September 1st - 3rd, 2026, Pasadena, CA

To maintain US leadership, NASA's Astrophysics Division (APD) is launching the Astrophysics Strategic Technology and Research Accelerator (ASTRA) Initiative. How does the universe work? How did we get here? Are we alone? At every stage, NASA will collaborate with industry, academia, and international partners to advance necessary technologies, manufacturing capabilities, and reduce costs.  ASTRA aims to reduce the total cost, time-to-science, and schedule risk of future strategic missions, aligning with the guidance from Astro2020, LSSM, and AMP.

In addition to the seminar happening ahead of the workshop in September, we are pleased to share local logistics/hotel information, and tentative workshop agenda. The workshop will take place in Baxter Lecture Hall on the Caltech campus in Pasadena, CA. Additionally, the workshop abstract portal is now open. Please take note of the corresponding links and deadlines below.

The block agenda for the Ad Astra workshop is now available on the meeting website. Day 1 of the workshop will be devoted to Science, Day 2 to Capabilities, and Day 3 to synthesizing the discussion. The deadline for submitting abstracts is 24 June 2026. Contributed talks and posters are welcomed on science questions that mission concepts presented at this meeting could address, as well as new astrophysics questions that have emerged since Astro 2020. Submissions that highlight the capabilities and enabling technologies needed to advance these open questions are especially encouraged, particularly where they help connect scientific goals to future mission concepts.

	Corresponding Links	Deadlines
Local Logistics and Hotel	https://conference.ipac.caltech.edu/community2026/page/local	August 10th (workshop room block)
Tentative Workshop Agenda	https://conference.ipac.caltech.edu/community2026/page/agenda	August 15th (in-person registration deadline) | August 30th (virtual registration deadline)
Abstracts Submission Portal	https://conference.ipac.caltech.edu/community2026/abstracts	June 24th 2026

Learn more about the ASTRA initiative here: https://science.nasa.gov/astrophysics/programs/cosmic-origins/studies/astra-initiative/

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On behalf of the Science Organizing Committee,

Community Science (Ad ASTRA) Workshop