Mr. Todd Pennington, INSS Senior Fellow for Space Strategy and Policy, was a panelist at ASCEND 2026, the American Institute for Aeronautics and Astronautics' annual conference on spacepower. He joined Dr. John Plumb (K2 Space Head of Strategy and the first Assistant Secretary of Defense for Space Policy) and Mallory Stewart (CEO of the Council on Strategic Risks and formerly Assistant Secretary of State for the Bureau of Arms Control, Deterrence, and Stability) in a panel discussion of deterrence, stability, and escalation in space moderated by Matt Linton of Linton Space Law and Strategy.