Speakers

Brent is the CEO of the newly formed NanoAvionics US Inc. and is in charge of standing up the US office and factory as well as securing new business in the US and Latin America. Before joining NanoAvionics, Brent was the CEO and head of North American operations for AAC/Clyde Space. Prior to that, he held several senior roles at Surrey Satellite Technologies US (SST-US), where he was instrumental in landing the joint US-Taiwanese COSMIC-2/Formosat-7 constellation and payload supplier for the NASA CYGNSS constellation. He also started the hosted payload program at SST-US with the first all commercial hosted payload satellite OTB-1 (Orbital Test Bed) leading to >$80 Million revenue of follow-on business with OTB-2 and 3. Prior to joining Surrey in 2008, Brent served as a business development manager at Honeywell Defense & Space for 8 years and also invented their new Miniature Momentum Control System using Control Moment Gyros. His background also includes work as an engineer at Honeywell Commercial Aviation. Abbott is a registered professional engineer and graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree in electrical engineering from Iowa State University.

Dr. Victor Aguero has served as a Senior Principal Research Engineer at SRI International for 22 years, where he has worked as a space technology developer and architect. His primary areas of interest are space systems and advanced technology programs related to small satellites, satellite constellations, and space missions.  Dr. Aguero founded the small satellite program at SRI supporting the DoD/IC community focusing on technology innovations, developments, and mission concepts during the mid-2000s through 2019. While at SRI, Dr. Aguero’s work led to eight patents and over 15 publications in refereed journals.  His most recent work has focused on communications and networking architectures for LEO constellations, new technology applications in space, robotic space systems, very small satellites (e.g. CubeSats and smaller), and cluster and constellation missions for the DoD and IC community.  

While at SRI Dr. Aguero has been responsible for the development of or support of the flight of over 13 small satellites involving SRI payloads, and he supported the integration and launch of over 55 additional CubeSats through the CubeSat Experiment Pipeline launch integration team he helped establish for the US government in 2009. Prior to joining SRI, Dr. Aguero worked two Space Shuttle flights in 1992 and 1996 carrying out research and engineering for the NASA Tethered Satellite System, its reflight and payloads. During his graduate student years, Dr. Aguero also helps found and lead the Stanford Small Satellite Program through the mid-1980s to early 1990s. Dr. Aguero holds a Ph.D. and an M.S. in Aeronautics and Astronautics from Stanford University, an M.S. in Electrical Engineering from Stanford University, and a B.S. in Physics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Dr. Aguero received funding through the National Science Foundation and NASA Fellowships during graduate school.

Bharath Aiyer is an Associate Partner in McKinsey’s San Francisco Office and has almost a decade of consulting experience. Bharath serves technology investors broadly and has a deep focus on cyber-security topics. He recently led the Firm’s thinking on the evolution of corporate cybersecurity paradigms and the adoption of multi-layered strategies, assessing how companies are responding to both architectural evolution and evolving threat landscapes.

Eric Anderson is President of And One Technologies and an angel investor in emerging space and IoT. He has contributed to dozens of space products, missions, and programs within small and large companies, government and academia. He currently supports technology and business aspects of several space, near-space, and air system developments with an emphasis on the delivery of data and services via new technologies, channels, and business models.

As Chief Technologist for Space at Moog, he helped lead the company’s space business and collaborated with worldwide colleagues on business strategy, technology and innovation across multiple markets. Eric was part of the leadership team at the nationally-recognized small company CSA Engineering, serving several years as President. He earned BS, MS and Ph.D. degrees in Aeronautics and Astronautics at MIT, was on the technical staff at Jet Propulsion Laboratory, worked at Sikorsky Aircraft and serves as board chair for the Kenya-focused non-profit The Kilgoris Project.

Dr. Jeanne Atwell is the senior director of Advanced Mission Solutions at Ball Aerospace, supporting the National Defense business unit. In this role, Dr. Atwell oversees programs and business development for critical national security space missions, including survivability and resiliency, advanced technology and missions and special programs.

In nearly 20 years at Ball Aerospace, Dr. Atwell has served in widely diverse roles, including as a data scientist, systems engineer, technical manager, and functional manager. She has supported programs in all phases of the program lifecycle, from architecture studies to requirements development and post-delivery support, including serving as chief engineer on several programs and proposals. In addition, she directed the internally- and externally-funded research and development portfolio for the National Defense business unit.

As a National Reconnaissance Office Technology Fellow in 2004, Dr. Atwell completed a government-sponsored research project focused on mission analysis. As part of her research, Dr. Atwell met with defense contractors around the world to learn firsthand how the aerospace industry serves the intelligence community.

Dr. Atwell holds a bachelor’s in mathematics from the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, a master’s degree in mathematics from Oregon State University and a Ph.D. in applied mathematics from Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University.

Chris Badgett is Director of Ground Strategy for Kratos Federal Satellite Solutions. He has been instrumental in work at Kratos to develop virtual ground solutions that leverage the power of cloud computing and global antenna networks. Mr. Badgett has helped implement these solutions on a global scale with global antenna providers and public and private cloud computing environments that have matured (AWS / Azure / Google / GovCloud). Prior to Kratos, Mr. Badgett served in the Air Force as a weapons engineer in the Air Force Research Lab. Chris has also worked in the Space Development and Test Wing as a program manager for a satellite system developed by Ball Aerospace. Mr. Badgett holds a BS in Electrical Engineering from the University of Tennessee and an MS in Space Systems from the Air Force Institute of Technology.

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.

Brian Barritt is a software engineer at Loon, a part of Google’s parent company, Alphabet. Dr. Barritt is one of the architects of the Loon network and leads the networking team

Dr. Barritt has more than 10 years of experience in advanced wireless networks. Prior to joining Google in 2014, he led engineering programs at Cisco and for NASA’s Space Communications and Navigation program.

Brian earned an MBA in Management of Technology & Innovation from the University of Minnesota and BS, MS, and Ph.D. degrees in Computer Engineering from Case Western Reserve University

Mr. Baugh serves as the President and Founder of Northern Sky Research (NSR), which he created in 2000 to provide independent, actionable market research and consulting services to the satellite industry. Mr. Baugh directs all NSR multi-client research reports and single-client consulting projects and manages a global team of analysts that stand at the forefront of satellite industry expertise.

Before forming NSR, Mr. Baugh served as Senior Analyst for Pioneer Consulting where he covered all aspects of the satellite market. Prior to Pioneer, Mr. Baugh was an International Trade Specialist and Economist for the U.S. Department of Commerce in Washington, DC. While at the Department of Commerce, Mr. Baugh was a recipient of the Charles F. Meissner Memorial Award for his work on trade negotiations in the International Trade Administration.

Mr. Baugh also has extensive legislative and analytical experience from his work for the Committee on International Relations and the Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, both in the U.S. House of Representatives. Mr. Baugh holds a Bachelor’s Degree from Westminster College and a Master’s Degree in International Affairs from The George Washington University.

Peter Beck is the founder and chief executive of Rocket Lab, the world’s leading dedicated small satellite launch provider. Rocket Lab provides end-to-end mission services, including complete satellite build and launch solutions, that provide rapid, frequent and reliable access to space. Rocket Lab has been launching since May 2017, delivering satellites to orbit for commercial and government customers, including DARPA, NASA, the United States Air Force and more.

Since founding the business in 2006, Peter has grown Rocket Lab to become a globally recognized industry leader in space and a billion-dollar company employing hundreds of world-class engineers. In addition to creating Electron, the world’s first fully carbon-fiber orbital launch vehicle, Peter also oversaw the development of the world’s first and only private orbital launch range, located on New Zealand’s Māhia Peninsula. He played a crucial role in establishing international treaties and legislation to enable orbital launch capability from New Zealand.

Under Peter’s guidance, Rocket Lab will launch thousands of small satellites to orbit, enabling vital science, research, and services from orbit including weather monitoring, communications, technology demonstrations, and Earth-observation.

Stephanie Bednarek is the Director of Commercial Sales at SpaceX. She oversees the company’s relationships with customers and satellite manufacturers in North and South America. Previously, Stephanie was the Government Affairs Manager where she managed executive branch, legislative, state and federal agency affairs related to SpaceX’s civil space activities including strategy, policy development, and research.

Prior to starting at SpaceX in 2008, Stephanie held positions at the George Washington University Space Policy Institute, Space Foundation, Space Studies Board at the National Research Council, Aerospace Industries Association, and Orbital Sciences Corp.

Stephanie is on the board of the Mid-Atlantic Chapter of Space and Satellite Professionals International and a mentor for the Brooke Owens Fellowship Program. Previously, Stephanie has served on the Board of Directors for the American Astronautical Society, National Space Society and the Economic Development Commission of Florida’s Space Coast. Her other volunteer positions include serving as the Public Policy Chair of the AIAA National Capital Section, the Vice President of Programs for Women in Aerospace, and the Commercial Space Chair of the Aerospace Industries Association.

Stephanie received a B.S. degree in aerospace engineering from the University of Virginia and an M.A. in science and technology policy from George Washington University. She also studied at the International Space University.

Dr. Bryan Benedict serves as Senior Director of Innovation & Spacecraft Programs at SES Government Solutions. During his career, he has worked extensively within both the DoD and US Civil Agencies to socialize the advantages of hosting imaging payloads on commercial spacecraft. Additionally, Dr. Benedict has been a key advocate in the commercial industry for the use of space robotics for both recovery and life extension of geosynchronous satellites.

Prior to his current position, Dr. Benedict served as the Product Line Manager for Commercial and Civil Hosted Payloads at Intelsat General Corporation, Director of Hosted Payloads at Intelsat, Director of Engineering for Satellite Bus & Launch Service Acquisitions at PanAmSat and was a System Engineering Manager at Hughes for the BSS601HP product line.

Dr. Benedict started his career as a chemical engineer in the petroleum industry – inventing and patenting several catalysts still used for the stabilization of jet fuels. Dr. Benedict earned his Ph.D. from the University of Wisconsin in 1986, where he conducted research on the stabilization of high energy materials within crystalline lattices.

