Stardust 2026
Monday 2 and Tuesday 3 November 2026
Two days of talks, panels, a career fair and poster sessions, the finale of the Stardust Challenge, and the Stardust Awards. In the room in Seattle, or on the stream from anywhere. Free with a Stardust account, open to anyone, at any age.
Main event sponsor: Club for the Future, Blue Origin's foundation
What happens
Stardust 2026 is our flagship event. Nobody needs a flight or a visa to be part of it: every main-stage session is streamed, and the room in Seattle is for those who can make it.
Talks and panels
People who fly, build and study spaceflight, on the main stage both days.
The Challenge finale
Teams from the Stardust Challenge present their abstracts and posters themselves, and on day two the judges sit down with the winning teams, on the stream, wherever the teams are. Teams present from their own classroom or lab: a slot in their own time zone, a tech check the week before, and one person from Stardust on the line with them.
Career fair
Both days, in person. Read what each organisation does and what they are hiring for, and send a private message without speaking up in front of anyone.
Poster sessions
Accepted abstracts on the floor as posters, with their authors beside them.
The Stardust Gala
The evening of day two: the Stardust Awards reception, a Roaring Twenties evening in Seattle. The address is whispered to ticket holders. Open bar and hors d'oeuvres. Tickets
The stream
Every main-stage session, live and worldwide, with the chat open. Recordings follow for members.
The agenda
Times are PST (Seattle), with your own time zone beside each one.
Monday 2 November
Tuesday 3 November
Seattle. The address is whispered to registered guests first, in October. Full programme.
The speakers
Confirmed. The rest are unveiled one at a time.
Dr. Olav Krigolson
Professor, Theoretical and Applied Neuroscience Laboratory, University of Victoria
Frank White
Author, The Overview Effect, Human Space Program
Taylour Mills
STEAM Advisor and Board of Advisors, SEDS USA
Dr. Danny Jaques
Founder, Danny's Rocket Ranch
Paola Rodríguez
CEO, Neko Aerospace Engineering
David Bavaresco
President and Chief Aerospace Engineer, Neko Aerospace Engineering
Osho Priya
Ambassador, NASA Lucy Mission, STEM outreach and ethical AI
Shinul Paul
Chief Operating Officer, Stardust Inc.
Zain Tawana
Chief Impact and Partnership Officer, Stardust Inc.
Shifa Zahra
Director of Space Biology and Strategic Partnerships, Stardust Inc.
Caroline Clark
Analogue Astronaut & Space Psychology Researcher, Expansum
Dr. Gretchen Green
Physician and Blue Origin astronaut, NS-32
Dr. Alexandra (Sandra) Whitmire
Lead Scientist, Human Factors and Behavioral Performance, NASA Human Research Program
Oscar O'Farrill
Psychologist and High-Performance Coach, Ecosistema Consciencia (EDHEC)
Dr. Fernando De La Peña Llaca
Founder and CEO, Aexa Aerospace and Aexa Tech, Aexa Aerospace
Ashley Lewelling
PR Coordinator, World’s Biggest Analog · Guide, GOWME, GOWME
Jason Michaud
CEO and Founder, Stardust Inc.
Host
Unveiling soon
Speaker 18
Unveiling soon
Speaker 19
Unveiling soon
Speaker 20
Unveiling soon
Speaker 21
Unveiling soon
Speaker 22
Unveiling soon
Speaker 23
Unveiling soon
Speaker 24
Unveiling soon
Speaker 25
Unveiling soon
Speaker 26
Unveiling soon
Speaker 27
Unveiling soon
Speaker 28
Unveiling soon
Speaker 29
Unveiling soon
Speaker 30
Unveiling soon
Speaker 31
Unveiling soon
Speaker 32
Unveiling soon
Speaker 33
Unveiling soon
Speaker 34
Unveiling soon
Speaker 35
Unveiling soon
Speaker 36
Unveiling soon
Speaker 37
Call for abstracts
The call is open until 20 October 2026. Propose a talk or a poster: research, a project, a build, a programme that worked. Accepted abstracts are presented in the poster sessions or on the main stage, and listed here.
Submit an abstractYou need a free Stardust account to submit, so we can reach you with the decision. Challenge teams submit their Challenge entry separately, through the Challenge; entries close 19 October.
Accepted abstracts
The Challenge finale
Stardust 2026 is where the Stardust Challenge 2026 ends: 67 teams from 27 countries are registered so far, 16 entries are in, and the teams present their own work on the main stage. Registration for teams closes 15 October; entries close 19 October.
