SEF Qatar Unveils Year-Round Platform Connecting Industry, Capital, and Research Across the Earth-Moon Economy
Five thematic tracks, five program layers, and 17 strategic participation groups will support cooperation between annual Doha gatherings
DOHA, Qatar, October 12, 2026 – Space Economic Forum Qatar has outlined a year-round participation platform designed to connect companies, investors, public institutions, and researchers around the emerging Earth–Moon economy. The program will support continuing work before and between annual international forums in Doha, with the inaugural gathering targeted for the beginning of September 2027.
The platform forms part of the venture being established under the recently announced agreement between Space Economic Forum LLC and Qatar-based industrialist and prominent international businessman His Excellency Mohamed bin Ahmed Al Obaidly. Its purpose is to give participants defined opportunities to contribute expertise, develop proposals, and pursue cooperation across the industries expected to shape the next industrial revolution.
Through its year-round program, SEF Qatar will offer companies, investors, universities, and public institutions across the GCC and wider region a continuing bridge to international partners and joint development opportunities. Strategic participation groups will provide settings to explore collaborative research, regional supply chains, workforce training, and projects spanning aerospace, AI, energy, logistics, and food security. By bringing complementary capabilities together around defined objectives, the platform aims to help regional participants develop proposals, build commercial relationships, and pursue ventures that connect local priorities with opportunities across the emerging Earth–Moon economy.
At its center are 17 strategic participation groups, including leadership councils, specialist boards, institutional forums, and public-engagement platforms. Their scope ranges from Cis-Lunar infrastructure and logistics to finance, insurance, manufacturing, human resilience, digital infrastructure, and workforce development. Dedicated forums will connect governments and space agencies, sovereign and private investors, major corporations, universities, and regional business organizations.
These groups operate within Layer 5, SEF’s Year-Round Engagement Platform, which connects the work of all five program layers. Planned activities include SEF Talks, industry workshops, investor roundtables, research exchanges, educational programs, and focused working sessions. Groups will be encouraged to establish objectives, identify responsibilities, and report milestones, distinguishing exploratory discussions from agreed projects and completed outcomes.
The commercial agenda reaches beyond aerospace. AI developers, semiconductor companies, energy providers, logistics businesses, manufacturers, banks, and insurers can explore how their capabilities meet emerging space requirements and terrestrial demand. Cooperation may involve supplier relationships, joint development, regional operations, spaceports, commercial orbital facilities, or the transportation networks connecting Earth and the Moon.
Five strategic partnership tiers will provide different scopes of participation. Diamond Partners may access all 17 groups, while Platinum, Gold, and Emerald Partners may participate in up to eight, four, and two groups, respectively. Silver Partners may join one approved group. Participation, leadership appointments, and benefits depend on relevance, program fit, SEF confirmation, and the applicable partnership agreement.
Planned facilities near Doha will give the program a further research and educational dimension. An Analog Astronaut Training Camp will support simulated missions, outdoor extravehicular activities, rover operations, and crew preparation. An associated Astrobotany and Food Security Research Laboratory will investigate controlled-environment cultivation, water and nutrient recycling, and resilient food production, connecting future exploration with challenges facing Qatar and other arid regions.
Organized by N.S. Lachman & Co. LLC, SEF Qatar draws on an international team of more than 60 professionals. The founders invite organizations to help shape its continuing program, contribute to relevant groups, and develop relationships while the wider ecosystem takes form.
Leadership statements
“The establishment of the Space Economic Forum in Qatar and its international year-round program reflects our belief that the future of space must be built on the highest principles of humanity, including ethics, fairness, equality, mutual respect, and friendship among nations. As we advance technology and innovation, we must remain guided by our beliefs, respect the beliefs of others, uphold our principles of life, and share responsibility to ensure that the benefits of space exploration and the emerging Earth-Moon economy serve all nations and their people. True progress is measured not by technological achievement alone, but also by the well-being, dignity, and opportunities we create for humanity, the consideration and respect we extend to one another, and the legacy of knowledge, cooperation, and prosperity we leave for the next generation. Through the Space Economic Forum, we aspire to advance a culture of trust, compassion, and collaboration among nations, ensuring that the power of innovation and technology is matched by the mercy, wisdom, and humanity with which we use it.”