Dr. Benedict has been awarded a number of patents throughout his career – the latest for delivery of microsatellites to orbit piggybacking on the nadir deck of geosynchronous communication satellites.

William Jefferson Black is the publisher of SatelliteFinance, which provides extensive global coverage of complex transactions in the private and public equity and debt capital markets, mergers & acquisitions, and corporate strategy considerations. He also serves as the publisher of TelecomFinance and the M& A journal, Transaction Advisors. These unique financial publications are provided by Finance Information Group, which provides valuation databases, books on corporate development, industry research, and M&A conferences.

Curt Blake, CEO and president of Spaceflight, has more than 25 years of executive experience in high-growth technology industries. Under Curt’s leadership, Spaceflight has successfully negotiated the launch of nearly 300 satellites on behalf of its customers and has secured contracts to execute about 10 missions in 2020. Curt oversaw and led Spaceflight’s successful execution of SSO-A, Spaceflight’s first dedicated rideshare mission that launched more than 60 satellites in December of 2018.

Before moving into his role as CEO and president, Curt served as senior vice president and general counsel for Spaceflight. Prior to joining Spaceflight, he held a range of senior executive and general counsel roles at Microsoft, Starwave, Corbis and Aldus.

Jordan Bletscher is the Chief Strategist for Boeing Space & Launch. He is responsible for integrating market and investment strategies across the full range of Boeing’s space portfolio. Prior to his current role, Jordan was the lead strategist for Boeing Phantom Works Space, defining technology and growth strategies for government and commercial small satellite systems.

Mark Boggett is CEO of Seraphim Capital a London based venture firm. The team manages the recently launched Seraphim Space Fund, a pioneering new fund backed by a range of leading space corporates seeking investments in space-related start-ups. He is also director of UK Space Tech Angels and is Chairman of the London Co-investment Fund – one of the most active seed investors in Europe. Prior to Seraphim he was at YFM Equity Partners serving on their mainboard for a number of years and working on the British Smaller Company VCT 1 and 2. He has a degree in Accounting & Finance, an MA in Economics & Finance from the University of Leeds and a range of professional investment qualifications.

Dr. Chris Boshuizen is an Operating Partner at DCVC (Data Collective) leading investment in space (Capella Space, Rocket Lab) and other deep tech companies. Chris was co-founder of Planet Labs, a DCVC company providing unprecedented daily, global mapping of our changing planet from space. As the company’s CTO for 5 years, he took the company from the drawing board to having launched more satellites into space than any other company in history, completely transforming the space industry along the way. Chris was previously a Space Mission Architect at NASA Ames Research Center. After working on a number of traditional spacecraft programs at NASA, Chris co-created Phonesat, a spacecraft built solely out of a regular smartphone. Chris received his Ph.D. in Physics (with honors) and a BSc. in Physics and Mathematics, both from the University of Sydney.

Mr. Burgess is the Vice President of Technology and Engineering for SNC’s Space Systems located in Louisville, Colorado. Space System’s technology portfolio spans the Dream Chaser lifting body space station Commercial Resupply Services 2 program, advanced spaceflight systems, commercial and US government satellite programs, electromechanical, solar power, environmental life support subsystems, and liquid rocket engines. Mr. Burgess has worked in the Space Community for 34 years, with a particular focus on Space Superiority and unmanned space proximity operations.

Brigadier General Steve (Bucky) Butow leads the Space Portfolio for the Defense Innovation Unit (DIU) where he facilitates the US-DoD’s access to new and potentially disruptive commercial technology involving small satellites, responsive launch, space situational awareness, and reduced latency satellite communications. Brigadier General is a former Vice Chief of the Joint Staff, California Military Department, and Commander of the 129th Rescue Wing at Moffett Field, California. His experience includes ten overseas deployments in the Middle East and the Horn of Africa supporting combat and contingency operations at the tactical and operational levels. Brigadier General Butow holds a Bachelor’s degree in Physics and Astronomy from San Jose State University and a Master’s Degree in Strategic Air and Space Studies from the University of Maryland. He is a rated command pilot with more than 3,500 flying hours in T-37, T-38, C-130, HC-130, and MC-130P aircraft.

Justin Cadman is a partner with Quilty Analytics, an integrated strategic and financial services boutique focused on companies in the Satellite & Space ecosystem. He has more than 18 years of investment banking and capital markets experience, having successfully completed nearly 100 capital raising and advisory transactions for both private and public company clients. He has strong domain expertise in technology and communications, with a dedicated focus on clients in the satellite & space and the related geospatial and IoT/M2M sectors.

Previously, Mr. Cadman was a Senior Vice President with Raymond James, a large multinational financial services firm, where he co-led the formation of its Satellite practice and completed numerous M&A and capital raising transactions across the industry. Mr. Cadman began his career in software equity research, covering companies in the enterprise applications and infrastructure software segments, and also held positions in financial planning & analysis.

Rob is Director Business Development in the Satellite Management Services division of SSC Space US, Inc. Prior to joining SSC, Rob was one of the earliest employees at Pumpkin (2008), where he evangelized the elevation of CubeSats from kits to turnkey spacecraft for sophisticated government customers.

He is versed in spacecraft design, manufacture, launch, and operations, as well as ground station services. Rob managed Pumpkin’s programs for the government, as well as Pumpkin’s 6U SUPERNOVA-Beta mission, which was launched in 2015.

Rob began his career at Bain & Company in Palo Alto, Boston and Moscow offices. While in the former Soviet Union, Rob developed large, highly profitable consumer products businesses.

He brought his pioneering energy to space, challenging convention and business models. His interest in space, his interest in Russia, and in international cooperation all stem from one event: Apollo-Soyuz.

A graduate of Stanford University, he completed dual majors in Economics and Russian Literature. He later earned an MBA from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. Rob is driven by units which are measured in dollars rather than in milliamps or micro-radians and believes that human capital, not technology, is what makes the world better.

He holds a current amateur radio license and SCUBA certificates as well as expired sky-diving credentials. He speaks fluent Russian and is a fan of Mariinskiy ballet. Rob and his wife live in the Bay Area and enjoy frequent travel to friends around the world.

Phil Carrai is President of the Technology and Training group for Kratos Defense and Security Solutions, Inc, where he is responsible for all aspects of business operations, sales, mergers, and acquisitions. Kratos Defense is an approximately $650 million public company focusing on Aerospace and Defense products and services.

Kratos Technology and Training provides products for satellite signal processing, testing, communications, cybersecurity, in addition to training and simulation products and services. Phil led the acquisitions of DEI (2010), Integral Systems (2011), SecureInfo (2011), BSC (2014) and the integration that followed which transformed the group to be a major provider of specialized products and related services to global commercial and government customers. Previously, he was the CEO of Ai Metrix, a telecommunications software company focused on the defense and commercial markets, which was sold to Kratos Defense in 2006.

He is a former Managing Director for the Morino Group and Special Advisor to General Atlantic, Inc. During that period, he served as the Executive Chairman for US mobile media leader Ztango until its sale to Widerthan.com (now part of Real Networks), and an active board member for Internosis, a commercial and federal services provider, until its sale to EMC.

Phil also was the CEO of McCabe and Associates, a testing and analysis software company, growing revenues during his tenure, and remained with the company as Chairman until its sale to a private equity firm. Between 1989 and 1996, Phil held a number of executive positions at Legent, including Vice President and General Manager of its $200 million Resource Management business unit, where he managed or was directly involved in numerous product launches, channel and international expansions, new product development, and mergers and acquisitions, including the merger with Computer Associates. Phil began his career as a systems analyst/programmer for Alcoa.

Phil currently serves as a board member for Network Alliance and is the President of the Alumni Board for Indiana University of Pennsylvania.

He graduated from IUP in 1983 majoring in Information Science and Accounting, where he is a University Distinguished Alumni and a member of the Eberly Business Hall of Distinction and received his MBA from Carnegie Mellon University in 1989.

Dr. Casey is a principal at NewCap Partners and Co-Founder of the Silicon Valley Space Center and president of the Silicon Valley Chapter of the Space and Satellite Professionals International. He has served over two decades as a NASA astrophysicist and airborne astronomer. He is a co-author of numerous publications and has a Ph.D. in Astrophysics from the University of Chicago and dual MBAs from the Berkeley Haas and Columbia Schools of Business.

Joe Cassady is Aerojet Rocketdyne’s Executive Director for Space in the company’s Washington Operations. He is responsible for strategy and capture activities related to many of the company’s NASA programs, including: the Space Launch System (SLS); the propulsion system for the Orion deep space capsule; Commercial Crew propulsion and power systems; advanced electric propulsion; the International Space System (ISS) power system, as well as AFRL and DARPA programs. He also is involved with research activities for next-generation space technology, including additive manufacturing, non-toxic propellants, modular propulsion for small satellites, and nuclear propulsion and power technology efforts.

Mr Cassady joined Aerojet in 1985 and was appointed to his present position in June 2013. Previously, he served in various Engineering and Business Development positions related to advanced propulsion for missiles and spacecraft.  He began his career at the Air Force Rocket Propulsion Laboratory at Edwards AFB, where he performed research into the acceleration mechanisms of Magneto Plasma Dynamic (MPD) thrusters as part of an AFOSR graduate program. He earned his Bachelor of Science and Master of Science degrees in Aeronautics and Astronautics from Purdue University. In addition he holds a Graduate Certificate in Systems Engineering from the George Washington University.  He is the recipient of several technical awards from Aerojet Rocketdyne and outside organizations. Mr. Cassady led flight project teams for the 26 kWe ESEX arcjet system (which still holds the record as the highest power electric propulsion system flown) and the EO-1 Pulsed Plasma Thruster system.  In addition, he has served on a number of advisory groups for NASA and the DoD.  He has authored or co-authored more than 50 papers dealing with mission design, space architectures, and propulsion technology and holds four patents for electric propulsion technologies.

