AIAA Los Angeles Section Town Hall Meeting 3/21

(A webinar with online attendance and potential in-person attendance)

Saturday, March 21, 2026, 11 AM PDT (GMT -0700) (2 PM EDT)

Disclaimer: The views of the speakers do not represent the views of AIAA or the AIAA Los Angeles Section.

Tentative Agenda: (All Times PDT) (GMT -0700)

11:00 AM: Welcome; Introduction

11:05 AM: History of access to space and hypersonic flight

11:35 AM: DC-X VTOL rocket program

12:05 PM: New Frontier Aerospace VTOL point to point hypersonic flight (a different app)

12:35 PM: Q&A

01:05 PM: Adjourn

DC-X: The 1st reusable VTOL rocket enabling modern space access and hypersonics

Please join AIAA Los Angeles Section and learn more about DC-X: What it was, what it did, why it matters, as well as the history and future of hypersonic flight for access to space and the globe: experimental DC-X flight proved the tech 30 years ago, and network!

Jess Sponable

President and Chief Technology Officer

New Frontier Aerospace (NFA), Inc. 

Jess is the President and Chief Technology Officer for New Frontier Aerospace (NFA), Inc. NFA is developing high-speed point-to-point aircraft that fly to the edge of space enabling two-hour flight to everywhere. With a wide-ranging background in industry and government, Jess has extensive experience developing space, hypersonic, and reusable space launch systems and technologies. In November 2017 he left the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency where he served over two separate tours and seven years as a program manager. He led multiple space initiatives including the experimental spaceplane, high power solar electric propulsion, autonomous robotic arm, and solar thermal propulsion programs. With a combined budget of over $400 million and 50+ contracts, his efforts included technology maturation of satellite projects, power systems, solar cells, rocket engines, electric propulsion, and space launch. Prior to DARPA he spent over 30 years in the United States Air Force as both a military officer and civilian. His career supported diverse jobs ranging from Atlas launch operations at Vandenberg AFB to project management jobs developing and deploying the early Global Positioning System. Prior to the Space Shuttle Challenger accident, he was selected as an Air Force Manned Spaceflight Engineer and trained as a Space Shuttle payload specialist, then transitioned to support development of hypersonic flight at the National Aero-Space Plane program. Starting in 1991 he served in the Strategic Defense Initiative Organization managing multiple programs including the vertical take-off and landing Delta Clipper-Experimental (DC-X), which inspired many follow-on entrepreneurs. In 1994 he transitioned to the Air Force Research Laboratory supporting NASA’s follow-on initiatives DC-XA, X-33, X-34, and related technologies. In the Air Force he led or supported numerous projects and studies maturing hypersonic aircraft, orbit transfer vehicles, reusable space launch/military spaceplanes, and prompt global strike systems. Jess also spent several years in the entrepreneurial space launch sector working for Universal Space Lines and Pete Conrad, the Apollo 12 and Skylab commander. He has served on numerous national space transportation studies and panels. He graduated from the Air Force Academy in 1978 with a bachelor’s degree in physics and holds advanced degrees in Astronautical Engineering and Systems Management. He is a graduate of the Defense Systems Management College.  

A.J. (Nino) Polizzi

Engineering Instructor at Samueli Academy

Nino Polizzi is an Engineering Instructor at Samueli Academy, a public charter high school in Santa Ana, California. As a founding teacher, Nino created a four-year Engineering Curriculum that has been certified by the State of California.  

Nino was the CEO and founder of “Rocket Science Tutors” (RST), an all-volunteer nonprofit organization that conducted a 24-week after-school program to improve STEM education by generating interest by bringing real-life engineers and scientists into Santa Ana middle school classrooms for ten years. 

Prior to teaching, Nino spent 30 years in the aerospace industry, most recently at Pete Conrad's Universal Space Network, where he served as VP of Engineering, managing the company's remote ground stations.

He also worked at McDonnell Douglas/Boeing on a wide variety of programs, including boom avionics on the KC-10 aerial refueling aircraft, and served as Chief Engineer of the Mast Mounted Sight on the Army's OH-58D helicopter and ran the manufacturing group for wire harnesses for many space vehicles, including the Delta II rocket. Nino led the design effort for the International Space Station “Unity” module, which was the first US component of the ISS and was responsible for the electrical & fluids systems on ISS's major truss assemblies, S0, S1/P1, and S3/P3. He was also the cognizant electrical engineer on the original DC-X team that designed, built, and flew the world’s first reusable rocket system, overseeing both the vehicle and ground electrical systems.

Nino holds a BS in Electrical Engineering from Wayne State University, Detroit, Michigan, and a BS in Industrial Technology. 

He was awarded a Special Service Citation by AIAA for his efforts in STEM education and published “Igniting STEM Interest In Middle School” (AIAA-2009-6615).