ilan Ramon conference will be a vibrant meeting point in the great city of Tel Aviv.
The 2023 Conference's main theme is ‘Earth and Space becoming one’.
The conference will take place physically in David Intercontinental, Tel-Aviv, Israel.
The conference will include key speakers and panels and will offer, in addition, a Space Companies Exhibition that will allow you to meet with leading and promising companies in the Israel space industry and a possibility to schedule meetings with the conference's participants in B2B meetings.
We are excited and thankful for the tremendous response to the conference
Due to the response we are now only accepting new online participations
Live broadcasts
Program
Registration
Entrance to the plenary hall
Formal Opening
Greetings
Mr. Isaac Herzog, President of the State of Israel
Memorial ceremony
Space Shuttle Columbia 20th year annivesary
Greetings
- M.K. Ofir Akunis,The Minister of Innovation, Science and Technology of Israel
- Her Excellency Sarah bint Yousef Al Amiri, The UAE Minister of State for Advanced Technology and Chairwoman of the UAE Space Agency
Keynote Speech - Humanity's Return to The Moon, The Promise of Artemis
Mr. James Free, NASA's Associate Administrator for Exploration System Development, will present the Artemis Program and preliminary insights on the recently completed Artemis-1 Mission, and what it means for our future in space
Panel session
Heads of Space Agencies
Leveraging space policies to achieve national interests
Dr. Deganit Paikowsky, Researcher and lecturer at the Department of International Relations, Hebrew University
Panel leader
- Mr. Robert D. Cabana, Associate Administrator, NASA
- Dr. Walther Pelzer , Director General , German Space Agency at DLR
- Mr. Uri Oron, Director, Israel Space Agency, Ministry of Innovation Science and Technology
- Mr. Giorgio Saccoccia, President, Italian Space Agency (ASI)
Break
Panel session: AX-1 Mission - A first hand perspective of the first privately funded mission
The vast impact of the privatization of human spaceflights -
The first ever commercial crew to the ISS will share their experience about the mission’s preparations, successes and overcomes.
Mr. Garrett Reisman, Veteran NASA Astronaut
Panel leader
- Mr. Michael López-Alegría, Ax-1 Commander
- Mr. Larry Connor, AX-1 Mission pilot
- Mr. Eytan Stibbe, Ax-1 Mission Specialist
- Mr. Mark Pathy, Ax-1 Mission Specialist
Panel session: Climate Change - From space tech to climate action
The Time is Now
How space technologies assist in mitigating climate change
Ms. Danna Linn Barnett, Senior System Engineer , Elbit Systems
Panel leader
- Mr. Ricardo Conde, President, Portuguese Space Agency - Portugal Space
- Mr. Philippe Campenon, VHR Mission Director , Planet
- Dr. Shira Efron , Special Advisor on Climate Change, Israeli Ministry of Defense
- Mr. Ophir Almog, Chief Scientist, Momentick
- Dr. Ophir Almog, Chief Scientist, Momentick
Panel session: To the Moon and Beyond – Assessing the technological challenges and opportunities in space exploration
The panel will discuss advances in lunar exploration as a gateway to even further missions, while examining the opportunities for small countries and start ups working together with leading agencies and established industries.
Mr. Opher Doron, CEO, EVR Motors
Panel leader
- Ms. Catherine Koerner, Deputy Associate Administrator for Exploration Systems Development, NASA
- Dr. Oren Milstein , CEO and Chief Scientific Officer , StemRad
- Mr. Massimo Comparini, Deputy CEO and SEVP Observation, Exploration and Navigation , Thales Alenia Space
- Brig. General (ret.) Shimon Sarid , CEO, SpaceIL
- Dr. Julien-Alexandre Lamamy , Managing Director , ispace Europe
- Mr. Meir Nissim Nir, Director Advanced Space Systems, IAI
Lunch break
Opening of the afternoon session
Greetings
- Dr Ron Tomer, President of Manufacturers Association of Israel
2022 in space – A year in review
Tal Inbar, Senior Research Fellow, Missile Defense Advocacy Alliance
Panel session: Navigating the Investment Landscape of the NewSpace Revolution
The space industry is undergoing a major revolution, with the emergence of new players and technologies disrupting the traditional landscape. This panel will explore what is happening today in space investments, what the future holds for investments in this industry. We will discuss how opportunities and challenges have presented themselves in the NewSpace tech sector, and why deep-tech startups should consider it as a target market.
Ms. Emma Vardimon, Director of Global Partnerships, Start-Up Nation Central
Panel leader
- Mr. Doron Zauer , General Partner , Earth & Beyond Ventures
- Mr. Zvica Goltzman, Acting VP Growth Division, Israel Innovation Authority
- Ms. Renana Ashkenazi, General Partner, Grove Ventures
- Ms. Casey Swails, Deputy Associate Administrator for Business Operations, NASA
- Ms. Lynn Zoenen, Principal and Managing Director, Alpine Space Ventures
Panel session: Manufacturing in Space - Preparation for the Industrial revolution from space
Mr. Yossi Yamin , Chairman, R&D CEO, Space Pharma
