// Open Space Conference

Shape The
Future Of
Space2026

Date
July 17th, 2026
Venue
Colony Fabrica, Great Ancoats Street
Location
Manchester, UK
Format
In-person + Livestream
Edition
OSC 2026
Livestream — July 17th, 2026
// Live Chat
What Is OSC

A new kind of space conference — open, participatory, inter-disciplinary. Designed to open the industry, bring people together, and get them into the field.

OSC exists outside the primes and the agencies. Built in the community, for the people actually shaping the future of the space sector. No gatekeeping. No corporate agenda. Just the work.

Register Now View Speakers See Agenda Sponsor OSC
// About OSC

Why A New
Space Conference

The Case

There are already plenty of space conferences. Businesses, government and military are well served. Numerous events at all levels — from building in orbit to how we use data from the satellites already up there. But there always seems to be one group of people missing from the conversation.

The general public.

// Why This Matters
01
There has been a persistent gap in engagement and outreach when it comes to space — because it feels so far away to many. "Astronauts are the best of us," we are told. Space is hard. It's no wonder people turn away once the spectacle of rocket launches becomes commonplace.
02
There is a theory about the ability of people to see themselves in a role being necessary to achieve it. It's the foundation of any magic. That's what it really means to dream.
03
Space is the most hostile environment we've ever known — the driest of deserts, the most treacherous of voyages. And yet to live on orbit has been nothing short of a miracle, built on the efforts of scientists and engineers who have developed solar panels, CO2 scrubbers, climate systems, and medical advances that we now use back on Earth.
04
The ability to know where you are on the planet at any time. Live knowledge of weather patterns. Predictions that farmers in the agricultural revolution could only have dreamed of. That is the power of working together in space. It has broken down national barriers once thought impossible to breach.
05
Billionaires and their toys have ruled the conversation for decades. The problems on Earth only seem to be multiplying. But it will be in going further out into space that we find the solutions we need to live on and heal this planet.
// What OSC Aims To Deliver
Open To All

The Open Space Conference aims to open space up for everyone. Whether you have a passing interest or you're an industry veteran — a room full of people both interesting and interested, learning how we can support one another and build a space where all feel welcome.

I've spent the past decade breaking down these barriers. Open source astronaut training you can follow yourself — for free. Labs that bring the technology of space down to Earth for everyday people. Dropping ladders for people to climb.

I still believe anyone can be an astronaut. It wouldn't diminish the work that goes into it to say so. I also still believe our best days are ahead of us — but it does matter that we chase our dreams wherever they may lead. Unapologetically and unafraid.

— Adam Paigge, Supernova Labs

Join Us July 17th Read The Full Essay
// Programme

Agenda
July 17th

Day — July 17th
\ D
09:00 Registration & Coffee
logistics
09:30 Opening Address — Welcome to the Open space Conference 2026
talkFraming the day: why OSC exists, what the open space movement is building, and what to expect.		 Adam Paigge
Supernova Labs
09:50
talkIt started with rope memory hand-woven by seamsters at MIT, flying astronauts to the Moon. Then came purpose-built flight computers voting five ways on every decision aboard the Shuttle. Then radiation-hardened chips launched in the 70s that are still calling home from interstellar space today. And somewhere along the way, the industry quietly stopped building exotic silicon and started flying the same Linux boxes and commodity chips we run on Earth. This talk walks through how spacecraft computers actually got built, who built them, and why the machines keeping humans alive in orbit today look more like your laptop than anything NASA sent to the Moon.		 Akash Joshi
10:20 EO a go go
talkBlurb pending.		 John Knott
10:50 Break
11:10 When I grow up I want to be an Astronaut
talkWhen I was little, I wanted to be an astronaut. A few decades later and I'm middle management in the public sector, not exactly what little Katie dreamed of. But I never lost my passion for space and you don't even need to be an astronaut to get there. The sector is young and full of potential. It hasn't yet been saturated with specialists so it's wide open for making the most of any transferrable skills you have and I want to make the most of that. My goal is to inspire the next generation so that if not astronauts, they can still aspire to reach the stars.		 Katie Majerski
11:40 One giant STRIDE for mankind
talkThe universe grows smaller every day, and the threat of online misuse anywhere, can no longer be tolerated. There must be cyber security for all, or no one is secure. Now, this does not mean giving up any freedom, except the freedom to act irresponsibly. Your ancestors knew this when they made laws to govern themselves and hired policemen to enforce them. Now, we of the other planets have long accepted this principle. We have an organization for the mutual protection of all planets and for the complete elimination of cyber attacks. The test of any such higher authority is, of course, the quality of of the technology that supports it. For our policemen, we are creating a race of AI – you might call it ‘Alleged Intelligence’. Their function is to reduce the vulnerabilities that criminals and hostile nation states may exploit and preserve the peace. In matters of cyber aggression, we are giving them absolute power over us. This power cannot be revoked. At the first indicators of compromise, they act automatically against the aggressor. The penalty for provoking their action is too terrible to risk. The result is, we live in peace, without SOCs of burnt-out analysts, secure in the knowledge that we are free from malware, data loss, and in accessible computers, free to pursue more... profitable enterprises. Now, we do not pretend to have achieved perfection, but we do have a system, and it works. I came here to give you these facts. It is no concern of ours how you run your own planet, but if you threaten to extend your crappy code, this Earth of yours will be reduced to a burned-out cinder. Your choice is simple: join us and live in peace, or pursue your present course and face obliteration. We shall be waiting for your answer. The decision rests with you. 		Danny Dresner
12:10 Unconference Pitches — chalk your talk on the whiteboard
unconference
12:30 Lunch
13:30 Scotland: bigger in space than on the map
talk		 Euan Harvey
14:30 Unconference Open Sessions — Block 1
unconference		 Community
15:00 Break
15:30 The Manchester Space Programme
talk		 Tony Fawl
15:50 Unconference Open Sessions — Block 2
unconference		 Community
16:50 Closing & Wrap-Up
17:00 Close

