Explore how AI systems are being engineered to operate independently in resource-constrained environments. Industry pioneers will examine breakthroughs in edge computing, distributed intelligence, and hardware innovation, from foundational research to current capabilities and near-future advances. Learn how infrastructure-agnostic AI and intelligence addresses urgent Earth-based needs like accelerating human performance, enabling decentralized healthcare, and addressing environmental monitoring gaps and connectivity deserts, all while supporting humanity’s journey toward interplanetary habitation by 2040.

Accelerate solution design for extreme environments using generative AI in this collaborative design sprint. Participants join multidisciplinary teams to tackle infrastructure challenges for sustainable lunar, Martian, or terrestrial off-grid settings.

Enjoy lunch in the main hall or at Amazon's cafe spaces located throughout the building.

Noma’s shift from a renowned restaurant to a food laboratory showcases its adaptability and focus on innovation. This move, fueled by curiosity and a mission for deliciousness, expanded their reach beyond the fine dining model. Their success stems from collaboration between creative chefs and business generalists, a model they aim to extend to technical experts across industries to shape the menu of the future.

As our food systems scale to feed our growing populace, how do we ensure that our food is safe, sustainable, and delicious everywhere, whether in urban areas, disaster zones, or outer space? Food scientists, engineers, and visionary chefs discuss next-generation solutions for dinner, from Earth to the Moon, Mars and beyond.

Join noma, José Andres Group, and Heritage Space Food for an interactive working session on the future of food, both in space and on Earth.

Tap into decades of expertise from NASA and DLR as our Food Horizons Council leverages audience experiences to create a roadmap for unlocking extraterrestrial agriculture.

This keynote examines how converging advances in biotechnology, robotics, and materials science create resilient health systems for populations in extreme environments, from Earth’s remote communities to future habitats on the moon and Mars.

Join visionaries from industry, government, and academia as they discuss the future of autonomous healthcare, where AI could be used to triage medical crises, robots could perform remote surgeries, and predictive algorithms could redefine preventative care. Discover how cross-sector collaboration is breaking barriers to deploy self-sufficient diagnostic systems that empower patients on Earth today and future applications for astronauts venturing to Mars, while recognizing the ethical, technical, and regulatory challenges ahead.

Hear from clinicians from the Organization for Space Medicine, Engineering and Design (OSMED) working to keeping astronauts healthy, safe, and productive, and how they’ve translated advances in healthcare for low-resource settings into healthcare for the next generation of human space exploration.

Enjoy lunch in the main hall or at Amazon's cafe spaces located throughout the building.

A central part of the NEXPLORE 2040 experience is xFoundry's initiatives preparing the next generation of great leaders to tackle society's grand challenges. Learn how universities are becoming solution engines for grand challenges through xFoundry's Xperience program.

Meet the competitors of the Horizons Challenge - a nationwide competition for multidisciplinary university student teams to pitch their ideas for the next critical problem spaces aligned with NASA's missions. Finalist teams come to NEXPLORE to refine their pitches with your feedback, preparing them to pitch live and be chosen as the topic for the 2026 Xperience Competition.

Engage with Horizons Challenge competitors in small group feedback sessions, where attendees can help them craft their pitch for the topic of the next Xperience Competition. Competitors will work for 15 months to solve a grand challenge and create a startup, potentially securing up to $2M in investment.

This keynote examines how the high-performance resilience of elite athletes and the creative problem-solving of artistic disciplines can converge to be critical elements of success in entrepreneurship and the future of space industry development.

Neuroscientists, elite athletes, and space physicians reveal how innovations in cognitive resilience, biometrics, and behavioral design are preparing humans, from athletes to astronauts, for some of the toughest stress tests.

Enjoy lunch in the main hall or at Amazon's cafe spaces located throughout the building.

Get out your devices - it's time to vote! Horizons Challenge student finalists will pitch their case for a topic that should be the focus of the next $2M, multidisciplinary, multi-university Xperience Competition. NEXPLORE 2040 attendees will vote live for their favorite pitch.

The journey toward 2040 will bear little resemblance to the race that culminated in 1969; this time, private companies, entrepreneurs, and problem-solvers will lay the groundwork with far less federal support than during our first voyage to the Moon. Meeting this reality demands investments that ignite innovation and generate continuous economic value along the way, and by funding solutions to clearly defined gaps and challenges—rather than abstract “good ideas”—we incentivize industry to chart the roadmap first, remain mission-focused, and develop technologies tightly linked to measurable outcomes.

Where and how should bold capital flow to solve humanity's grand challenges? Investors and ecosystem builders share strategies for developing novel venture evaluation models and accelerating growth through targeted investments based on specific outcomes.

The Horizons Celebration, an exclusive ticketed event, will showcase highlights from the past three days of the summit and introduce the winning team of the Horizons Challenge. Distinguished keynotes and fireside chats will focus on the future of universities as a solution engine for addressing grand challenges and the role of startups and private industry in shaping the future of space habitation.