The Karman Project

Through our strategic programs, we’ve gathered people from exactly 65 nations worldwide - creating real human bridges between countries like the United States, Russia, China, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Rwanda, Israel, India, and so forth. We've created safe spaces for leaders to share their challenges, priorities and visions for space - ensuring that astronauts, space agency directors, entrepreneurs, artists, researchers and investors are actively learning from one another. This is unique in space, but very important. This year, we were deeply honoured to receive the International Astronautical Federation's Excellence in Diversity Award. It's a recognition not only of the programming we've worked hard to build - but of every single one of our Fellows, Pioneers and Partners, who are building projects in all corners of the globe. Celebrated at a special ceremony led by Clay Mowry, President of the IAF, and Josef Aschbacher, Director General of European Space Agency - ESA, this award reaffirms the value of dialogue, inclusion, and genuine collaboration in shaping the future of space. Diversity isn’t just a goal; it’s the only true foundation for progress. Thank you to the International Astronautical Federation for this recognition, and to Temidayo Oniosun for sharing his Karman Impact story alongside our Managing Director, Hannah Ashford. Efforts like these inspire us to keep fostering a community where everyone has a seat at the table. 🎥 Watch more here: https://lnkd.in/gRyBxg4b 🔎 Read more here: https://lnkd.in/dCm8WSsr #KarmanWrapped2024 #DiversityInAction

Karman Wrapped 2024 – #1: The Great Debate Era Why is it important for leaders to step out of their daily bubbles? Because tackling the most pressing challenges of our time - both on Earth and in space - requires new perspectives, shared learning, and bold dialogue. This summer, thanks to our strong partnership with the Oxford Space Initiative, The Karman Project supported 10 remarkable Pioneers and Fellows from exactly 10 countries to join our annual Karman-Oxford Week hosted at the University of Oxford. Together, space agency directors, climate and finance experts, policy leaders, and even an astronaut immersed themselves in an intensive journey of learning, debate, and shared insights. In today’s polarised world, forums like these - where academia meets industry and curiosity meets expertise - are vital. Year after year, we find that the unique atmosphere at Saïd Business School, University of Oxford inspires deep thinking, tough questions, and new ideas. It’s a reminder that healthy debate and diverse perspectives are essential to shaping a better future. We’re immensely grateful to our partners at Oxford for continuing to make this possible. Cheers to big thinking and see you in 2025! #KarmanWrapped2024 #FutureOfSpace #DialogueForImpact

Space Elevators: Science Fiction or Fantasy? 🛸 Let us know what you think! Last month, The Karman Project had the joy of partnering with SPRIND - Bundesagentur für Sprunginnovationen (German Federal Agency for Breakthrough Innovation) for some pretty wild conversations! SPRIND create spaces for people to take risks and think with radical difference. They set seemingly impossible challenges, knowing that the journey towards discovery is what is most important - and that along the way, we can break through boundaries we thought were unbreakable. Through SPRIND's "Challenge" methodology, they've pushed and funded breakthroughs in areas like circular biomanufacturing, energy storage, and broad-spectrum antivirals. And now, they're turning their attention to #space with the help of our Karman Fellows, and exploring something that has long divided the space community: space elevators. While in Milan, our Fellows from 5 cohorts came together for our inaugural Fellowship Summit at the stunning W Executive HQ to explore some provocative questions about our future: what could space reveal that would radically change our understanding of the universe; what are the biggest challenges we face in space exploration; what elements of something like a space elevator are grounded in reality and what elements are pure fantasy? If anyone can think big, it's the people shaping the future of space - but the team from SPRIND managed to push the minds of our community further than we thought possible! It was a truly inspiring day, and we're energised to work alongside SPRIND to see how we can accelerate some of the most radical space innovations of our shared future. SPRIND are also actively looking to fund some wild technologies and ideas, so please reach out if you'd like to learn more. Thank you to SPRIND - Bundesagentur für Sprunginnovationen for your trust in our community to go on this journey with you, to W Executive for your exceptional hospitality, and to our Fellows for your brilliant brains 🧠✨ Read more about our engagement here: https://lnkd.in/gtEdv4CB Patrick P. Rose, Beatrix Rungger, LL.M, Felix Rothe, Stella Meiré, Hannah Ashford, Öykü Gürsu, Emanuel v. Grolman, Adrian Flynn

What happens when you bring the world’s leading space leaders together under one (very beautiful, very historic!) roof? ✨ The Karman Futures Gala - aligned with our mission to unite global decision-makers for urgent, collaborative action - is designed to foster meaningful connections and inspire innovative approaches for a sustainable and peaceful future in space. This year’s theme, ‘A Collective Imagining: Missions to Define our Future,’ invited our guests to pitch their bold visions for the next phase of our space sector. It’s not every day you see people sharing and debating future missions at a Gala Dinner, but we’re all about gathering the crazy, courageous people - and giving them the space to dream together. Hosted alongside IAC2024, the evening brought together Heads of Agencies and senior leaders from the United Nations, European Space Agency, NASA, CNES, Kenya, Australia, Portugal, and beyond - alongside astronauts, researchers, and executives from the international space community. A heartfelt thank you to all those who joined us. Our biggest thanks also to Insolito Cinema for capturing our evening, Palazzo Visconti for your stunning hospitality, our dear fellows Raffaele Mauro and Emma Gatti for the local guidance, and our very own Öykü Gürsu for bringing this vision together! What do you think is the next big step for international cooperation in space? 🚀 https://lnkd.in/gc6eXstw

