Set along the beautiful Mediterranean coast in Tel Aviv, the Ilan Ramon conference was a wonderful experience for Spaceflight. We were excited about our first conference in Israel and ready to learn, meet new people and enjoy the amazing hospitality of the Israeli conference organizers.

Since this was our first trip to Israel, we were unaware that the country had such a burgeoning small satellite industry. During our time there, we learned about innovative small satellites, like the LiteSat. Other great small satellite ideas were proposed at the conference as well. One example was a 50-100 kg satellite that could monitor both ships on the ocean and fire outbreaks on land. GOMSPACE introduced nanosatellites as a new type of air traffic control. The capabilities of small satellites were front and center at this conference.

More exciting was meeting the people behind these innovative satellites and programs. We met a wealth of people, both from Israel and further abroad. Our friends at ISIS also met us at the conference and shared a few meals with us.

The conference had an air of international collaboration. The SHALOM satellite discussed in detail was a shared project between the Israelis and Italians. Countries new to the space community had a chance to show off what they were doing and look for future collaborators. We were thrilled to add to the atmosphere by speaking about our international partnerships and our hope for building even more.

Our international conference tour hasn’t ended yet. This week we’ll be heading to Singapore for the Global Space and Technology Convention. We hope it will be just as enlightening and wonderful as the Ilan Ramon conference in Tel Aviv.

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