“On behalf of the team, I thank His Excellency Mohamed bin Ahmed Al Obaidly for his trust, vision, and commitment to establishing Space Economic Forum Qatar. Together, we have an extraordinary opportunity to help Qatar and the wider GCC region build lasting capabilities in the industries that will define the next industrial revolution. For people across the region, this means opening pathways to skilled careers, entrepreneurship, research, and participation in the emerging multitrillion-dollar Earth–Moon economy. We structured SEF Qatar to be a catalyst for a thriving regional space and aerospace ecosystem, connecting international expertise and capital with local talent, industrial ambition, and commercial opportunity. By creating a bridge for cooperation and joint development among GCC countries and global partners, we can help lay the foundations for substantial space and aerospace industry growth, with benefits extending across education, energy, manufacturing, technology, and infrastructure. Our ambition is to help turn this historic opportunity into enduring prosperity for Qatar, its neighbors, and future generations.”
Media and partnership information
Media files are available through the Virtual Data Room .
Partnership information is available at SEF27.com or through partnerships@SEF27.com.
Media inquiries: media@SEF27.com | SEF27.com/#media
About SEF and its founding leadership
About Space Economic Forum
Space Economic Forum LLC (SEF International) is an international platform dedicated to advancing the emerging Earth-Moon economy by connecting government, industry, investment, science, and education. Its Qatar platform, being established in Doha as Space Economic Forum (SEF) Qatar, will combine an annual international forum with year-round engagement across five thematic tracks, five program layers, and 17 strategic participation groups.
Developed since July 2025 with contributions from an international team of more than 60 professionals, SEF aims to help participants develop partnerships, explore commercial opportunities, and coordinate work around the infrastructure and markets of the next industrial revolution. N.S. Lachman & Co. LLC serves as organizer and institutional manager.
Titans Space Industries Inc. is SEF International’s majority owner. SEF International co-owns SEF Qatar with strategic partner His Excellency Mohamed bin Ahmed Al Obaidly, a Qatari entrepreneur, international investor, and industrial leader. The inaugural Doha forum is targeted for early September 2027.
About His Excellency Mohamed bin Ahmed Al Obaidly
His Excellency Mohamed bin Ahmed Al Obaidly is a Qatari entrepreneur, international investor, and industrial leader with more than three decades of experience across diversified businesses. He is Founder and Group Chairman of Kingdom Investment Group and Founder and Group Managing Director of OITC Group Al-Obaidly. His interests span infrastructure, energy, technology, logistics, education, healthcare, and food security. A Board Member of the Qatar Chamber of Commerce and Industry, he brings extensive international commercial relationships and experience developing partnerships and joint ventures. As designated Founding Chairman of SEF Qatar, he will connect Qatar’s business capabilities with international expertise and prospective partners to support industrial cooperation and participation in the emerging Earth-Moon economy.
About Neal S. Lachman
Neal S. Lachman is Founder, Executive Chairman, and CEO of Space Economic Forum LLC, Founder of N.S. Lachman & Co. LLC, and designated Founding Executive Vice Chairman and CEO of SEF Qatar. His business career began in 1989 and spans telecommunications, satellite broadcasting, broadband infrastructure, and aerospace. He entered the satellite industry in 1992 and later developed satellite broadband and fiber connectivity ventures with his brothers. Through SEF and its institutional manager, N.S. Lachman & Co. LLC, he brings industry, capital, and research institutions together around the development of the Earth-Moon economy. He also serves as Founding Executive Chairman, CEO, and Chief of Spacecraft Design of Titans Space Industries Inc., which is developing integrated space transportation and infrastructure systems.