Andy Weir to Speak at NewSpace 2015 Awards Gala This July

?The Space Frontier Foundation (SFF) will host its 10th annual NewSpace conference in San Jose, Calif., this July, where author Andy Weir will accept the "Best Presentation of Space" award for his New York Times bestselling book, "The Martian", published by Broadway Books. The movie adaption of Weir's book, directed by Ridley Scott and starring Matt Damon, Kristen Wiig and Jeff Daniels, is scheduled to debut on October 2, 2015. Weir will be presented with the award at the NewSpace Awards Gala taking place on the evening of July 18th.

"It truly is the best thing a writer could hope for," said Andy Weir, "The Martian" author. "And it's especially great to be able to bring excitement around space exploration to the general public. This is a defining decade in the U.S. Space Program's history, where commercialization is being nurtured and great strides are being made to get humans back into space. Mars is hard, space is hard, but we can make it work with the unwavering determination to explore that humanity is known for."

The NewSpace Awards Gala is a black-tie event that honors six recipients for achievements in commercial space and celebrates the future of the NewSpace industry. All Gala attendees will receive a signed copy of Weir's book.

The three-day conference serves to gather essential players in the rising commercial space industry including startups, established companies and government agencies, together with investors and tech innovators to address the challenges and capitalize on the opportunities facing the space industry.

Industry-leading speakers include:

? NASA Administrator, Charles Bolden
? President of Vulcan Aerospace, Charles Beames
? Trustee of Heinlein Prize Trust, Art Dula
? Managing Director of the Space Angels Network, Amir Blachman

For registration and programming details visit the NewSpace 2015 website. Copies of "The Martian" are available here. To watch the recently released "The Martian" trailer, visit the official website here.

About NewSpace 2015
new ? space öö - späs noun: a movement and philosophy often affiliated with the emergent private spaceflight industry.

Organized by the Space Frontier Foundation since 2006, the annual NewSpace conference is the only event that brings a unique mix of revolutionary space entrepreneurs, investors, scientists, engineers, regulators and space policy leaders together to explore the opportunities and challenges of opening the space frontier to human settlement. Facilitating the necessary cross-disciplinary collaboration will grow the private space industry and enable the creation of a sustainable space economy, which in turn fuels innovation in areas ranging from healthcare to construction. To register for the annual NewSpace Awards Gala click here. For more information visit http://www.newspace.spacefrontier.org.

About the Space Frontier Foundation
Founded in 1988 by Jim Muncy, Rick Tumlinson and Bob Werb, the Space Frontier Foundation is a non-profit organization dedicated to opening the space frontier to human settlement as rapidly as possible by unleashing the power of free enterprise. Our goals include protecting the Earth's fragile biosphere and creating a more prosperous life for each generation by using the unlimited energy and material resources of space. The Foundation is composed of a diverse, multinational array of space activists, expert scientists and engineers, media and political professionals, entrepreneurs, and passionate citizens. You too can be a part of the Space Frontier Foundation. For more information visit http://www.spacefrontier.org.