George Nield

The Space Education Summit team is thrilled to announce that commercial astronaut Dr. George C. Nield will join us as part of the Astronaut Panel for our opening session on May 31, 2024! Dr. Nield’s career has taken him from the Air Force Academy to regulating commercial space at the FAA and founding a space startup. He flew on Blue Origin’s New Shepard rocket in 2022.

Dr. George C. Nield is the president of Commercial Space Technologies, LLC, which he founded to encourage, facilitate, and promote commercial space activities. He also serves as the Chairman of the Global Spaceport Alliance. In March of 2022 he flew to space as a private astronaut onboard Blue Origin's New Shepard rocket. He had previously been the associate administrator for the Federal Aviation Administration's Office of Commercial Space Transportation and was responsible for licensing and regulating all commercial launch activities. Earlier in his career, he held engineering roles at the Air Force Flight Test Center and the OrbitalSciences Corporation, and he was an assistant professor and research director at the U.S. Air Force Academy. Dr. Nield also served as the manager of the Flight Integration Office for NASA’s Space Shuttle Program. A graduate of the United States Air Force Academy, he holds an M.S. and Ph.D. in Aeronautics and Astronautics from Stanford University, and an MBA from George Washington University. He is also a Flight Test Engineering graduate of the USAF Test Pilot School. Dr. Nield is a registered Professional Engineer and a Fellow of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics.

We look forward to hearing George’s thoughts on how we might best prepare students for the growing space economy, and humanity’s future in space. A FREE ONLINE event, the summit brings together educators, enthusiasts, and professionals from many fields… to explore ways humanity might prepare for the growing space economy and a rapidly approaching multi-planet future. Our planning team is inspired by the Overview Effect, and a desire to help more people benefit from it here on Earth. See past sessions and highlights on our YouTube Channel.

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The event is produced in partnership with Aldrin Family Foundation, ARES Learning, Celestial Citizen, Club for The Future, EarthScape VR, The Human Space Program, Ignited Thinkers, and Slooh