His professional affiliations included the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, where he is an Associate Fellow; the American Astronautical Society; and the Electric Rocket Propulsion Society, where he serves as Vice President.  He also serves on the board of ExploreMars, Inc., a 501(c)3 non-profit organization dedicated to education, STEM activities and outreach related to the exploration of Mars.  Mr Cassady lives in Vienna, VA with his wife Jann and their rescue dog Annie.  He enjoys tennis, skiing, and hiking in the Blue Ridge Mountains.

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.

Dan cofounded LeoLabs to accelerate the new commercial economy in LEO, protect satellite assets, and preserve the space environment. LeoLabs is the first commercial data source for tracking satellites and mapping LEO. Prior to co-founding LeoLabs Dan was a Program Director at SRI International where he supervised the Allen Telescope Array and developed advanced radar imaging technologies. Dan holds a Ph. D. from U. C. Berkeley in electrical engineering.

Chuen Chern Loo graduated from the National University of Singapore with an Honours degree in engineering, the Nanyang Technological University with a Masters of Science in Digital Communications, and the University of Bradford with a Master of Business Administration. He has worked for more than 20 years in the space industry, including working with satellite operators and manufacturers, before moving to Geneva to work in the space services department in ITU, where he is currently the Head of Space Publication and Registration Division, responsible for the registrations and publication of all satellite network filings as well as the maintenance of the Master Register.

Dr. Bruce Chesley is the senior director of Strategy for Space and Missile Systems, a division of Defense, Space & Security. Appointed to this position in July 2017, Chesley leads a team charged with analyzing the marketplace, establishing a growth strategy and helping shape the future direction of the Space and Missile Systems division, which includes the International Space Station; government and commercial satellite systems; a range of missile defense and strategic deterrence systems including Ground-based Midcourse Defense, Missile Defense National Team, and the Minuteman Intercontinental Ballistic Missile (ICBM) System; and a variety of weapons programs for U.S. and allied military customers.

Prior to his current position, Chesley led the Boeing Global Broadband System program within Network & Space Systems (N&SS), with responsibility for the design, development, deployment and operation of a satellite-based system to provide very high data-rate connectivity to support a wide range of Internet and communications services for residential, commercial, institutional, governmental and other professional users worldwide.

Chesley served in several leadership roles in business development for N&SS starting in December 2013. As the leader of Global Sales & Marketing, he was responsible for customer engagement, new business, advocacy and marketing efforts, research and development investments, mergers and acquisitions, business unit strategy and leadership development. As Chief Architect, he was also responsible for technology investment and product development for the current and future needs of the business for space exploration, cybersecurity, missile defense and satellite systems for military and commercial applications.

Chesley previously served as the director of Advanced Space & Intelligence Systems (S&IS), part of the Phantom Works business unit. He led a Phantom Works team that developed next-generation satellites and advanced mission capabilities for the S&IS business. His research and development programs focused on designing, building, testing and operating new technologies and prototypes for small satellites and special missions.

Chesley joined Boeing in 2000 after serving in the U.S. Air Force. His Air Force assignments included positions at Air Force Space Command, the National Reconnaissance Office and the Department of Astronautics at the U.S. Air Force Academy.

He earned a doctorate in aerospace engineering at the University of Colorado, Boulder. He holds a Master of Science in aerospace engineering from the University of Texas at Austin and a Bachelor of Science in aerospace engineering from the University of Notre Dame.

An author of more than 20 technical articles and book chapters on space systems engineering and satellite design, Chesley is a senior member of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics and a member of the American Astronautical Society.

Craig is a successful space technology entrepreneur and is the Founder of Clyde Space, Scotland’s first space company. Awarded an MBE by the Queen for services to Technology and Innovation in 2013, Craig is considered a leading figure in the Scottish and UK space industry. Craig’s current role at AAC Clyde Space is Chief Strategy Officer and he also sits on a number of Boards including Council of Economic Advisors to the Scottish Government, UK Space Sector Council, Scottish Space Leadership Council, and the Glasgow Science Centre Board of Trustees.

Mike Collett is Founder and Managing Partner of Promus Ventures in Chicago. Mike previously was Founder and Managing Partner of Masters Capital Nanotechnology Fund and also on the Technology Equity team with Masters Capital, a hedge fund. Mike was Vice President at Merrill Lynch in the M&A Group as well as an Associate in M&A Division with Duff & Phelps. Mike has invested in over 60 software/hardware startups and is currently on the board of Spire, Layer, Kurbo Health, Gauss Surgical, Dispatch, Enview, FirstLine, and Daylight Solutions. Mike received his BS in Math and a BA in English from Vanderbilt University and an MBA from Washington University in St. Louis. Mike and his wife Paige have four children and live in Chicago.

Rob is a founder of Shasta Ventures and a veteran of the Silicon Valley venture capital industry. He is passionate about anything with motors, including robots, satellites, and race cars. Early in his career, Rob served as an engineer in the Astro Space division of Martin Marietta, where he helped build the first A2100 satellite, a platform that is still in production today at Lockheed. Rob earned an MS in Mechanical Engineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology and a BS in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Virginia. He also holds an MBA degree from the Wharton School.

Rob led Shasta’s Series A investment in Nest (acquired by Google for $3.2 billion in 2014). His current investments include Accion Systems (ion engines for in-space propulsion), Starsky (self-driving long-haul trucks), Vector (space launch vehicles), Spire Global (small satellites for tracking weather, ships, and airplanes), and Fetch Robotics (robots for warehouse logistics).

Dr. Catherine Cotell is IARPA’s deputy director for research. In this role, she leads a multidisciplinary team of scientists managing research and development programs. Dr. Cotell’s career, which began at AT&T Bell Laboratories, has been dedicated to delivering innovative, technology-based solutions to both the Intelligence Community and the Department of Defense. From 2016 – 2019, she was a senior advisor to the director of research at the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency.

From 2014 – 2016, she headed the Office of Incisive Analysis at IARPA, where she oversaw a portfolio of research projects in data analytics including text, image, video, speech, and remotely sensed data. She has held leadership roles at the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory and Noblis, and was vice president at In-Q-Tel from 2003 – 2010. She launched IQT’s university outreach program and managed their largest technology practice focused on data analytics.

Dr. Cotell was issued seminal patents in the field of laser deposition of biocompatible coatings for medical implants. She holds doctorate and master’s degrees from the Department of Materials Science and Engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and a bachelor’s in chemistry and mathematics from Wellesley College. She is the winner of the ODNI S&T Professional Individual Award.

Dr. Ioana Cozmuta is the managing partner of Gravity Free Consulting and CEO of G-Space Inc, two small, women-owned businesses. These two portfolio companies are a reflection of Dr. Cozmuta’s driving passions: (1) to discover new revenue opportunities at the intersection of Space and Earth Technologies and to help accelerate the time to market AND (2) to develop, design and optimize advanced and new materials by liberating the potential design space from the limiting effects of gravity.

Dr. Cozmuta’s work at the confluence of Space and Earth is based on a nineteen years career in academia, at NASA and in the start-up world uniquely combining expertise in physics, computational chemistry and materials research; data science and space technology with business and entrepreneurship. From her early work in nanotechnology research to engineering projects for missions such as Hypersonics, Stardust, Mars Science Laboratory, Orion or the International Space Station, dr Cozmuta has built a legacy on transforming the status quo, opening new avenues for innovation and devoting her energy, enthusiasm and collaborative spirit to advance the new space entrepreneurial ecosystem.

Dr. Cozmuta holds a Ph.D. in Applied Physics from the University of Groningen, the Netherlands and post-doctoral specializations in computational chemistry and material design from the California Institute of Technology respectively Genomics and Biotechnology from Stanford University.  

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.

Brooks Cressman is the senior advisor at NOAA’s Commerce Remote Sensing Regulatory Affairs (CRSRA) office.  In this role, he provides the Licensing, Compliance, and Policy officers with technical and regulatory expertise and represents the office at various forums. His remote sensing areas of focus are cybersecurity, SAR, and persistent imaging.  Mr. Cressman is a senior project engineer at the Aerospace Corporation.

Mr. Cressman has a strong background in systems engineering and wireless/wireline data communications with an emphasis on radar systems, satellite communications engineering, and radio and optical spectrum management. He has worked in the satellite field for over two decades including defending US satellite spectrum policy positions at World Radio Conferences. He joined Aerospace in 2017.  

Mr. Cressman began his career working on USAF Airborne Electronic Warfare (AEW) systems at Westinghouse Electronic Systems Group in Maryland where he completed systems engineering assignments on both airborne jammer and airborne radar programs. He oversaw the development of a telemetered instrumentation system and used it to support 9 months of life-fire field testing. After this he began working in the satellite communications field, developing user terminals for a Mobile Satellite program. He guided hardware development and after I&T successfully accomplished US, Canadian, and Australian regulatory certification. He co-developed and shares a patent for, a cellular/ satellite interoperability technique. At program completion, he began work for American Mobile Satellite Corporation (AMSC) overseeing deployments of a satellite data service.

After receiving his MBA, Mr. Cressman moved into Product Management and took assignments in overseeing data communications product and service lines at AMSC, Orbcomm, and Sprint.  At an Orbcomm subsidiary, he worked to develop an in-cab messaging product, while at Sprint he specialized in new feature development on the team responsible for nearly $1 Billion in high-speed data services.

After two years Mr. Cressman was invited to join start-up Vistar Datacom, where he took on operational assignments managing their terrestrial and satellite network. In 2004 he went to work for ITT where he employed his satellite communications analysis skills toward Radio and Optical Spectrum Management. He spent 12 years supporting DoD satellite spectrum policy positions in the US rulemaking process and on the US delegation to the International Telecommunication Union’s (ITU) World Radio Conferences (WRC) in 2007 and 2012. After WRC-2012, he spent another 4 years with Exelis/Harris managing a team of spectrum engineers providing regulatory guidance to DoD program offices.

Mr. Cressman earned a bachelor’s degree in Electrical and Computer Engineering in the New York University System and an MBA in general management from the University of Maryland. 

Marshall is a software engineer and technology entrepreneur with over 20 years of experience ranging from web to bare metal. His career has focused on commercializing open source software in industries as diverse as enterprise web, mobile, and NewSpace. Marshall’s software can be found everywhere from cloud data centers, mobile devices, to most recently, small satellites in low earth orbit.