Timings are provisional and may shift slightly closer to the day.

// Unconference
Afternoon sessions are yours to shape.
Fancy running your own session? Turn up, add your talk to the whiteboard, and we'll fit it into an open slot — no submission required in advance.
Submit A Talk Back To Home
// Speakers

The People
Shaping Space

Akash Joshi
Akash Joshi
Confirmed
Katie Majerski
Katie Majerski
Confirmed
John Knott
John Knott
Confirmed
Tony Fawl
Tony Faul
Confirmed
Danny Dresner
Danny Dresner
Professor of Cyber Security at the University of Manchester and co-founder of the IASME Consortium. Takes a people-first, community-based approach to security, and leads the University's outreach through the Centre for Digital Trust and Society.
Confirmed
Euan Harvey
Euan Harvey
Confirmed
Adam Paigge
Adam Paigge
Supernova Labs
Founder and director of Supernova Labs, working across open-source aerospace, the Open Spaceplane Project, and the Pirate Space Agency. Organiser of OSC.
Confirmed
// Unconference
Plus, speakers made on the day.
OSC runs an open unconference track alongside the confirmed talks. Turn up, chalk your talk on the whiteboard, and we'll slot it into an open session — no submission required in advance.
Submit A Talk Back To Home
// The Organisers

Built By
The Community

The Team

OSC is built by a small, distributed team of people who care about opening the space industry. We're not a corporate events company. We're practitioners — engineers, researchers, communicators — who believe this conference needs to exist.

// Core Team
Adam Paigge
Founder
Supernova Labs
Akash Joshi
Events & Logistics
OSC
Beth Ferguson
Events & Logistics
OSC
Rob Scott
Event Livestream
OSC
Vickey Duncalf
Event Livestream
Vicky Video
Your Name Here
Get Involved
We're building in the open
// Get Involved
Join Us

We're building this conference in the community. If you want to volunteer, help organise, run a session, or contribute in any other way — get in touch.

Speak // Run Sessions // Attend // Volunteer

Get In Touch
// Sponsorship Prospectus

Support
Open Space

Why Sponsor

A new kind of space conference — open, participatory, inter-disciplinary. Designed to open the industry, bring people together, and get them into the field. OSC exists outside the primes and the agencies, built in the community for the people actually shaping the future of the space sector.

// Sponsorship Packages
Founding Sponsor
Launch Partner
£3,500
Your name on the event.
Presenting sponsor status.
  • Presenting title on all materials & comms — "OSC 2026, supported by [Your Company]"
  • Logo on stage, print, and event site
  • Persistent logo overlay on livestream
  • Named speaking slot or stage intro (5 min)
  • Exhibition table / demo space
  • Named in every email & social post
  • 6 complimentary delegate tickets
  • Post-event audience report
Conference Sponsor
Supporter
£1,000
Visible presence.
Direct access to the audience.
  • Logo on event site and printed materials
  • Logo on livestream title card
  • Verbal acknowledgement from the stage
  • 3 complimentary delegate tickets
  • Listed in post-event communications
// Who You're Reaching
~100
Livestream viewers — specialist, international audience
30+
In-person delegates — general public, engineers, researchers, founders
1
Single track — full audience attention, no competing sessions
// Current Sponsors