Two free days at The Brewery in London covering the military use of space, from satellite communications and space intelligence to space domain awareness, run by the community rather than by a commercial conference organiser.
Defence in Space is a two-day conference on the military and security use of space, held at The Brewery in central London on 27 and 28 October 2026. It is the fourth edition. The organisers describe it as a free event run by the space and defence community, open to government, industry, institutions and academia, with more than twenty talks across the two days and support for the Allied Forces Foundation. The programme covers military satellite communications, space-based intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance, Earth observation and geospatial intelligence, space domain awareness, satellite navigation, space security and cyber, and national space programmes.
The defence space calendar is dominated by commercial conference organisers charging three to four thousand pounds for an industry pass. That model works: it funds a well-run programme and it filters the room down to people with a budget. It also filters out a great deal of the technical population, junior military staff, smaller suppliers and academic researchers, none of whom have a conference line in their budget.
Defence in Space runs the opposite model. Admission is free, the funding comes from sponsors, and the result is a different room: more practitioners, more early-stage companies, more academics. That is a real trade-off rather than a straight improvement. What a free event does not offer is the closed-door procurement briefing that a paid conference can promise, because the attendance list is not vetted the same way.
The published themes are the full military space stack. Military satellite communications and the growing use of commercial capacity for defence traffic. Space-based intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance, with Earth observation and geospatial intelligence treated together. Space domain awareness and the tracking of objects and behaviour in orbit. Satellite navigation and the resilience of position, navigation and timing under jamming and spoofing. Space security and cyber, covering the ground and link segments as attack surfaces. And national space programmes, where individual countries set out what they are building.
Yes. The organisers state plainly that it is a free event run by the space and defence community. Registration is still required.
It is community organised rather than owned by a commercial conference company, which is why the branding is the event name itself. The event supports the Allied Forces Foundation.
No. It is an open conference for government, industry, institutions and academia. Speakers at open defence events keep their material at an unclassified level, which is worth knowing if you are expecting operational detail.
The Brewery on Chiswell Street sits on the edge of the City of London, a converted 18th-century brewery now used as a conference venue. It is a mid-sized space, which fits an event of this scale, and it is a short walk from Moorgate, Barbican and Liverpool Street.
A defence space conference that costs nothing to attend, which is why the room holds practitioners rather than the people who could expense a four-figure pass.
Attendance is free. Registration is handled through the official website, which also carries the schedule and the speaker list. Because there is no price barrier, popular editions of free conferences fill their capacity well before the date, so registering early is the practical advice rather than an upsell. Sponsorship and exhibition positions are arranged directly with the organisers and are how the event is funded.
27 and 28 October 2026 at The Brewery, 52 Chiswell Street, London.
Nothing. Attendance is free, though registration is required.
It is a five to ten minute walk from Moorgate, Barbican and Old Street Underground stations, and about fifteen minutes from Liverpool Street, which puts it within reach of Stansted Express and Elizabeth line arrivals.
The organisers do not publish a replay commitment. Attend in person if the content matters to you.
| Official website | https://defenceinspace.com/ |
| Schedule | https://defenceinspace.com/schedule/ |