Joel is SkyWatch’s Chief Technology Officer. His team focuses on making earth observation data accessible for everyone. Previously, as Head of Data at Kik Interactive, Joel directed data engineering and data sciences at petabyte scale. Prior to that, Joel managed analytics and big data teams at BlackBerry, helping the company grow from 3 million to 80 million subscribers. Joel holds several data related patents on location AI and contextual analytics. Outside of work, Joel is an active member of the local community as a coach and board member in minor baseball and hockey.

Erik Daehler is Director of Commercial Business Development for the Lockheed Martin Corporation. In this capacity, he directs business development for commercial communication and remote sensing programs, delivering innovative, winning solutions to Lockheed Martin’s commercial and international customers.

He is responsible for the development of product offerings, technology solutions, satellite design and system architectures for commercial programs. In this role, Mr. Daehler leads a team of capture managers, design engineers, system architects as well as finance and supplier management team members to deliver proposals to LM customers.

Prior to joining Lockheed Martin, Mr. Daehler was the Director of Product Innovation for Boeing’s Network and Space Systems, where he led the development of all new satellite platforms for Boeing’s Advanced Network and Space Systems, including the first of a kind 702 SP all-electric, dual-stacked satellite and the 502 Phoenix remote sensing satellite product line.

Mr. Daehler has a strong background in optical physics with broad applications in communication and space remote sensing missions. He has used this mission experience to shape the strategy for new technology development in the company. Mr. Daehler led all research and development for Boeing’s unmanned satellite systems, worked as a Chief System Architect and Systems Engineering Manager on large-scale satellite and network systems for commercial and government customers.

Mr. Daehler joined Lockheed Martin at NASA’s John C. Stennis Space Center in 2000 where he performed radiometric calibrations of space and aircraft based multispectral and hyperspectral earth observation systems. In 2002, he transitioned to Boeing to develop next-generation space systems including the X-37B reusable spaceplane. In 2016, Mr. Daehler returned to Lockheed Martin to help grow the commercial communications and remote sensing business.

Mr. Daehler was educated in Europe at the Technical University of Delft in the Netherlands where he received his Master’s degree in Space Systems Engineering. He also received a Bachelor of Arts degree in Physics from The Colorado College in 1998. He is married and has two children.

Gregg Daffner is co-founder and CEO of GapSat, which leases in-orbit, operational satellites to satellite operators for use in their orbital slots for interim periods of time, generally until the operator launches its own satellite. Gregg is also president of G3 Global Communications, an international satellite venture incubation and consulting firm.

Previously Gregg co-founded and was president of Asia Broadcast Satellite (ABS). He headed satellite services for Hong Kong Telecom, was VP for PanAmSat and Lockheed Martin, and Director of International Policy for the US government’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration.

Gregg is a founding member and current President of the Asia Pacific Satellite Communications Council (APSCC), Chairman of the AVIA (formerly CASBAA) Satellite Wireless Action Group, and a member of the Board of Governors and Secretary of the Pacific Telecommunications Council (PTC).

Gregg is an attorney who began his career as a New York-based filmmaker and video artist.

Richard Davis is the Managing Member of ArgoSat Consulting, a boutique advisory firm specializing in the space industry. Richard is a dynamic, proven strategist, with astute leadership skills developed in operational and financial roles over a nearly 20-year corporate finance career. With experience in Investment Banking, Private Equity and Venture Capital, Richard brings a wealth of experience in corporate strategy, M&A and project finance across multiple technology sectors. To date, he has invested over $450 million in technology companies ranging from pure startups to large public corporations and advised on another $6 billion in transactions. He has extensive knowledge of the private and public markets, and sound business judgment.

As a private equity investor, as an executive and at ArgoSat, Mr. Davis has written, evaluated and executed dozens of satellite business plans. He has developed proprietary tools and algorithms to better define the business models and run sensitivity analyses to ensure compliance with financing requirements. Importantly, because of his background, he understands the needs of financial institutions not only for evaluation of credit quality but also for generating sufficient returns to attract capital.

Christian Dommell is the Principal Strategist for Space & Connectivity at Boeing HorizonX. Christian works across Boeing, customers, non-traditional partners, and startups to identify and test new technologies and business models bridging land, air, sea, and space.

Previously, Christian led small satellite strategy and new business in Boeing Phantom Works, culminating in the acquisition and integration of Millennium Space Systems in 2018. He has experience as a lead systems engineer for advanced development programs, with domain expertise in remote sensing, communications, agile software and systems engineering, and lightweight structures. An advocate and resource for improved STEAM education, Christian uses his personal passion for space and exploration to inspire thousands of students to ask questions, solve problems and think creatively.

Michael Downey serves as senior director of engineering research for iDirect Government. Michael has more than 30 years of experience in design, development and engineering management of digital signal processing-based systems. He will oversee the integration of Glowlink’s technologies into iDirect Government’s product line.  iDirect Government acquired Glowlink in September 2019.

Previously as co-founder and chief technical officer at Glowlink, Michael was instrumental in helping the Glowlink product portfolio grow from individual spectrum monitoring products to sophisticated integrated spectrum monitoring and geolocation systems and networks. More recently, he led the development of Glowlink’s single satellite geolocation capability and Glowlink’s patented Communication Signal Interference Removal (CSIR®) technologies.

He is a recognized expert in signal processing, interference detection, geolocation and interference removal technologies. He has authored numerous technical papers and has dozens of U.S. and international patents in these areas.

Tim is co-founder and CEO of Relativity, the first autonomous rocket factory and launch services leader for satellite constellations. Relativity is the market leader for a new platform to build and fly rockets and other aerospace products. They recently created the largest robotic metal 3D printer in the world and tested their entirely 3D printed Aeon rocket engine over 124 times. Tim played a leading role in closing over $80M of partnerships with the U.S. Government, including the first-ever venture-backed company to win an Air Force launch site award at Cape Canaveral. Previously responsible for bringing metal 3D printing into Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin, and a propulsion development engineer on Crew Capsule RCS thrusters, BE-4, and New Glenn. Alumni of USC and played a leadership role in launching the first student-designed and built rocket into near space. Testified to the U.S. Senate on commercial space policy and is the youngest member of the National Space Council UAG by nearly 2 decades, and directly advises the United States White House on all space policy. Has spoken at numerous conferences including CBInsights Aha! and TEDx. Relativity is backed by Playground Global, Social Capital, Y Combinator, Mark Cuban, USC, and Stanford.

Debra Facktor is an executive-level aerospace and defense strategist, guiding new and established companies through unprecedented industry changes. For over 30 years, her leadership and strategic vision have enhanced business growth and fostered new paradigms for industry collaboration.  A business leader and systems thinker, she is known for her ability to see opportunity in change and for developing proactive plans that anticipate and leverage evolving market landscapes. With an emphasis on teamwork, mentoring, diversity and inclusion, she brings people and ideas together to make a positive impact.

Debra’s industry experience extends from government program support and international relations, to executive leadership in start-ups, academia, and in a public company.

Through January 2020, Debra was Vice President and General Manager of Strategic Operations for Ball Aerospace, where she elevated the company’s profile across multiple stakeholder communities and expanded its strategic capabilities in defense, civil and commercial sectors. Debra represented Ball Aerospace as its senior executive in the Washington, DC area, where she led the company’s Washington Operations, Marketing & Communications, and Strategic Development portfolios. She transformed the strategic planning process and implemented an enterprise-wide integrated strategic plan, leading to tremendous and sustainable multi-sector growth.

Prior to joining Ball in January 2013, Debra served as the president of DFL Space LLC, an aerospace consulting firm focused on developing innovative business strategies for its clients. As an industry professor at Stevens Institute of Technology in Hoboken, NJ, she also led its Masters of Engineering in Technical Leadership program and served as Director of Strategic Programs for the Systems Engineering Research Center (SERC). She was Principal Investigator on the SERC research project “Expedited Systems Engineering for Rapid Capability and Urgent Needs,” sponsored by the U.S. Air Force.

Her extensive business experience includes serving as president and an owner of AirLaunch LLC, a small business that won funding from the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) and the U.S. Air Force to develop an operationally responsive small launch vehicle. She served as vice president of Business Development and Strategic Planning for Kistler Aerospace Corporation, which raised over $600M in private capital to develop a reusable launch vehicle for commercial markets and laid the groundwork for commercial resupply of the International Space Station. Earlier in her career, she was chief of Moscow Operations for ANSER’s Center for International Aerospace Cooperation.

Among other distinctions, Debra was honored with the University of Michigan 2014 Alumni Merit Award for Aerospace Engineering and as the Women in Aerospace (WIA) Most Outstanding Member for 2012.  She currently serves on the industrial advisory board of the University of Michigan Aerospace Engineering Department, the advisory committee of the Intelligence and National Security Alliance (INSA), as a board member and treasurer of the Future Space Leaders Foundation (FSLF), and as a mentor for the Brooke Owens Fellowship Program.  She is founding president of the WIA Foundation, former chair of the board of WIA, former board member of the American Astronautical Society (AAS), and former appointed member of the FAA’s Commercial Space Transportation Advisory Committee (COMSTAC).  Debra is a fellow of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA), a fellow of the AAS, an Academician of the International Academy of Astronautics (IAA), and a member of the International Women’s Forum. She holds both a B.S. and M.S. in Aerospace Engineering from the University of Michigan and is an alumna of the International Space University summer session program in Space Policy and Law.

Ms. Farrell is the Vice President of Commercial Programs at Stellar Solutions, responsible for developing and managing Stellar commercial sector business. Stellar provides expertise in technical expertise and project management to both New Space and legacy Space customers and stakeholders. Melissa has over 30 years of experience supporting multinational satellite programs in roles ranging from System Engineer to Program management, and currently provides due diligence, strategic assessment, program management, and technical consulting expertise for select projects supporting Space System Service providers and Manufacturers and the investment communities. She spent 5 years in the UK leading the start-up of Stellar’s international operation in the UK. Prior to joining Stellar in 1996, she worked for the inter-governmental organization Intelsat, and Hughes Space and Communications. Melissa holds a BS in Engineering from the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, as well as a BA in Math and Physics, and an MS in Mechanical Engineering from UC Berkeley.