We're gearing up for the Indo-Pacific Space and Earth Conference and Exhibition 2024 - and if you can join us #downunder, there's still time to register 👉 https://lnkd.in/dVaQJRYE As a proud Community Partner of #IPSEC2024, The Karman Project is thrilled to be joining space leaders in Perth, Australia on 26 November 2024, to discuss the future of international collaboration in building resilient, innovative space ecosystems. Our Managing Director, Hannah Ashford, will be speaking alongside colleagues from ispace, inc., Curtin University, World Economic Forum and RIIS - Research Institute for Innovation and Sustainability - and together, we’ll explore how global partnerships are setting the stage for a new era in space capability development. Particularly excited to be speaking alongside our Karman Fellow Davis Cook and Selection Board Member Tim Parsons! We look forward to seeing you at #IPSEC2024! #SpaceInnovation #InternationalCollaboration #TheKarmanProject #SpaceEcosystem #IPSEC

Ciao, Milano! The International Astronautical Congress is always an intensely fulfilling experience, but this year in Milan, we were treated to rich risotto and even richer discussions. Our congratulations and thanks to the International Astronautical Federation! We’ll dive deeper into these highlights in the coming weeks, but here’s a quick taste of what made #IAC2024 unforgettable: ✨ Karman Futures Gala: We gathered 150 senior delegates from the international space community for our Annual Karman Futures Gala at the stunning Palazzo Visconti, where bold ideas for the next big cooperative space project were envisioned and shared. 🏆 IAF Excellence in Diversity Award: We were deeply honoured to receive the annual IAF Excellence in Diversity Award, celebrated at a special luncheon presided over by Clay Mowry, President of the IAF, and Josef Aschbacher, Director General of the European Space Agency. Thank you for this recognition of our community's global efforts. 🌍 Astra Carta Advisory Council: Our Managing Director, Hannah Ashford, participated in the inaugural Astra Carta Advisory Council meeting, a key initiative driving King Charles III’s Sustainable Markets Initiative forward. 🍝 Karman Fellowship Summit: We hosted the inaugural Karman Fellowship Summit, uniting Fellows from five cohorts and 17 (!!) countries. We became chefs for the morning - lots of pasta was made and consumed. 🏛 Future of Space Workshop at Bocconi House: We co-hosted a Future of Space Workshop with SPRIND - Bundesagentur für Sprunginnovationen (German Federal Agency for Disruptive Innovation) at the historic W Executive offices in Bocconi House. SPRIND is redefining innovation, and our Fellows pushed the boundaries of what’s possible in space technologies. Stay tuned as we work with SPRIND to develop a multi-year Space Challenge! 🌙 Lunar Registry Workshop: Together with Open Lunar Foundation and the Astra Carta, we dove into the complexities of transparency in future lunar activities at our co-hosted Lunar Registry Workshop. 👩🚀 Axiom Space x Prada Collaboration: We witnessed the exciting reveal of Axiom Space’s new spacesuit, designed in collaboration with Prada. A big step forward in making space more accessible - and stylish! 🤝 New Partnerships: We’re thrilled to welcome new sponsors and partners who are helping us drive forward our mission. Special thanks to EnduroSat, SPRIND - Bundesagentur für Sprunginnovationen, and W Executive for your invaluable support. More insights to come soon, but for now - grazie, Milano! 🇮🇹

COUNTDOWN #1 🚀 In just over one week, the Karman Fellows of 2024 will come together in Bulgaria alongside our hosts from EnduroSat for a transformative week of collaboration and future-focused dialogue. Each year, we design the program with two key pillars in mind - #FutureofSpace, and #GiveBack to our regional hosts. So what's in store for our Future of Space programming? Firstly, we will see the launch of an exciting new format: Karman Scenarios Planning. Led by Taskeen Ali, a Futures Economist with deep expertise in global markets and geopolitics (and a friend of our foundation from the Oxford Space Initiative), this format aims to anticipate key trends and challenges for the space sector through 2050. We’ve already conducted 20 in-depth interviews with our Karman Fellows and Pioneers, leveraging their diverse perspectives to understand where our sector is heading. We'll be exploring these insights, workshopping some plausible scenarios and sharing the outcomes - stay tuned 🤓 Secondly, we'll be hosting a Fellows-led Chatham House Workshop. Our Fellows will moderate the topics they believe are in need of robust discussion and input - in a safe forum designed for free and open dialogue. We’re also proud to host Jean-Jacques Dordain, former ESA Director General, who will inspire our Fellows with a keynote on the importance of international cooperation amidst geopolitical tensions. Stay tuned as we continue the countdown to Karman Fellowship Week 2024 - where the future of space takes shape. 🌟 #KarmanFellowshipWeek #FutureOfSpace #KarmanScenariosPlanning #SpaceLeadership #EnduroSat #Bulgaria

This is exactly what The Karman Project is about - inspiring global space leaders to come together across borders to proactively address the opportunities and challenges they are passionate about, with their knowledge, networks and resources. During Karman Week 2024, Emma Gatti (Editor-in-Chief at SpaceWatch.Global) dreamed up a new idea for positive communication about the critical role that space technologies serve for communities around the Earth. She felt that the Global South was underrepresented in storytelling - and teamed up with Mani Thiru, who has supported from some of the most innovative #spacetech companies within the Asia-Pacific and beyond. Check out their new podcast - #SpaceForGood - below. Episode 1 features Divya Sharma from SatSure - a company that was co-founded by Karman Fellow Prateep Basu ✨ Worlds colliding!