FASI's 2026 Summer Event

The Freeman Air and Space Institute, King's College London, is delighted to host its annual Summer Event.

This event will take place on Monday 15 June at the King’s College London Strand Campus from 18:00 – 19:30. Places can be booked for either in-person or online*.

Doors will open at 18:00 and the evening will begin at 18:30. From 19:45, a drinks reception will take place for attendees to meet and network.

This will be an engaging and informative evening dedicated to understanding the current issues facing the defence and security sector.

The event will focus on 'National Security at a Crossroads: Navigating today’s threat landscape’ and will welcome a panel of expert speakers.

Chaired by the BBC’s Caroline Wyatt, the panel are set to explore the latest information on the overdue Defence Investment Plan, alongside the ongoing conflict in the Ukraine and global relationships. The discussion will also consider the UK’s defence, including capability shortfalls and the current IAMD landscape

Meet the speakers:

Rob Atchison
Rob Atchison the UK Managing Director of ClearSpace UK, part of the ClearSpace Group. The focus of Rob's business is ISAM, in particular Active Debris Removal and maintaining the orbital stability for access to space services.
Previously Rob worked as the Head of UK Operations for Northrop Grumman where he led UK elements of National Security Space Programmes. Prior to this he was the first army officer to qualify as a Qualified Space Instructor whilst in his role as Military assistant to Air Marshal Paul Godfrey OBE, Commander UK Space Command.

Professor Julie Smith, Baroness Smith of Newnham
Professor Julie Smith (Baroness Smith of Newnham) is Professor of European Politics, Cambridge University and Fellow in Politics at Robinson College, Cambridge. She is the Liberal Democrat Defence Spokesman in the House of Lords.

Dr David Jordan
Dr David Jordan is a Senior Lecturer in Defence Studies, based at the Defence Academy of the UK, and the Co-Director of the Freeman Air & Space Institute
David joined King’s in 2000 and has served variously as the Chair of the Exam Board, Director of Teaching, Academic Director for the RAF Division at the Defence Academy and as Air Warfare Historian to the Higher Command & Staff Course. He is currently the Academic Director (Air) for the Advanced Command & Staff Course.

Arun Dawson
Arun Dawson is a PhD candidate at the Freeman Air and Space Institute, King’s College London, and a Researcher with the RUSI-led Nuclear Deterrence Network (NDN). He specialises in defence acquisition, airpower and grand strategy, from Cold War fighter jet procurement in his doctorate to working with the NDN on analysing the UK’s resumption of an airborne nuclear deterrent. Arun brings a multidisciplinary perspective to these topics, having trained in both engineering (Oxford) and security studies (King’s).

Join us for this unique opportunity to interact directly with a panel of esteemed experts from the field of defence and security - secure your ticket today!

*If you book an online ticket you will receive an email with a Zoom link two days before the event and again at 1200 the day of the event. Please note this email will be sent direct from Ticket Tailor (our ticket provider).

Disclaimer: For in-person events, we have a policy for overbooking for places given dropout rates on the day, so please ensure you arrive in good time to avoid disappointment on the night.

For any ticket enquiries please email fasi@kcl.ac.uk

Please note ticket registration closes at 11:30am on the day of the event.

Caroline Wyatt:
Caroline Wyatt was born in Australia, and studied German and English at Southampton University, and journalism at City University before joining the BBC in 1991.For almost two decades, she reported on global affairs as a foreign correspondent based in Germany, France and later Russia, as well as covering conflicts in Kosovo, Chechnya and the Middle East. She returned to the UK in 2007 as the BBC's defence correspondent, reporting on the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan as well as the battles behind the scenes in Whitehall. Caroline was awarded the Desmond Wettern Prize for her coverage of the Royal Navy, and received a special award from the Air League for her reporting on the RAF. In 2014, Caroline moved from reporting defence to covering global religious affairs before a diagnosis of MS curtailed her travels in 2016.
She now works as the presenter of Radio 4’s Saturday PM news programme, and has made radio documentaries including ‘Blood, Sweat and Tears’ on BBC Radio 4 about the legacy of the Afghan war for British veterans, and ‘Iraq War: A choice of horrors’ for the World Service.