Shahin empowers visionary founders aiming to accelerate humanity and
build a fantastic future through feats of engineering. He built brain-machine interfaces for his Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering, hybrids at General Motors, founded a wireless vital sign monitoring company, and as a
Partner at Lux has funded chip (Nervana), rocket (Relativity), satellite
(Planet), robotics (Covariant.ai), and driverless car (Zoox) companies. Lux is a $2.4B VC that invests in tomorrow’s transformational companies
across healthcare and technology.

Dr. Jonathan Fentzke is the Managing Director for the Techstars Allied Space Accelerator. He is a scientist by training with a Ph.D. in Aerospace Engineering Sciences and an experienced entrepreneur and investor. Prior to joining Techstars, he served as CEO of FKM Group asset management. Previously, Jonathan was a co-founder, executive and Board Director at OmniEarth – a geospatial analytics business exited in 2017 by Vista Private Equity. He has also worked with Shell TechVentures building Shell TechWorks in Boston and InSpace while in Washington, DC after a career as a space scientist working on various space missions and funded research programs around the world.

He has focused his energy more recently on mentoring founders and working with investors in Venture Capital and Private Equity after multiple successful exits. In addition to angel investments, Jonathan is an advisor to several startups and organizations including GuardianAI, Innosek, e-agree, OneTen Capital, Grupo Guayacán, Parallel18, and 43North. You can follow along @jtfentzke

Kyle Flanagan is the Founder & CEO of Prime Lightworks Inc. Founded in 2015, Prime Lightworks has raised $1.8M seed funding and is a member of Y Combinator, Greentown Labs, Cleantech Open, and Starburst Accelerator. The company presented their abstract, “Measurement Error Analysis of Impulsive Thrust from a Closed Radio-Frequency Cavity in Vacuum”, on August 7, 2019, at SmallSat Conference, and launched their Regulation Crowdfunding campaign on StartEngine on December 20, 2019. Their goal is to enable renewable interplanetary space travel — while eliminating emissions, cost, and waste from aerospace propulsion.

Flanagan worked at SpaceX as Electromagnetic Interference (EMI) & Survivability Engineer from 2013 to 2015. During that time, his responsibilities included power systems and electromagnetic compatibility; grounding, bonding, and shielding; and lightning, welding, and ESD control programs for Falcon launch vehicle and Dragon spacecraft. His prior research includes an internship with Harvard University for CERN ATRAP Antihydrogen Research and a fellowship with Caltech for NASA JPL Frequency & Timing Advanced Instrument Development Group. Flanagan graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in Physics from Harvard University and was selected for Forbes 30 Under 30 Class of 2020 in Science.

Marcos Franceschini, a spacecraft engineer turned entrepreneur, currently serves as CEO at Skyloom Global. 25 years ago, Space hooked him when he was exposed to the history of the Apollo program and decided to dedicate his professional career to this industry. He spent the last decade building Telecomm and remote sensing spacecraft and 3 years ago, he realized that there was a lack of infrastructure to transfer large volumes of data from Space to Earth, without which the future of the constellations would be compromised. Then he started his own company, Skyloom, with the main objective of implementing the first commercial spaceborne network relying on lasercomms and geostationary relay satellites to drastically increase bandwidth for low-Earth orbit satellites.

Tom Gillespie serves as a Partner on In-Q-Tel’s Investment Team and as Investment Lead for In-Q-Tel’s Field Technologies Practice, where he is responsible for identifying technologies that address challenges faced by the Intelligence Community. He is the Investment Team partner associated with IQT’s commercial space initiative, CosmiQ Works, and he has led a number of IQT’s investments in commercial space ventures, including launch vehicles, small satellite constellations, and space situational awareness. In addition, he has led IQT investments in the areas of robotics, materials, power sources, and autonomous systems, as well as several analytics investments.

Prior to IQT, Gillespie was a Strategy Consultant at Booz Allen Hamilton, serving clients in the financial services, aerospace, and government (national security and defense) sectors. Previously, he co-founded LaunchFuel, a venture commercialization firm that created, developed, and advised early-stage technology businesses; Gillespie also directed numerous business and technology strategy projects with Global 2000 clients for AT&T Solutions. Earlier experience includes positions in international privatization and the United States Congress, where he focused on financial services, telecommunications, space, and foreign affairs issue areas.

Gillespie earned a B.A. from Stanford University and an M.B.A. from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.

Katherine Gizinski is the Chief Commercial Officer for ManSat, the global market leader in commercial provision of spectrum to the satellite industry.
Before her tenure at ManSat, Katherine worked with U.S. defense contractors to bring cutting edge commercial satellite and terrestrial communication technologies to austere environments in support of military, diplomatic, first responder, and commercial initiatives.

Leading global product and service sales for Mission Mobility, Katherine drove the development of next-generation rugged and resilient communications at the network edge.

In her time with Kratos Defense, Katherine supported tactical and executive communication solutions for military and civil programs including the Department of State REACH program which provided emergency communication capability to every U.S. Embassy and Consulate worldwide.

Katherine holds a Bachelor of Science in Commerce from the University of Virginia.

Garrett Goldberg is a Partner at Bee Partners, a pre-Seed stage venture capital firm focused on supporting passionate Founders with deep market insights at the start of their journey.  He focuses on identifying Founders and startups working on hard technology problems that service enterprises and enable new marketplaces.

He actively seeks investments in frontier technologies (drones, AI, NewSpace) and invests his time in building companies that matter.  He is a partner to the Founders and organizations in the Bee community and believes time is worth more than money.   An entrepreneur at heart, Garrett has worked in professional sports, real estate development, and technology. (BA, Stanford; MBA, Foster School, U. of Washington)

Steve Good is Vice President, Business Development North America for Thales Alenia Space, the joint venture between Thales and Leonardo. In this role, he leads strategic business development efforts for the Thales Alenia Space telecom, observation, exploration, and navigation product suites that connect anyone or anything, everywhere, observe our planet and help optimize the use of our planet’s resources. Good has held senior management, marketing, product management and engineering positions across the satellite communications value chain with Comtech EF Data, Intelsat, Verestar, Viacast and Hughes Network Systems. Prior to joining Thales Alenia Space, he held the roles of Senior Vice President, Enterprise, Comtech EF Data and Vice President, Network Services at Intelsat. He earned a BS in Electrical Engineering from Penn State University, an MS in Electrical Engineering from Johns Hopkins University, an MBA from the University of Maryland and an MS in Computer Engineering from Virginia Polytechnic Institute.

Stella Guillen is a VP of Sales & Marketing for Arianespace, Inc. (AEI) responsible for all aspects of Arianespace’s launch services sales and marketing activities for US and Canadian clients. She is also responsible for working with companies developing LEO constellations and small satellites providing global satellite communication services, remote sensing, and earth observation services, and science and technology.

Ms. Guillen’s background spans the satellite industry, from telecommunications to launch services. She has led global sales efforts for SpaceX, Spaceflight and some of the largest satellite fleet operators, such as SES and Intelsat.

Ms. Guillen holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from Loyola University and has a Master’s of Business Administration from Johns Hopkins University. She was born in Peru, is fluent in Spanish and Portuguese and is learning French at the moment.

Todd Harrison is the director of Defense Budget Analysis and the director of the Aerospace Security Project at CSIS. As a senior fellow in the International Security Program, he leads the Center’s efforts to provide in-depth, nonpartisan research and analysis of defense funding, space security, and air power issues. He has authored publications on trends in the overall defense budget, military space systems, civil space exploration, defense acquisitions, military compensation, military readiness, nuclear forces, and the cost of overseas military operations.

He frequently contributes to print and broadcast media and teaches classes on military space systems and the defense budget at the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies. He is a member of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Advisory Committee on Commercial Remote Sensing and a member of the Defense News Advisory Board.

Mr. Harrison joined CSIS from the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments, where he was a senior fellow for defense budget studies. He previously worked at Booz Allen Hamilton where he consulted for the U.S. Air Force on satellite communications systems and supported a variety of other clients evaluating the performance of acquisition programs. Prior to Booz Allen, he worked for a small startup (AeroAstro Inc.) developing advanced space technologies and as a management consultant at Diamond Cluster International. Mr. Harrison served as a captain in the U.S. Air Force Reserves. He is a graduate of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology with both a B.S. and an M.S. in aeronautics and astronautics.

Over the course of his career, Dan has served in senior leadership roles across a wide range of aerospace programs, spanning human spaceflight, satellite development, launch, and missile defense and running through all phases of the aerospace product life cycle, from research and development through design, production, and space-flight operations.

Dan currently serves as President and CEO for Virgin Orbit, Richard Branson’s pioneering commercial space firm, launching small satellites into space from a rocket carried under the wing of a modified Boeing 747. It is Virgin’s contribution to the massive transformation going on in space technology and has a clear goal of opening access to space to improve life on earth.

Dan joined Virgin Orbit after more than three decades of aerospace leadership at the Boeing Company, where he most recently served as Vice President of Government Satellite Systems. In that position, he oversaw Boeing’s government satellite programs, developing and managing missions for the U.S. Department of Defense, NASA, NOAA, and other national programs. Dan’s portfolio included marquee programs such as Global Positioning System (GPS), Wideband Global SATCOM, the Tracking and Data Relay Satellites (TDRS) system, and the X-37 spaceplane.

After beginning his career with McDonnell Douglas supporting the Spacelab Program at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center, Dan was soon loaned to the European Space Agency to support system integration, followed by roles on the Delta and Delta II launch crews, then leading the Systems Engineering, Integration and Test Team for the development of the Delta IV Launch Vehicle. Dan was subsequently named Chief Engineer for the Ground-Based Midcourse Defense (GMD) anti-ballistic missile system before becoming Chief Engineer over all of Boeing’s space programs.

