22nd Annual
Colorado Space Roundup

Thriving In Space

December 3, 2025

7:00 am - 2:00 pm

Welcome 2025 Colorado Space Roundup Participants!

Roundup Agenda

Click the Agenda section for more information and location.

  • Continental breakfast and coffee available at 7:00 AM.
  • Live performance by the Colorado Symphony on Level 2.
  • Debra Wilcox, CSBR Chair
  • Ricketson Auditorium
  • Moderator: Genevieve McNally
  • Panelists: George Sparks | Daniel Wachter
  • Ricketson Auditorium
  • Moderators: Christie Lee | Chad Vorthmann
  • Panelists: Colorado Congressional Staff
  • Ricketson Auditorium
  • Moderator: Genevieve McNally
    Panelists: Kelly Reeser | Carolyn Belle | Grace Cain-Wright |Rita Peterson |Matt Blackford
  • Ricketson Auditorium
  • Moderator: Dr. Michael Valdez
  • Ricketson Auditorium
  • Panelists: Trip Carter | Shane Deichman| Allison Bauer | Schuyler Ebersol
  • Ricketson Auditorium
  • Click here for panel description
  • Lt. Governor Remarks
  • Student Ambassador Showcase
  • Colorado’s Aerospace Now and Next
  • Southeast Atrium
  • Moderator: Ryan Nalty
  • Panelists: Derek Wise | Steve Sanders | Bobby Hodgkinson | Mike Reilly
  • Ricketson Auditorium
  • Ricketson Auditorium
  • Atomic Cowboy, 3237 E Colfax Ave, Denver, CO 80206

The Harmony Between Artifacts, Art & Imagination

8:00 - 8:30 AM - Ricketson Auditorium

As Colorado stands at the intersection of innovation and inspiration, this conversation explores how artifacts, arts, culture, and history define our identity — grounding us in where we’ve been, inspiring where we’re going, and ensuring that as we reach for the stars, we never lose sight of our humanity.

The Colorado Space Roundup serves as the framework — the foundation and strategy that connects minds, industries, and missions. The upcoming Colorado Space Renaissance (April 24, 2026) represents the flame — igniting imagination, creativity, and collaboration between science and the arts. Together, they form Colorado’s complete orbit of innovation and humanity.

Through this discussion, we’ll reflect on how our state’s legacy, creativity, and curiosity harmonize to create a culture that advances both discovery and wonder.

Moderator:

Panelists:

Congressional Update

8:30 - 9:30 AM - Ricketson Auditorium

Join us for an engaging discussion on the current and future priorities of space policy, featuring insights from Colorado’s congressional members and their staff. Discover how we as an industry can collaborate effectively to support our congressional leaders in ensuring Colorado remains a national leader in aerospace innovation and excellence

Moderators: 

  • Christie Lee, Director of State and Local Affairs, United Launch Alliance
  • Chad Vorthmann, Government Relations, Lockheed Martin Space

Panelists:

  • The panel will include representation from every Congressional Office.

 

Launching the Future: Workforce, Education & the Path Ahead

9:40 - 10:25 AM - Ricketson Auditorium

Colorado’s aerospace ecosystem continues to thrive because of one essential force — its people. From students and teachers to technicians, engineers, and executives, our future depends on a workforce that is not only technically skilled but also inspired, adaptable, and ready for the challenges of tomorrow.

This panel explores how education, training, and cross-sector collaboration are shaping the next generation of aerospace talent. Together, we’ll discuss how to bridge the gap between classroom learning and real-world application, strengthen pathways from K-12 to industry, and ensure Colorado remains a national leader in workforce innovation and opportunity.

The conversation will spotlight partnerships that are already propelling progress — from apprenticeships and university collaborations to mentorships and military-to-civilian transitions — and look ahead to how we can better align skills, curiosity, and purpose to meet the demands of an evolving space economy.

Moderators: 

Panelists:

  • Kelly Reeser, 2024 Cosmic Contributor Award Recipient, Business Development Supervisor & Teacher Externship Specialist Colorado Department of Labor and Employment
  • Carolyn Belle, PROPEL Program Director
  • Grace Cain-Wright, Director, Colorado Space Institute at ACC 
  • Rita Peterson, CEO Caribou Thunder, Founder of Indigenous Minds 
  • Matt Blackford, SpaceWERK

The Art of the Capture in a Changing Marketplace

10:25 - 11:15 - Ricketson Auditorium

As the U.S. government reshapes its acquisition strategies, the aerospace, space, and defense industries face both new challenges and fresh opportunities in the pursuit of contracts. Recent changes to Requests for Proposal (RFP) processes ranging from increased emphasis on speed, innovation, and value-based criteria to evolving compliance and cybersecurity requirements are redefining how companies must prepare to compete.

This panel brings together industry leaders, government contracting experts, capture management professionals and university professionals to explore how acquisition reform is transforming the competitive landscape. Discussion will focus on:

  • Key shifts in federal acquisition strategies and their downstream impacts on industry.
  • How capture response teams must adapt their approaches, tools, and talent strategies to stay ahead.
  • The balance between agility and compliance in building winning proposals.
  • Emerging best practices for collaboration between business development, technical experts, and proposal writers in a fast-changing environment.

We’ll look at practical insights into how these acquisition changes influence business development cycles, what skills and technologies capture teams will need to succeed, and how companies can position themselves for long-term competitiveness in the evolving defense marketplace.

Moderator:

  • Michael Valdez, Fort Lewis College and leader of the FLC capture course

Panelists:

  • Trip Carter, Lockheed Martin Space: Vice President Capture Excellence
  • Shane Deichman, CSBR Vice Chair, Former Government Source Selection Lead
  • Allison Bauer, Associate Growth and Capture Manager Draper Space System
  • Schuyler Ebersol, Senior Capture Director at Capella Space
    •  

Colorado's Aerospace Now and Next

12:20 - 12:50 - Southeast Atrium

Colorado is a national aerospace and space hub — home to hundreds of companies, major government contractors, research institutions, military installations, and one of the nation’s FAA-licensed commercial spaceports. The state has attracted substantial federal aerospace funding and industry investment through a mix of clustered talent, defense and civil space contracts, public-private collaboration, and targeted state incentives. At the same time, other states are actively pursuing aerospace jobs and missions (recently winning high-profile federal basing and command decisions), the sector faces workforce and supply-chain pressures, and geopolitics/budget shifts create both risk and opportunity. This panel will examine: (1) what Colorado did to win its leadership position, (2) what other states are doing (and where they’re succeeding), (3) what should keep Colorado leaders up at night, and (4) realistic scenarios for the next 5–10 years.

Moderator:

Panelists:

From Code to Cosmos: The Quantum–AI Revolution in Aerospace

1:10 - 1:50 PM - Southeast Atrium

Panel description coming soon.

Moderator:

  • Ryan Nalty, Director, Industry Research Partnerships, University of Colorado

Panelists:

  • Derek Wise, PhD, LM Fellow, Lockheed Martin Corporate Research and Technology, Lockheed Martin
  • Steve Sanders, PhD, Sr. Engineering Director, Quantinuum
  • Bobby Hodgkinson, Associate Teaching Professor, Ann and H.J. Smead Aerospace Engineering Sciences Department, University of Colorado
  • Mike Reilly, AIA, Principal, US West Business Center Operations Leader / Science & Technology, Stantec

Thank you to our 2025 Colorado Space Roundup Sponsors!

Thank you to our Roundup Welcome Reception Sponsors!

CSBR Corporate Members