American entrepreneur Kam Ghaffarian has been named the laureate of Armenia’s 2026 State Prize for Global Contribution to High Technologies. The winner’s name was announced today, October 6, at a press conference in the Engineering City in Yerevan by the coordinator of the competition committee and the international selection commission, Hovik Musaelyan, director of Synopsys Armenia.

Kam Ghaffarian is an American entrepreneur of Iranian origin and one of the prominent figures in modern commercial spaceflight. His businesses span space, nuclear energy, and deep tech.

Ghaffarian is the co-founder of several major technology companies. Among them is Axiom Space, which focuses on commercial flights to the ISS and the creation of the commercial space station Axiom Station. Another of his companies, Intuitive Machines, is engaged in lunar missions, cargo delivery to the Moon’s surface, and the development of infrastructure for the lunar economy. Ghaffarian is also a co-founder of X-energy, which develops advanced nuclear reactors and fuel, and Quantum Space, which works on space infrastructure and satellites.

He is also the founder and CEO of the investment and innovation company IBX, through which he supports a number of projects in space, energy, and deep tech.

Ghaffarian also founded the Limitless Space Institute, a nonprofit organization engaged in research and the development of technologies that could potentially make interstellar space travel possible.