New Worlds Institute

What New Worlds Institute does

New Worlds Institute is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit (operating under its legal entity EarthLight Foundation, founded 2014) that produces the annual New Worlds & Space Cowboy Ball, a three-day invitation-style conference and awards celebration held in Austin, Texas. The organization's product surface is fundamentally event-based: a single flagship gathering limited to approximately 400 seats, anchored by 50+ curated speakers drawn from NASA alumni, commercial space founders, investors, and policy figures. Ancillary programming includes MasterMind workshops on Space Investing, Selling Space, and Space Policy/Activism, plus Space Tank — a college-level business plan pitch competition run in partnership with World Innovation Network.

The underlying technology is a conference and event management operation rather than a software platform: ticketing is handled directly through the organization's website (newworlds.org) at four price tiers ranging from $349 (Ball-only) to $849 (All Access VIP), with the AT&T Conference Center serving as both venue and hotel partner. The organization operates no app, no API, no SDK, and no proprietary software product, and holds no certifications or compliance attestations.

The revenue model is concentrated in one-time ticket sales plus implicit nonprofit income from donations and sponsorships, which are not disclosed. Go-to-market is event-driven and relies on industry reputation, referral within the space community, and the brand equity of the Space Cowboy Award — which has been presented to Jeff Bezos, Gwynne Shotwell, Buzz Aldrin, and Jared Isaacman. The customer base spans space-industry founders, engineers, investors, policy makers, and enthusiasts, with the primary segment being working space professionals seeking deal flow, networking, and thought-leadership access.

Name

New Worlds Institute

Legal name

EarthLight Foundation

Website

https://newworlds.space

Company type

Private

Founded year

2014

Operating status

Operating

Short description

New Worlds Institute is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit (EarthLight Foundation) that produces an annual 400-seat space-industry conference and Space Cowboy Awards gala in Austin, serving founders, investors, NASA veterans, and policy leaders with workshops, pitch competitions, and networking.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Space Industry Conference & Event Services

SIC

Services-Membership Organizations (8600)

akta.pro primary industry

Professional & Association Conferences (MPAGAGAB)

akta.pro secondary industry

International Science, Technology & Space Cooperation Organizations (BPADAAAK)

Keywords

• Space industry conferences
• Space exploration events
• Nonprofit event management
• Space networking forums
• Industry gala events

Headquarters

HQ city

Austin

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Operations, Marketing or Sales, Personnel, Others

Revenue model

1. Conference Tickets: Revenue generated from ticket sales for the New Worlds & Space Cowboy Ball 2025 conference. Multiple ticket tiers available from $349 (Ball only) to $849 (All Access VIP) with varying levels of access including sessions, meals, networking events, and exclusive VIP perks.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

New Worlds Institute, operating under the legal entity EarthLight Foundation, is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit that produces an annual invitation-style conference and gala known as the "New Worlds & Space Cowboy Ball." The event brings together space industry professionals, investors, founders, and enthusiasts for programming focused on space exploration, settlement, and commercial space industry networking. The organization is based in Austin, Texas, and sells tiered ticketed access to its signature event.

Product overview

New Worlds Institute offers the New Worlds & Space Cowboy Ball annual conference as its primary product—a three-day in-person event featuring STAR Talks, enterprise updates, MasterMind workshops, panel discussions, and the Space Cowboy Ball celebration. The conference targets space industry professionals, investors, founders, and thought leaders. Additional event-based offerings include Space Tank pitch competitions and MasterMind workshop modules. Permission to Dream and DreamScopes are affiliated trademarks of the EarthLight Foundation.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• New Worlds & Space Cowboy Ball An annual multi-day conference and gala event held in Austin, Texas, targeting space industry professionals, investors, founders, and enthusiasts. Programming focuses on space exploration, commercial space industry networking, and deal-making among sector leaders. Tickets are sold across multiple price tiers ($349–$849).

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles1 record

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Two partnerships are on record, tiered core.

• World Innovation Network (WIN)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership with World Innovation Network (WIN) to host Space Tank, a college space business plan competition. Five young space entrepreneurs from college students to PhD candidates will pitch live before an esteemed panel of investors for a chance to win a cash prize.
• AT&T Hotel & Conference CentercoreOthersOfficial venue and hotel partner for New Worlds 2025. Located at 1900 University Ave, Austin, TX 78705. The venue serves as both conference location and recommended hotel accommodation for attendees.

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• SpaceTech Expo: B2B space-manufacturing and supply-chain conference and exhibition. Comparable as a space-industry gathering but more focused on hardware vendors and component suppliers rather than the policy/investor profile New Worlds curates.
• ASCEND (AIAA): AIAA's flagship space-industry conference focused on the commercial space economy, policy, and technology. Targets the same founders, investors, and policymakers as New Worlds and competes directly for the premium space-conference mindshare.
• Space Symposium (Space Foundation): The flagship annual gathering of the global space industry, hosted by Space Foundation in Colorado Springs. Directly comparable as a multi-day space conference targeting the same founders, investors, policy makers, and NASA/DoD leadership, but operating at significantly larger scale and with a 40+ year track record.
• SpaceCom | Space Congress: Annual space-commerce and industry conference that brings together the same commercial-space ecosystem of operators, investors, and government buyers. Competes for sponsorship dollars and senior-attendee time within the same calendar year.

Broad incumbents

• SATELLITE Conference & Exhibition: Long-running, large-scale space and satellite industry conference and exhibition. Comparable as a flagship industry gathering but historically skewed toward satellite operators, ground systems, and defense customers versus NWI's frontier/commercial-space emphasis.
• The Planetary Society: Largest nonprofit space-advocacy and education organization worldwide. Comparable in mission (public education and advocacy for space exploration) and 501(c)(3) status, but operates via membership, publications, and programs rather than a single premium conference.
• International Astronautical Congress (IAF): The world's premier international space conference run by the International Astronautical Federation. Comparable in drawing the same scientist, agency, and commercial-space audience, but organized on a global rotating-city basis and with broader agency/UN involvement.

Others

• World Innovation Network (WIN): Innovation and venture platform that is already a New Worlds strategic partner via the Space Tank pitch competition. Comparable as an adjacent convening platform for entrepreneurs and investors, and a potential go-to-market ally.

Emerging players

• Space Frontier Foundation: Advocacy-focused space nonprofit co-founded by Rick Tumlinson. Closely comparable in mission (space advocacy and settlement) and overlapping leadership, but differentiates as an ongoing advocacy organization rather than a ticketed annual conference.
• Humans2Venus Foundation: Space-settlement-focused nonprofit founded by Guillermo Sohnlein (a New Worlds 2025 speaker). Comparable as a frontier-space advocacy nonprofit with overlapping speaker network and similar event-driven community-building approach.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/new-worlds-institute

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles4 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about New Worlds Institute