The Air Space and Cyber Conference is the annual professional military development event of the Air & Space Forces Association (AFA). The 2026 edition ran September 14 to 16 at the Gaylord National Resort in National Harbor, Maryland.
What the conference is
AFA’s own event page describes the Air, Space & Cyber Conference as first-class professional military development. The same page says the show facilitates the sharing of emerging requirements and technologies and helps build connections that advance airpower and spacepower. In practice that means a single venue where Air Force and Space Force leaders, defense industry and technology vendors meet over several days of sessions, keynotes and exhibits.
The conference is a Washington-area event and a different kind of gathering from the Air Force’s own information-technology and cyber training events. For readers who track Air Force cyber events in particular, the AFITC conference guide covers the Montgomery, Alabama event and how it differs from AFA’s show. This independent site is not affiliated with AFA, the Department of the Air Force or any event organizer.
Who runs it: the Air & Space Forces Association
According to Wikipedia’s article on the association, AFA was founded in 1946 as the Air Force Association, with Jimmy Doolittle as its first president, and renamed itself in April 2022. It is an independent 501(c)(3) nonprofit professional military association headquartered in Arlington, Virginia. Its stated aims include educating the public about air and space power and supporting Airmen, Guardians and their families.
The conference name has changed too. The same source says the earlier Air and Space Conference was renamed the Air, Space and Cyber Conference in 2016. That change put cyber in the title of AFA’s flagship event. The guide to cyberpower explains the concept behind that shift.
Wikipedia also reports AFA’s membership: 123,292 members as of August 2024, of whom 40,281 were life members. In 2024, 23.85% of members were on active duty and 64.27% were retired or former military. Those figures describe the association’s members, not conference attendees, but they show the community the event is built around.
Dates, venue and format
| Edition | Dates | Location |
|---|---|---|
| 2026 | September 14 to 16, 2026 | Gaylord National Resort and Convention Center, National Harbor, Maryland |
| 2027 | September 20 to 22, 2027 | National Harbor, Maryland |
Source: the SpacePolicyOnline event listing for 2026, and AFA’s Air, Space & Cyber Conference page, which lists the next show as September 20 to 22, 2027 in National Harbor.
The SpacePolicyOnline listing says the 2026 conference took place at the Gaylord National Resort and Convention Center and included a virtual participation option. It also notes that the agenda was posted with registration instructions. AFA’s page does not describe a virtual option for the 2027 show, so check that page before planning remote attendance.
Because the 2026 conference has already taken place, AFA’s page now serves as an archive. It says full 2026 sessions and keynotes are available, points to highlights on AFA’s YouTube channel and news coverage from Air & Space Forces Magazine, and keeps an event archive of full sessions and transcripts from earlier years’ conferences. That makes it useful to anyone who missed the live event.
The venue: National Harbor
Wikipedia’s entry on National Harbor places the community in Prince George’s County, Maryland, along the Potomac River near the Woodrow Wilson Bridge and just south of Washington, D.C. It says the Gaylord National Resort and Convention Center opened on April 1, 2008.
The venue is a resort and convention complex on the river rather than a downtown convention hall, and it is just south of the capital. Anyone attending should confirm current transport, lodging and floor-plan details with the venue and AFA, since those change from year to year.
What the program covers
Wikipedia describes AFA’s professional development conferences as combining speakers, workshops, trade shows and presentations by Air Force and national defense leaders. AFA’s own page adds concrete detail about the 2026 show: its exhibitor directory covers nearly 300 exhibitors who filled the technology exhibit halls.
Attendance has grown. Wikipedia reports more than 18,000 registrants for the 2023 conference and more than 22,000 in 2024. These are registration counts, not confirmed headcounts, and no comparable registration figure for 2026 was found in the sources read for this guide.
The title promises three domains: air, space and cyber. The sources read here confirm sessions, keynotes and a large technology exhibit, but AFA’s page does not list cyber-specific tracks, so session topics are best checked in the posted agenda or the on-demand session archive.
How it compares with other government cyber events
The Air, Space & Cyber Conference is broad: it covers airpower and spacepower leadership, requirements and industry technology, with cyber as one of three named domains. Events such as TechNet Cyber, TechNet Augusta, DAFITC and the Billington Cybersecurity Summit lean harder on information technology and cyber specifically. The comparison of government cybersecurity conferences covers those four events.
A rough way to choose:
- Choose AFA’s conference to hear Air Force and Space Force leadership, see requirements and meet a wide range of industry vendors.
- Choose a cyber-specific event when the goal is network, defensive-cyber or IT modernization depth.
- Contractors who need the compliance side of defense work can pair either with the explanation of CMMC.
Planning your attendance
Registration terms, fees and credential types are set by AFA and are not described on the event page read for this guide. AFA’s page links to a registrant agreement and to booth space rates and floor maps for 2027, and it invites visitors to become an AFA member for free to unlock exclusive content. Anyone planning to attend or exhibit should work from AFA’s page, because this site does not take registrations and has no role in the event.
Three habits help with a show this large. Read the posted agenda before choosing sessions. Use the exhibitor directory to shortlist vendors in advance. Watch the archived sessions from earlier years to see which topics recur.
Frequently asked questions
When is the next Air, Space & Cyber Conference?
AFA’s page lists the next show as September 20 to 22, 2027 in National Harbor, Maryland. The 2026 edition ran September 14 to 16, 2026.
Who organizes the conference?
The Air & Space Forces Association, an independent nonprofit professional military association, organizes it. This website is not affiliated with AFA.
Where was the 2026 conference held?
It was held at the Gaylord National Resort and Convention Center in National Harbor, Maryland, with a virtual participation option, per SpacePolicyOnline.
Can I watch sessions from past conferences?
Yes. AFA’s page says full 2026 sessions and keynotes are available, and its event archive offers full sessions and transcripts from earlier years’ conferences.
Is it the same as the Air Force’s AFITC or DAFITC event?
No. AFITC and DAFITC are separate Air Force information technology and cyber events held in Montgomery, Alabama. The AFITC conference guide explains them.
Photo credits: MamaGeek (Wikimedia Commons) (CC BY-SA 4.0); Jason OX4 (Wikimedia Commons) (CC BY-SA 2.0).