Dan holds a Bachelor of Science degree in physics from the State University of New York at Albany and attended the Harvard Business School Advanced Management Program.

He is a passionate and committed advocate for Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math education, and serves on the Executive Board of the California Science Center.

Dan knows his way around an electric guitar and full drum kit but is holding out for the return of Virgin Records before unleashing his debut album on the world.

Tess is an investor at Bessemer Venture Partners primarily focused on frontier tech, specifically commercial space, drones, and autonomous vehicles. She currently serves as board director for Phantom Auto and board observer for Impossible Aerospace, Iris Automation, Rocket Lab, Spire, Velo3D, and others. Previously, she was a mission manager at SpaceX where she worked with the government on integrating its payloads with the Falcon9 rocket. Tess earned a Bachelor’s degree in aerospace engineering from the University of Michigan and a Master’s degree in aeronautics and astronautics engineering from Stanford. She is passionate about space exploration and imagines a future where we all travel to space. She hopes to make the trip herself soon.

Mr. Shayn Hawthorne works in the AWS Region Services Division as the Colorado Lead, Space Technical Lead, and General Manager of the AWS Ground Station service. In this role, Shayn works backward with commercial and Government space customers around the world. Shayn is focused on developing services and features that disrupt how space and intelligence operations are conducted and enabling space customers to share, fuse and leverage space data to improve their missions and products.

Prior to AWS, Shayn worked at the MITRE Corporation. In his last role, Shayn served as the Technical Director of the Missile Defense Agency (MDA), responsible for directing the engineering activities of MITRE engineers in support of the Ground-based Midcourse Defense (GMD) Program, Command and Control Battle Management and Communications (C2BMC) System, the Ballistic Missile Defense Overhead Persistent Infrared Architecture (BOA) and the Midcourse Tracking System (MTS) and many other programs.

Previously, Shayn led the MDA Space Knowledge Center as the Technical Director, which performed independent technical assessments and evaluated experiments related to MDA space programs. In previous MITRE work efforts, Shayn has led Advanced Development efforts for Air Force space situational awareness, missile warning, and missile defense sensors, as well as the Command and Control (C2) systems and correlator/tracker systems responsible for detecting and tracking air, space and missile threats to the United States and Canada.

Additional MITRE efforts include developing the Satellite as a Sensor concept and leading the start-up of the Rapid Attack Identification Detection Reporting System. Shayn was personally requested to support DoD Space System Vulnerability analyses that led to the National Security Space Protection Policy. He also played a critical role in starting the Space Radar program, focusing on theater tasking and Ground Moving Target Indicator data.

As a member of the Air Force Reserve, Shayn volunteered to mobilize in support of OPERATION ENDURING FREEDOM (OEF) and fielded a satellite protection system while leading the Defensive Counter-space Testbed (DTB). Shayn supported the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) and Electronic Security Command (ESC) as an Active Duty Air Force Officer.

Shayn received a Bachelor of Science Degree in Engineering Mechanics from the United States Air Force Academy and a Master of Science Degree in Astronautical Engineering from the Air Force Institute of Technology.

Erringer Helbling serves as a Technology Advisor for the Defense Innovation Unit (DIU) as an Army Reservist, where she provides insights into different Space Portfolio efforts.

Full time, Errin is a Systems Engineer at Hawkeye 360, a radio frequency-based geoanalytics company. Before landing at Hawkeye in February, Erringer was the Falcon 9 launch vehicle landing legs planner at Space Exploration Technologies (SpaceX). She led the engineering, procurement, and production of the Falcon 9 launch vehicle’s landing leg design upgrade to a “ten flight reuse” capability.

Prior to joining DIU and SpaceX, she served in the Active Army as an Engineer Officer. During her last two years in the military, she served at the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA) in both the Analysis and Technology directorates. Additionally, she was a Military Social Aide to former President Obama and President Trump.

Her first three years in the military involved tactical unit assignments. She led a deployment and redeployment in preparation of a Chemical, Biological, Radiological, or Nuclear attack on the United States. She also led geospatial engineers to create and provide analysis products to Army Forces Command leadership and other decision-makers across Fort Bragg, North Carolina.

Erringer earned a Bachelor of Science (B.S.) in Systems Engineering from the United States Military Academy and a Masters of Science in Engineering (M.S.E.) in Systems Engineering from Johns Hopkins Whiting School of Engineering.

David holds an engineering and corporate strategy degree from Ecole Polytechnique, the leading university for science in France. He completed his education with a Master Degree from the University of Cambridge in Industrial Systems, Manufacture and Management. David has experience in the French Air Force and has been working at Swiss Space Systems, a New Space start-up which designed a suborbital launcher for small satellites. He had an engineering role in the Propulsion department. He then worked in a Corporate Venture Capital (ENGIE New Ventures). David founded Exotrail in 2015. The company has the mission to provide agility to space, with miniaturized electric propulsion systems and mission design & operation solutions for small satellites. Exotrail now employs more than 20 people in Paris region and in Toulouse and has raised more than 6M€ to date. David is President & CEO of Exotrail and leads Exotrail’s vision and global execution.

Daniel L. Jablonsky was appointed to the role of President and Chief Executive Officer of Maxar Technologies and to the Company’s Board of Directors on January 13, 2019.

Previously, Mr. Jablonsky had served as President of DigitalGlobe since October 2017, when the company became part of Maxar Technologies. He joined DigitalGlobe in 2012 as Senior Vice President, General Counsel and Corporate Secretary, and also held the role of General Manager, International Defense & Intelligence from 2015 to 2017.

Prior to DigitalGlobe, Mr. Jablonsky was a shareholder at the law firm of Brownstein, Hyatt, Farber, Schreck, LLP from 2011 to March 2012, where he practiced corporate and securities law. From 2010 to 2011, Mr. Jablonsky served as the Interim Co-General Counsel of Flextronics International Ltd., and from 2007 to 2010, he held the role of Senior Corporate Counsel, Securities and Mergers & Acquisitions at Flextronics. Mr. Jablonsky previously was in-house counsel at UBS Financial Services, Inc., served in the enforcement division of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, and practiced corporate and securities law with O’Melveny & Myers LLP. Mr. Jablonsky holds a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering from the United States Naval Academy and a Juris Doctor degree from the University of Washington School of Law. Prior to law school, Mr. Jablonsky was an officer and nuclear engineer in the U.S. Navy.

Matt leads QC Ware’s business and he serves on the QED-C governing board. Matt was a captain in the Air Force and subsequently worked in finance, becoming a managing director in private equity at Apollo Management. Matt swam the English Channel and remains an avid but mediocre swimmer.

Connor Jonas, CarboNIX program manager, project manager for small satellite launches, has a background in mechanical engineering and project management.

He led the structural development of eight CubeSats before joining Exolaunch, where he now coordinates individual customer launch campaigns as well as spearheading test campaigns for all Exolaunch products.

Connor holds a master of space engineering degree from the Technical University of Berlin and a BS in mechanical engineering from California Maritime Academy.

Karen L. Jones is a senior project leader and technology strategist with The Aerospace Corporation’s Center for Space Policy and Strategy. She has over 25 years of experience and expertise in the disciplines of technology strategy, market assessments, and commercialization — spanning both commercial and public sectors.

She has extensive experience with program evaluation, regulatory and policy analysis, telecommunications, and go-to-market strategies for new technologies. She has worked across multiple industries including the space and satellite industry, telecommunications, information technology, renewable energy, petroleum industry, and environmental industries. Prior to joining Aerospace, Ms. Jones was an executive with IBM Global Services where she focused on e-business and pervasive wireless strategies. Previously she worked as a management consultant for Arthur D. Little where she worked across a range of projects involving competitive strategies and market assessments, technology assessments, and international privatization. Ms. Jones also spent five years in the oil patchworking as an exploration petroleum geologist in Texas before obtaining her M.B.A. from the Yale School of Management.

A corporate partner and satellite practice co-head, Steve Kaufman uses industry knowledge and versatility to negotiate and close many types of deals globally.

For 18 of his 30 years at the firm, Steve served as outside general counsel for satellite clients, leading strategic joint ventures, “bet-the-company” contracts, financings, and M&A.

What Steve does best: understanding complex business issues and translating them into legal documents. If a client can describe something, Steve can draft it. Working from complicated to simple, he has many times reduced a lengthy contract into a few pages of bullet points, showing the client what it needs and how to obtain it. He has even written a business and financing model for parties in the form of an agreement. Many clients comment that the business guidance from Steve is as valuable as the legal advice.

Steve relies on his familiarity with issues common to satellite and communications companies to give him an edge in negotiations. This experience produces extra benefits when Steve deals with specialized satellite contract terms, targeted warranties, creative covenants, use of insurance to close gaps, license and spectrum issues, and even finance and accounting matters. According to Chambers Steve Kaufman is “a real authority and somebody who will always know the answer.”

In advising clients, Steve emphasizes practicality, striving to achieve the client’s business objectives for the transaction, whether economic, risk reduction, regulatory/compliance, or transaction speed. This carries over into deal management as well as negotiations, where he willingly takes the lead. Steve and satellite practice co-head Randy Segal are regulars at the satellite conferences, making connections among clients and even adverse parties. He is listed in Chambers, Super Lawyers, and Legal 500.

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.

Stanley O. Kennedy, Jr. serves as the President, Chief Systems Engineer, and Co-Founder of OAI and has over thirty-five years of direct, hands-on experience in Aerospace Engineering. Mr. Kennedy has worked on heavy-lift launch vehicles, upper stages, multiple spacecraft programs, and ground systems supporting government and commercial customers both domestic and international. Mr. Kennedy earned his B.S. in Aerospace Engineering from California State Polytechnic University, Pomona, CA, USA, and an M.S. in Engineering Management from the University of Colorado, Boulder, CO, USA. He is an Associate Fellow and Lifetime Member of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) serving at both the regional and national levels. Mr. Kennedy is the Technical Chairman of the AIAA/SmallSat Frank J. Redd Student Competition held annually in conjunction with the AIAA/SmallSat Conference in Logan, UT, USA; and, is a member of AIAA Standards Executive Council (SEC). He also serves on the U.S. Commerce Department’s Industry Trade Advisory Council on Aerospace (ITAC-1). The Committee advises the Secretary of Commerce and the United States Trade Representatives concerning trade matters. Mr. Kennedy is a member of the Technical Committee of the Small Satellite Systems & Service (4S) Symposium. The 4S Symposium is Co-Sponsored by the European Space Agency (ESA) and Centre National d’Etudes Spatiales (CNES) of France. Mr. Kennedy is the workgroup 2 (interface, integration, and test) convenor for the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) TC20/SC14 (Space Systems and Operations). Mr. Kennedy also serves as Chair of the Colorado Companies to Watch (CCTW) Alumni Committee.