Panel leader
- Colonel Lee W. Rosen (ret.), Co-Founder, President & Chief Strategy Officer, ThinkOrbital
- Mr. Christopher Allison, Sr. Business Development Manager, Sierra Space
- Mr. Christian Maender, Executive Vice President, In-Space Solutions, Axiom
- Ms. Helene Huby , Co-Founder & CEO , The Exploration Company
Break
Panel session: Extraction of space based technologies for new applications and their benefits for humanity
Space exploration has inspired humanity and brought about significant advancements for our society. In this panel we will look at space technologies and data and how they combine with current technologies to provide innovative applications that can help us in our daily lives.
Mr. Ido Priel, Co-Founder & CEO, Remondo
Panel leader
- Dr. Marco Villa, Chief Revenue Officer and EVP, Terran Orbital
- Mr. Yoav Cohen, Co-Founder and COO , 4M Analytics
- Mr. Ami Daniel, Co-Founder and CEO, Windward
- M. Jerry Javornicky, CEO, SpaceKnow
- Mr. Doron Shterman, Chief Technology Officer, ImageSat International (ISI)
Panel session: Practical aspects of space law - The AX-1 Rakia Mission as a case study
Adv. Keren Shahar , Senior Deputy Legal Adviser, Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs
Panel leader
- Adv. Rebecca Bresnik, Associate General Counsel for International Law, NASA
- Adv. Milton “Skip” Smith, Sherman & Howard , Space Lawyer
Close of Plenary
Registration
Formal Opening, Video - The Israeli Space Industry
Greetings
- Director General of Ministry of Innovation, Science and Technology
- Prof. Dan G. Blumberg, Chairman of the Israel Space Agency (ISA)
Panel Session: Narrowing the Gap - Interlinking terrestrial, airborne and space communication infrastructure into one network.
Dr. Raz Itzhaki, Co-Founder and CTO, BeetleSat
Panel leader
- Mr. Hagay Katz, Chief Product and Marketing Officer, Gilat
- Mr. Roy Sofer, Senior VP Engineering, AST Space Mobile
- Mr. Nadav Nachshon, CEO & Co-Founder , GorillaLink
- Ms. Miri Keren, Business Development and Partnerships, Deutsche Telekom
Panel session: Cyber security from Ground to Orbit – a Paradigm Shift
Emerging challenges to integrate cyber defense concepts into the interconnected terrestrial and non-terrestrial space ecosystems.
Mr. Niv David, Lecturer, Fellow and Operational Leader-Mission Critical and Space Systems
Panel leader
- Ms. Buffy Wajvoda , Global Leader for Aerospace & Satellite Solutions Architecture , AWS
- Mr. Eli Cohen, MTC Director & Defense Solutions Specialist, Microsoft Space & Spectrum
- Mr. Matthew Erickson , Vice President of Solutions, SpiderOak
- Prof. Ran Ginosar, co-founder and President , Ramon Space
Break
Panel session: New Perspectives on Access to Space – Earth and space becoming one
As humanity's focus shifts to exploring space and orbiting earth, we need to have the necessary access and bandwidth to facilitate this endeavor. In this panel, we will address the steps needed to effectively launch and expand into this realm, including how launch priorities may evolve over time.
Ms. Kaylyn Shibata, Founder and Entrepreneur in Residence , Union Labs Ventures
Panel leader
- Mr. Aaron Prat , Founder and CEO, Tehiru
- Mr. Rick Spaulding, Senior Project Manager, ManTech Advanced Systems International
- Ms. Elena Eyngorn, Senior Business Development Manager, Exolaunch
- Mr. Ofir Azriel, Managing Director, Astroscale - Israel office
Spotlight Presentation
Spotlight Presentation - The Jupiter radio-occultation investigation with Ultra Stable Oscillator (USO) for JUICE
- Mr. Rony Mann, Project Manager, AccuBeat
- Dr. Eli Galanti, Scientist, Weizmann institute
Panel session: The way space technologies affect our life - Exploring Dual Application Technologies and Spin off stories
The panel will discuss the stories of successful startup spin-offs in the space sector, and dual-application technologies that have use-cases both in space and on Earth. We will also discuss the value that space technologies bring to humanity by commercializing them and applying them for Earth use. Alongside this, we will share interesting examples and stories from recent years.
Mr. Raphael Roettgen , Managing Partner , E2MC Ventures
Panel leader
- Mr. Mike Collett, Founder and Managing Partner, Promus Ventures
- Mr. Victor Joseph T. Director - Directorate of Technology Development & Innovation, ISRO
- Mr. Jonathan Geifman , Co-Founder and CEO , Helios
- Dr. Adv. Neta Palkovitz , Founder , NewSpace Firm
- Mr. Baruch Schori, CEO, Earth & Beyond Ventures
Closure of main conference
Academic conference
Poster Session

Massimo Comparini
Thales Alenia Space
Deputy CEO and SEVP Observation, Exploration and Navigation
Moderators

Miri Michaeli

Eyal Ben Ze’ev
Accommodation
For Room reservations at the David Intercontinental Hotel (main Conference Hotel) or at the Dan Panorama Hotel (Nearby hotel) please contact: Haggit Korach - hkorach@paragong.com
Exhibiting Opportunities
The 18th Ilan Ramon International Space Conference 2023, Exhibiting Opportunities for Israel Space companies only.
To register and book your space, Please download the exhibition brochure.