From agriculture & mining to traffic observation, mapping & weather, smallsats crack open new opportunities to observe our planet in considerable detail. They also offer a range of solutions to meet the immediate needs of emergency responders, help civil protection as well as aid in disaster recovery in harsh environments and remote locations. As programs become more developed, commercialization of earth observation data is bringing good returns on the investments.
Adam Keith
Adam Keith is an independent advisor, consultant and market intelligence analyst focused on the space sector. In 20 years in this capacity, he has advised a wide range of clients including government organizations, investors and commercial actors along the value chain. He is also an Affiliate Principal Advisor at Euroconsult with a specialization in Earth Observation (EO) and disruptive technologies.
He has managed and contributed to over 100 consulting and market intelligence projects, specializing in EO market and industry, satellite imaging and operations, smallsat technology and government programs. When joining Euroconsult in 2006, Adam initiated it’s research and consulting activity in the EO sector leading to the “Earth observation: Market Prospects” report; now in its 12th edition, the first annual research report focused on evolutions within the sector.
He held various positions at Euroconsult, including the director of the company’s Space Practice, and as the Managing Director of Euroconsult Canada. His previous experience includes working for the European Space Agency and the UK National Remote Sensing Center (now Airbus Defense & Space). Adam holds a Masters in Remote Sensing from Cambridge University and a B.Sc. from the University of London.
Payam Banazadeh
Payam Banazadeh is Founder & CEO of Capella Space, a Silicon Valley Company building the largest constellation of commercial SAR satellites in order to provide hourly monitoring services of anywhere in the globe. Payam holds a management degree from Stanford University and graduated Magna Cum Laude with a BS in Aerospace Engineering from the University of Texas. Prior to starting Capella Space Payam was a project manager and flight systems engineer at NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) and has been awarded NASA Mariner Award, NASA Discovery Award, and NASA Formulation Award. Most recently Payam was selected to be on the prestigious “Forbes 30 under 30” list in 2017 and Capella has been recognized by New York Times, Bloomberg, and recently Inc magazine as one of the top 25 disruptive companies in the world.
Andrew Cawthorne
Following his Master’s degree in Astronautics and Space Engineering at Cranfield University, Andrew went to the European Space Agency in The Netherlands as a systems engineer. As part of the Aurora program, Andrew was involved in a number of diverse projects, from the definition of a human mission to Mars to precursor work for the ExoMars rover.
In 2004 Andrew moved to SSTL as a systems engineer initially working on TopSat, a UK high-resolution imaging demonstrator. Following that he became the technical lead on NigeriaSat-2, a sophisticated imaging mission for the Nigerian government. Andrew also worked as the engineer supporting the Earth Observation business line, responsible for technical strategy across all of the Earth Observation missions.
In 2012 Andrew became the Head of Earth Observation, responsible for EO business within SSTL. As part of this role he has negotiated several major new contracts and overseen the design and development of the DMC3 constellation.
In 2016 Andrew became Business Line Director for Earth Observation.
He is currently the Director of Business Development and Sales.
James Crawford
After leading software research and development for over two decades, Jimi is the founder & CEO of Orbital Insight. Orbital Insight helps business and policy decision-makers understand economic and societal trends through geospatial analytics. His corporate focus is to develop artificial intelligence, machine learning, and computer vision, creating a new source of market data for diverse industries.
Before a successful $1B Monsanto acquisition, Jimi was the SVP of Science and Engineering at the Climate Corporation. Prior to that, he was CTO and Software Architect at Moon Express whose goal was putting the first commercial robot on the moon. As the Engineering Director for Google Book Search, he was in charge of
Google’s project to scan, index, and make searchable all the world’s books. As EVP of Engineering at Composite Software, he led product development around data visualization. At Nasa Ames Research Center, Jimi led Autonomy and Robotics projects and authored over 15 peer-reviewed publications, resulting in five patents. Jimi earned his Ph.D. and Master’s degrees in Computer Science from the University of Texas at Austin, and BA in Math and Computer Science from Rice University.
He has a long-term interest in photography which led him, most recently, to eastern Idaho to photograph the August total eclipse.
Nina Soleng
Nina has more than 10 years of experience in the satellite industry, having held various positions while at KSAT. With a background from publishing and content marketing, she is currently responsible for the company´s communication across the business units.
Representing KSAT, Nina travels to countries around the world speaking on panels and seminars, engaging government and commercial stakeholders.
In her previous role as International Sales Manager, Nina’s main focus was Maritime Monitoring services based on SAR data (Synthetic Aperture Radar). KSAT provides oil spill monitoring and vessel detection services globally and has pioneered the industry with pushing the timelines for Near-Real-Time (NRT) delivery of actionable information- leveraging the global ground network, especially the unique Svalbard station.
Nina has had the opportunity to work with several of the most significant international oil companies (IOC´s), government authorities, coastguards and other stakeholders with key focus areas in Latin America, South America, and the Middle East.
Her portfolio also included the European Maritime Safety Agency (EMSA), an Agency providing technical assistance and support to the European Commission and Member States on maritime safety, pollution by ships, and maritime security.
Nina is former Chairman of the Norwegian Oil Spill Control Association, (NOSCA), a non- profit association dedicated to promoting products and services within global oil spill preparedness and response, representing more than 30 Norwegian companies.
She lives in the Arctic Capital of Tromsø in Norway- an ideal place for Polar Ground Stations and cross-country skiing.
Tom Krywe
Currently at Spire Global as Co-CFO running all financial aspects for a data and analytics company that collects data from space to solve problems on Earth. Spire owns and operates one of the largest satellite constellations in the world, Spire Global identifies, tracks, and predicts the movement of the world’s resources and weather systems so that businesses and governments can make smart decisions. Tom started at Spire in October 2017 as an Executive Finance Consultant, converted to a full-time employee in June 2018 as VP of Finance and then was promoted to Co-CFO in December 2018. Prior to Spire, held roles such as Business Unit CFO, VP Finance & Accounting, VP of Sales Finance, Senior Director of Financial Planning & Analysis, Director of Procurement/Travel, Business Process Reengineering Project Manager and numerous other management roles in finance for hardware and software companies like Jive Software, EMC, Pace/2Wire, Symantec/VERITAS, and Oracle Corporation. He completed his undergraduate studies at Santa Clara University with a major in finance.