Mr. Kennedy has held technical and management/executive positions with Comtech AeroAstro, General Dynamics – Advanced Information Systems, and Lockheed-Martin Space Systems Company.

Bryan Kerns joined AvL Technologies in 2010 as Director of Major Accounts, and he now serves as the company’s Director of Strategic Business Development and Information Technology. Prior to joining AvL, Bryan was an AvL customer at companies including GTSI, Verizon Business, LBiSat, and Harris CapRock Communications. He began his career serving six years in the U.S. Air Force as a Communications Officer. With more than 23 years of experience in satellite communications (SATCOM), Bryan has authored numerous articles and spoken about the use of satellites to communications and disaster planners from agencies including Army, Air Force Space and Missile Defense Commands, Defense Information Systems Agency, White House Communications Agency, and the Department of Homeland Security.

Bryan is a founding Key group member of the Asheville, North Carolina, chapter of Vistage International. He has a Bachelor’s degree from North Carolina State University and a certificate in Disruptive Strategy from Harvard Business School.

Ann Kim is a Managing Director in Silicon Valley Bank’s Frontier Technology group. Ann has spent much of her career working with venture-backed companies in aerospace, robotics, automation, transportation, mobility, AR/VR, and digital health segments. She was previously on the Corporate Finance team, advising later-stage and public tech companies. Prior to joining SVB, Ann was a healthcare consultant focused on commercialization strategies for pharmaceutical and medical device companies, and a Research Assistant at The Clorox Company.

Ann holds a bachelor’s degree in Molecular and Cell Biology from UC Berkeley. She was President of the Korean-American Student Organization, an active member of the Korean-American Scientists and Engineers Association (KSEA), and served on the executive operating committee for Asia America MultiTechnology Association (AAMA).

Ann is serving her fellowship at Silicon Valley Bank as a member of Class 24.

Jason Kim is director of Strategy and Business Development, Raytheon Space Systems, a mission area within Raytheon’s Space and Airborne Systems business. He is responsible for driving strategic growth, capture, customer relationships, and functional operations across the space business. Kim has an extensive background in advancing autonomous systems. This includes his tenure in the United States Air Force’s acquisition of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles such as Global Hawk and Predator, as well as growing acquisition and development of first-of-its-kind classified and unclassified space systems.

Prior to Raytheon, Kim was a senior leader at Northrop Grumman Corporation and Millennium Space Systems, A Boeing Company, with progressively increasing levels of responsibility. He has a breadth of experience in executive management, program management, systems engineering, prototyping, testing and operations of defense systems. Kim earned a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering and a master’s degree in business administration from the University of California, Los Angeles, and a master’s degree in electrical engineering from the Air Force Institute of Technology.

Drew oversees and assists the Sales & Marketing departments at C-COM responsible for the promotion of the iNetVu® mobile antenna. Drew works to promote and direct global sales via C-COM’s existing worldwide dealer network, and seeks to develop new resellers who wish to promote the iNetVu® product.

C-COM Satellite Systems is a designer and manufacturer of Comm-on-the-Pause (COTP) mobile antennas (iNetVu®). With 8,000 systems sold in 100 countries, the company is considered a world leader and pioneer. C-COM is also currently nearing the production of mechanically steerable, Ka-band Comm-on-the-Move (COTM) mobile antennas. The company is also in the early-stage development of a unique, electronically steerable Ka-band flat panel antenna system that is modular, conforming and low cost.

Prior to joining C-COM in 2010, Drew worked in Los Angeles for 10 years where he was the President of a national commodity brokerage firm. The company’s key business line was sold to a Chicago based FCM.

In the year 2000, Drew graduated from the University of Waterloo’s Honours Science faculty (Biology) as the class valedictorian and as President of the local chapter of the Sigma Chi Fraternity.

Drew enjoys all sports, poker, stand-up comedy and spending time with his family.

Rachel is an Active Duty Air Force Acquisitions Engineer who joined the Defense Innovation Unit (DIU) in October 2017. As the Director of Organizational Development, she is responsible for the execution and plans related to human capital, improving the effectiveness of the organization in terms of skills, processes, and culture, as well as the development of the leadership team. Rachel also leads the DIU Small Responsive Launch efforts to utilize emerging commercial rockets to precisely place Department of Defense (DoD) payloads into their mission designed orbits. She also leads the effort to prototype commercial means to modernize aging DoD systems beginning with aging Phased Array Radars.

Prior to DIU, Rachel worked in the Launch Enterprise Systems Directorate at the Space and Missile Systems Center at Los Angeles Air Force Base, where she was Chief of Propulsion Systems for the Atlas V Rocket, precisely delivering over $5 billion of DoD National Security Space satellites to orbit before serving as executive officer for her 640 person wing. Prior to that, she was selected for the Engineer & Scientist Exchange Program (ESEP) where she finalized designs and built composite aircraft at the Spanish National Laboratories for Aerospace in Madrid Spain. Before her assignment in Spain, Rachel worked in the Materiel Directorate at the Air Force Research Labs (AFRL) completing Biological and Nanomaterials research as well as prototyping how to forcibly take down light aircraft without killing the pilot as part of the AFRL Commander’s Challenge. Rachel received an educational delay immediately upon commissioning in order to complete a master’s degree before entering active duty.

Rachel has a Bachelor’s and Master’s degree in Materials Science & Engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Dr. Josef Koller is a Systems Director for the Center for Space Policy and Strategy, serving as a senior analyst and team leader on topics that cut across policy, technology, and economics. Prior to joining Aerospace, Dr. Koller served as a Senior Advisor to the Office of the Secretary of Defense for Space Policy where he directly supported key national and international strategy efforts for space-related U.S. Government and DoD policy matters including commercial remote sensing, space traffic management, and related congressional affairs. Prior to that assignment, Dr. Koller managed and co-lead over 40 scientists in the “Space Science and Applications Group” at Los Alamos National Laboratory. Dr. Koller also established and led the Los Alamos Space Weather Summer School to promote graduate student research and outreach at the Laboratory.

Dr. Koller has over 17 years of experience with global security and space science programs. He has authored over 50 peer-reviewed scientific publications with 700 citations. Dr. Koller has a Ph.D. in Astrophysics from Rice University.

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.

Andy has 40 years with NGC/TRW working in advanced space programs specializing in space, advanced manufacturing, astrophysics projects and in-space manufacturing.  As a NG Fellow, he supports NGC’s key space customers including NASA, AFRL, NRO, DARPA, Army/SMDC, Space RCO, USMC, and the Navy. He is considered one of the prominent additive manufacturing (AM) experts in the country and has produced numerous papers in AM, as well as advanced satellite technology, in-space manufacturing using advanced additive manufacturing techniques, unique logistics solutions, and miniaturization of spacecraft components. Andy brings his innovative approach to problems and has won several awards in innovation. His leadership of applying advanced space concepts to a transitional operational phase has been critical to NGC’s success.

Andy is an appointed Research Scholar at the University of New Mexico and is on their staff in the Electrical and Computing Engineering Department, supporting satellite and space research.  He is on the Technical Advisory Boards for Virginia Tech, U of Michigan, Cornell, and U of New Mexico.  Andy Kwas graduated from the University of Michigan in 1978 with two Bachelor degrees in Aerospace Engineering and Applied Mechanics, and received a Masters degree in 1980 from the University of Missouri Science and Technology in Astrophysics.

Wallis Laughrey is a member of the SAS leadership team and he oversees all Space Systems programs, developing the organization’s vision, strategy and plans. He also has direct responsibility for the precision clock and high energy laser campaigns and programs.

Before joining Space Systems, Laughrey was SAS vice president and deputy in Advanced Concepts and Technology. He continues to collaborate with ACT in the development and implementation of new and emerging system concepts, products and strategic technologies that position SAS for the future.

Laughrey came to Raytheon from Northrop Grumman Aerospace Systems where he was the director of Strike Systems Advanced Development. In that role, he was responsible for leading strategy and business development teams in growing two diverse portfolios. During his tenure at Northrop, he held a number of program and functional positions, each with increasing levels of responsibility.

Prior to Northrop, Laughrey was with Raytheon SAS as a program manager for a family of products employed on the E2D Advanced Hawkeye aircraft. He led the development and delivery of five flight units through subsystem and aircraft level integration and test in less than two years.

After graduating from the United States Air Force Academy, Laughrey served in a number of different roles and organizations within Air Force Space Command and Air Force Materiel Command.

Laughrey holds a bachelor’s degree from the United States Air Force Academy, a master’s degree in public administration from the University of Colorado and a master’s degree in product development engineering from the University of Southern California. He has also earned a certificate in advanced project management from Stanford University. Laughrey holds memberships in the Air Force Association, American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, and National Defense Industrial Association professional organizations.

Christopher Lentz joined the Commercial Remote Sensing group in January of 2013 as Chief Architect. In this role, Mr. Lentz is responsible for defining new remote sensing solutions and architectures. In addition, he is responsible for identifying new markets and new solutions to meet user needs; engaging with potential customers to define requirements, developing the commercial remote sensing strategy, and leading new business pursuits.

Prior to this role, Mr. Lentz spent the majority of his 25 -year career in systems engineering, specializing in mission performance analysis, concept-of-operations (conops) definition and architecture design. Mr. Lentz was the WorldView-4 Satellite Mission Analysis & Conops Manager, responsible for all performance-related evaluations, budgets, requirements, and verification. The remainder of his career was spent supporting U.S. Government programs in a variety of roles, including Systems Engineering Payload Manager, Chief Systems Engineer, and mission analysis lead on a variety of remote sensing programs spanning all phases of program development from concept synthesis, through design, manufacturing and operations.