Partners and organisations taking part
Main event sponsor: Club for the Future, Blue Origin's foundation. These organisations are part of Stardust 2026, at the career fair and on the programme. Read what each does and what they are hiring for, and message them privately from the programme page.
Sponsor Stardust 2026
Put your name on the next generation. Two days in Seattle, a worldwide stream, the Challenge finale and the Stardust Awards: there is a place for a brand at every level, and every dollar buys places for young people on Odyssey at the same price anybody pays.
Presenting Partner
from $25,000
Your name with Stardust 2026 on every page, the stream, the reception and the awards. A keynote slot, first choice of a Challenge category to name, the first booth at the career fair, and a table at the awards reception. One only.
Stage Partner
from $10,000
A panel of your own on the main stage, in the room and on the stream, a named Challenge category with a brief from your industry, a career-fair booth, and a seat with the judges and the finalists.
Career Fair Partner
from $5,000
A booth on both days, a session or workshop, your logo on the event page and the stream, and a place on the mentoring bench with the finalists, on the stream.
Community Partner
from $2,500
Your logo on the event page, the stream credits and the welcome pack, and scholarship places for young people in your name.
Friend of Stardust 2026
from $1,000
Your name on the event page and in the stream credits, and ten scholarship places for young people.
In-kind Partner
recognised at value
Travel, hotel rooms, AV, print, food and drink, merchandise, media, volunteer time. Credited at the level its value matches.
Sponsor one thing
Sponsor a panel
Your name on one main-stage panel, both in the room and on the stream, with a seat on it if you want one.
The career fair
Presenting sponsor of both career-fair days: the floor, the signage, the first booth.
The awards reception
The Gala evening in your name: the bar, the welcome, a word from the stage.
The stream
Your logo on the worldwide stream for two days, the pre-roll, and the recordings after.
The swag
The bag every attendee carries home, and what is in it: your item beside ours.
Student travel
Bring a finalist team to Seattle who could not otherwise come. Flights, rooms, a badge with your name on it.
A Stardust Award
One of the eleven awards presented on the night, in your name, handed over by you.
A Challenge category
Name one of the eight categories and set its brief from your industry. Teams worldwide build against it.
Scholarship places
Ten young people
$1,000
10 places at $100 each for a year. A classroom-sized group, a year of Stardust Plus each, and a report you can put in front of your board.
A cohort of fifty
$5,000
50 places at $100 each for a year. Enough to run a country programme, or to name a Stardust Challenge category as its sponsor.
One hundred places
$10,000
100 places at $100 each for a year. What Club for the Future funded. It reached young people on four continents and is still being reported on.
Ten Pathway places
$10,000
10 places at $1,000 each for a year. The mentored tier: for a sponsor who wants depth with a small number of young people rather than reach.
In-kind support is welcome at every level and recognised at its value: travel, hotel rooms, AV, print, food, merchandise, media. Invoiced, never marked up. Multi-year and a named Challenge category are both possible.
Be there
On the stream
Free and worldwide. Sign up with a free Stardust account: that is how you get the stream link, the reminders, and a seat in the chat.
In Seattle
Both days in Seattle. The address is whispered to registered guests first, in October. The Stardust Gala closes the evening of 3 November.
Sponsor or exhibit
A booth at the career fair, a panel, the reception, the stream, or the swag. The levels are above, and a booth is one form: ask for a booth.
Coming from abroad? Registered attendees can ask for an invitation letter for a visa: write to shifa.z@stardustinc.ca with your name as it appears in your passport. Both days are photographed, filmed and streamed; being in the room is saying yes to that.
Press and partnerships: Shifa Zahra, Director of Space Biology & Strategic Partnerships, shifa.z@stardustinc.ca.
Questions people ask
Is it free?
Yes. The two days are free with a Stardust account, in the room or on the stream. The Gala on the evening of day two is a ticket, by invitation.
Can my class join?
Yes. A teacher takes a join code into a room and the class watches together, or a team enters the Challenge and presents from the classroom.
Can I present?
Send an abstract before 20 October. Accepted talks go on the main stage, accepted posters on the floor. Challenge teams present their own work.
What is "by invitation"?
You ask for a Gala seat on the Gala page, we read the names and invite in the order they arrived, and an invitation is good for seven days.
What do I wear to the Gala?
The twenties. Black tie, a flapper dress, a waistcoat and a hat, a suit with a pocket square. Anything from 1926 or anything that nods to it.
Will there be recordings?
Every main-stage session is recorded. Members get the recordings after the event.
For the press
What you can use, in one place. Contact Shifa Zahra, shifa.z@stardustinc.ca.
The Gala film
Thirty-seven seconds, black and white. Download or watch it on the Gala page.
