Tory Bruno, President and CEO of United Launch Alliance, will be Honorary Chair of World Space Week 2026, it was announced today by World Space Week Association. Led by Bruno, ULA has served as the custodian of America’s national security space missions, flying to the most challenging and exotic orbits the nation requires, while delivering the most accurate payload insertions in the world.
UN-declared World Space Week is celebrated annually each October 4-10 in 90 nations by schools, space agencies, aerospace companies, and planetaria, according to the Association.
“Tory is a most appropriate choice because next year’s theme will be The Rocket Revolution,” said Association President Dennis Stone. “World Space Week 2026 will spotlight the transformative and disruptive evolution of rockets, making access to space more frequent and affordable,” Stone said.
“It will be an honor to chair the largest space event on Earth,” Bruno said, noting that last year’s World Space Week had over 15,000 reported events. “Innovations in rocket technologies are occurring rapidly, making space applications more available to the world,” he said.
World Space Week 2025 ended last Friday with a focus on Living in Space. The Honorary Chair was Robert Lightfoot, President of Lockheed Martin Space.
Association Executive Director Alma Okpalefe added, “As new technologies, players, and approaches reshape how we access orbit and beyond, World Space Week next year will highlight launch as the driving force opening space to more nations, industries, and applications benefiting humanity than ever before.”
“We invite the global space community to hold events, whether large or small, next Ocober 4-10 about the Rocket Revolution and share them on the global calendar at www.worldspaceweek.org for all to see,” she added.