Mr. Lentz received his Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in Aeronautical and Astronautical Engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Tony Lin works with both new and established satellite and communications companies, understanding their varying legal and business needs.


He has assisted a number of cutting-edge small satellite entrepreneurs in obtaining spectrum licenses and routinely advises such companies on regulatory strategies designed to advance business objectives cost-effectively. He has over a decade of experience representing more traditional satellite companies providing fixed-satellite service, broadcasting-satellite service, and mobile-satellite service.


He advises companies on policy and regulatory matters before U.S. federal agencies and international organizations, including the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA), and the International Telecommunication Union (ITU). Tony has been appointed to the NOAA Advisory Committee on Commercial Remote Sensing (ACCRES), which advises NOAA on the regulation of commercial satellites conducting imaging operations in space. 


Tony has challenged U.S. regulatory decisions before federal appellate courts, including the United States Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit, the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit, and the Supreme Court of the United States.

Tony holds a Ph.D. in economics and, prior to entering the practice of law, taught economics at Southern Illinois University.

Ron joined Astroscale as Managing Director in April 2019 to lead the company’s business operations in the United States.

Ron brings over 25 years of government and industry experience, encompassing systems engineering, program management, sales and marketing, technology/research and development management, and strategy formulation.

Ron started his career as an Intelligence Officer in the United States Air Force, serving as the focal point for Space Situational Awareness capability development at Air Force Space Command’s Space Control Division. He then joined Boeing and worked on various
programs as a Systems Engineering Manager within Boeing Research & Technology and Phantom Works and led business development activities for the Network & Space Systems division throughout the Asia Pacific region. Prior to joining Astroscale, Ron led
the Defense & Space Asia Pacific sales team at Honeywell Aerospace, helping the company achieve significant sales growth and expansion into new markets.

Over half of Ron’s career has been spent working and living in Japan, and he is an active member of The Maureen and Mike Mansfield Foundation’s U.S.-Japan Space Forum.

Ron earned a Bachelor of Science from The United States Air Force Academy in 1993.

Tiphaine Louradour is the president of Global Commercial Sales (GCS) for the United Launch Alliance (ULA), a premier launch service provider for commercial, government, and civil customers. In this role, Louradour has responsibility for all worldwide commercial marketing activities including business development, competitive intelligence, and sales.

Prior to taking the lead for ULA’s commercial sales, Louradour worked commercial sales in partnership with Lockheed Martin Commercial Launch Services. During that time, she represented ULA’s interest in the commercial market, fostering strong customer relationships and representing ULA at key industry events. Since joining ULA in 2007, she has held a number of positions of increasing responsibility in finance, risk management, strategy, and commercial sales and marketing.

Louradour began her career working for top-tier, global consulting firms and other companies in the telecommunications, publishing and healthcare industries where she gained international business experience and held a variety of leadership positions.

Louradour earned a degree of general studies in economics and a Maîtrise des Sciences de Gestion (business master’s degree) in 1994 from the University of Paris-Dauphine. In 1996, she obtained a master’s in business administration from the University of South Florida.

Pam Lugos is currently the Vice President of Business Development at CPI Satcom Products responsible for global business development. Pam joined CPI in 1993 and has held various roles in Product Management, Worldwide Service and Customer support, Program Management of New Product Development and Business Development. She has 25 years of experience in the Satcom ground equipment segment specific to amplifiers and amplifier technology. Pam received her undergraduate degree from Cal Poly in San Luis Obispo in Industrial Technology and her MBA from Santa Clara University.

Brian Manning is co-founder and CEO of Xona Space Systems, a startup focused on advanced GNSS from Low-Earth Orbit. He holds an MBA from the London Business School and an MSc in Aeronautics and Astronautics from Stanford University. Brian has held positions as an Engineering Manager at Power Solutions International and more recently was the Responsible Engineer for the Falcon 9 rocket thrust structure at SpaceX.

Tom Markusic holds a Ph.D. in Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering from Princeton University and has twenty years of aerospace technical and business experience. Prior to co-founding Firefly, Tom served in a variety of technical and leadership roles in NewSpace companies: Vice President of Propulsion at Virgin Galactic, Senior Systems Engineer at Blue Origin, Director of the Texas Test Site and Principal Propulsion Engineer at SpaceX. Prior to his NewSpace work, Tom was a civil servant at NASA and the USAF.

Tom’s primary area of research had been electric propulsion (EP), where Tom published approximately thirty EP-related papers. He also has extensive, hands-on experience in flight operations as well as developing and testing chemical propulsion rockets for launch vehicles. Tom has led hundreds of tests on SpaceX’s Merlin liquid LOx/RP-1 gas generator cycle rocket engines. He contributed to the development of SpaceX’s Raptor upper stage engine, SpaceX’s Kestrel pressure-fed LOx/RP upper stage engines, the Draco hypergolic RCS thruster, and others.

Tom’s principal area of technical expertise is in rocket propulsion and launch vehicle development. He architected complete launch vehicles, ranging from conventional ground and air-launched vehicles (VG LauncherOne, Firefly Alpha), to futuristic reusable rocket planes (Firefly Gamma).

Firefly is his vision, where he serves as both the CEO and CTO.

Mr. Attila MATAS, a satellite Orbit/Spectrum consultant in the field of GSO and non-GSO satellites, is a retired head of the Space Publications and Registration (SPR) Division in the ITU Radiocommunication Bureau.
During his 25 years career within the ITU, first as satellite engineer and later as head of SPR division, he was directly responsible for the processing and publication of GSO and non-GSO space systems and Earth stations, submitted by administrations, for inclusion in the formal coordination procedures or recording in the MIFR, involving the application of the provisions of the Radio Regulations on the use of frequency spectrum related to space services.

Mr. Matas represented the ITU at the UN COPUOS, IAF and he is an ITU World Radiocommunication Conference (WRC) veteran with participation at all 10 WRC’s since 1992 up to the recent WRC-19. On several WRC’s he served as a secretary on the agenda items related to frequency allocations and regulation of Radionavigation Satellite and Space Science service or a senior spoke person on space regulatory matters. He organized the first two ITU-R Small satellite Symposiums.

Mr. Matas holds a degree in radio engineering from the Czech Technical University of Prague, Czech republic.

Ryan is the CEO and co-founder of Benchmark Space Systems, a startup focused on providing propulsion solutions to the small satellite market. His doctoral research into methods of enhancing microscale chemical reactions serves as the basis for Benchmark Space’s flagship product, a liquid chemical bipropellant system. That system, and other Benchmark Space technologies, are aimed at improving the safety and reliability of small satellites.

Jeanne Medvedeva has been involved as a launch manager in the launches of more than 150 multinational smallsats over multiple rideshare missions. At Exolaunch, she has enabled a global client base that includes universities, government entities, and New Space startups to reach space. Jeanne holds a degree in Economics and International Affairs and is fluent in Mandarin.

Katherine Monson is the head of KSAT USA (Kongsberg Satellite Services). KSAT is a world-leading provider of ground station services for satellites, rocket launchers, and experimental spacecraft. With over 50 years of experience, KSAT’s network today spans over 180 antennas at over 20 ground station locations across the globe (including Pole to Pole coverage from Antarctica to the Arctic) and is constantly expanding. We are proud to be the behind-the-scenes bridge back to earth, supporting the vast majority of space companies, agencies, and start-ups.

Jamie M. Morin is vice president of Defense Systems Operations, Defense Systems Group at The Aerospace Corporation. He assumed this position on March 29, 2017. In this role, Morin serves as executive director of the Center for Space Policy and Strategy, which provides objective analysis and comprehensive research to ensure a well-informed, technically defensible, and forward-looking space policy.

Morin most recently served as director of Cost Assessment and Program Evaluation (CAPE) for the Department of Defense, where he led the organization responsible for analyzing and evaluating the department’s plans, programs and budgets in relation to U.S. defense objectives,
threats estimated costs and resource constraints.

Prior to his role as director of CAPE, Morin served for five years as the assistant secretary of the Air Force (Financial Management and Comptroller). Jamie also served for a year as acting undersecretary of the Air Force, where he led the Air Force Space Board and Air Force Council.

Previously, Morin was a member of the professional staff of the U.S. Senate Committee on the Budget and served as the committee’s lead analyst for the defense, intelligence, and foreign affairs budgets. He also served in the Office of the Secretary of Defense and as an economic development strategist with the firm J.E. Austin Associates, where he worked on projects for the U.S. Agency for International Development.

Alexander Mueller-Gastell joined ND SatCom in September 2017. His main focus at ND SatCom is to manage the success-oriented organization and define and implement the growth strategies for the three business units Government & Enterprise, Defence and Broadcast. Before joining ND SatCom, he was Presidentx&xCOO of Signalhorn, where he was responsible for managing the company ́s daily operations and strategic direction including the growth strategy through acquisitions. Alexander started his career as a controller at Alcan and served in various companies as CFO.

Alexander Mueller-Gastell holds an MBA from the University of North Carolina, USA and the Humboldt University of Berlin, Germany.

Dr. Sreeja Nag is a Senior Research Scientist at NASA Ames Research Center, contracted by BAER Institute, where she serves as a PI on several R&D projects. Her research interests include distributed space systems, planning and scheduling of constellations, agile and intelligent Earth observation from space, and space traffic management. She has worked with small satellite and robotics startups on systems architecting and constellation design.

Sreeja completed her Ph.D. in Space Systems Engineering from the Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge. As a student, she led the SPHERES Zero Robotics program and has served as an International Fellow at the European Space Agency (ESTEC), NASA’s Jet Propulsion Lab, and Goddard Space Flight Center.

Dan Nevius is a Co-Founder and COO of Analytical Space, a Boston-based startup building a network of small satellites that use RF and optical communication to provide a data relay service for remote sensing satellites. