Jeffrey Manber and Camille Bergin to keynote Space Settlement Summit 2026

The National Space Society will host its annual Space Settlement Summit on Oct. 25-26 at the University of Central Florida in Orlando, bringing together space industry leaders to focus on lunar settlement and the cislunar economy. Jeffrey Manber and Camille Bergin are set to keynote the event, which comes just before the Economist Magazine’s Space Economy Summit.

Why it matters: - The summit aims to push ideas that can help turn lunar exploration into commercial reality. - The National Space Society is using the event to focus on the structural frameworks needed for a sustainable cislunar economy. - The conference is positioned as a major gathering for people working on humanity’s expansion beyond Earth.

What happened: - The National Space Society will hold the annual Space Settlement Summit on Oct. 25-26, 2026, at the University of Central Florida campus in Orlando. - The summit will take place alongside UCF’s Space Week and immediately before the Economist Magazine’s Space Economy Summit. - Jeffrey Manber and Camille Bergin will keynote the event.

The details: - The Space Settlement Summit is designed as a collaborative forum where attendees can generate new ideas and solutions to existing problems. - Manber is the Special Representative to the Chairman and CEO for Voyager Technologies. - Manber also serves as chairman of the board for Nanoracks, which Voyager has acquired. - Manber led Nanoracks as CEO from 2009 to 2021. - Manber directed development of the Bishop Airlock, described as the first and only commercial airlock on the International Space Station. - Before Nanoracks, Manber served as managing director of Energia USA, the American arm of RSC Energia. - In 1991, Manber negotiated the first commercial contract between NASA and NPO Energia in the Soviet Union to use the Soyuz crewed capsule as an escape vehicle for Space Station Freedom. - Manber later represented Energia in negotiations to construct and operate the International Space Station. - Manber received the NASA Exceptional Public Achievement Medal in 2012. - Manber received the Space Frontier Foundation’s 2017 Pioneer of New Space Award. - Bergin is the chief marketing officer of Star Catcher. - Bergin leads Star Catcher’s global marketing, communications and brand strategy for the company’s orbital energy grid effort. - Before Star Catcher, Bergin co-founded Modulate Media and served as a lead consultant there. - Bergin’s earlier roles included leadership and communications work at Vast Space, Lockheed Martin and Orbit Fab. - Bergin is also known online as “The Galactic Gal” and has an audience of nearly one million. - Bergin works with global organizations, including the United States Space Force, to broaden the reach of their missions and technologies. - The summit website is spacesettlementsummit.nss.org.

Between the lines: - The speaker lineup blends commercial space veterans with marketing and communications talent, signaling a focus on both technical strategy and public-facing growth. - The event’s emphasis on the cislunar economy suggests the space settlement conversation is moving toward business models, infrastructure and execution, not just exploration goals. - Holding the summit before the Economist Magazine’s Space Economy Summit may help draw a broader industry audience to Orlando.

What's next: - The National Space Society will stage the summit in late October at UCF. - Attendees are expected to use the conference to develop ideas for settlement, lunar development and space commerce. - Additional summit programming is likely to build on the keynote talks and collaborative sessions.

The bottom line: - The National Space Society is positioning Space Settlement Summit 2026 as a practical working event for the next phase of space settlement and commercial expansion.