Dear SATELLITE & GovMilSpace Community,

March has finally arrived! We are now just a couple of weeks away from the start of our 2026 SATShow Week program. We’re eager to welcome all of you to Washington D.C. for what will surely be a productive and successful week for all.

But before you start packing your suitcase, we have one more exciting announcement to make… We have another special guest keynote to reveal. American entrepreneur, former actress, and platinum-selling singer-songwriter Bridgit Mendler, now CEO and Co-Founder of Northwood Space, will be our closing keynote speaker. She will appear on our Exhibit Hall Unveiled theater stage on Thursday, March 26^th at 11:30 am for a fireside chat keynote with Via Satellite Managing Editor Rachel Jewett. Mendler will discuss her new venture, which aims to mass produce satellite ground stations that address fundamental data transmission bottlenecks, as well as what drew her from entertainment stardom to space industry entrepreneurship.

Prior to founding Northwood, Bridgit ran two companies in television and music. She served as leading actress on multiple series including Disney’s Good Luck Charlie and she was a platinum songwriter and recording artist. One of her hit singles, 2012’s “Ready or Not,” garnered more than 500 million streams across top platforms. Bridgit has earned a Masters from MIT and a JD from Harvard and has worked at the FCC. During her time at the FCC while at Harvard, Bridgit focused on satellite licensing frameworks and regulatory policy development, working directly with industry stakeholders to address technical and legal challenges in the rapidly evolving commercial space sector. As a Director’s Fellow and Researcher at the MIT Media Lab, she contributed to projects at the intersection of technology, communication, and social impact, exploring innovative approaches to global connectivity challenges.  

The best part about Bridgit’s keynote is that it’s open to all attendees (exhibit hall only and conference-level badges)! Her keynote closes out the very first day in SATELLITE show history where the entire conference program is taking place on the Exhibit Hall floor. Her talk follows sessions on Advanced On-Orbit Space Operations, The Case for a Circular Space Economy, and Servicing Supports Proliferated Defense Architecture. 

We hope you are excited as we are about this year’s amazing keynote and general session line-up! We’ll see you all very soon!

Sincerely,

Jeffrey Hill
Executive Chairman, SATELLITE & GovMilSpace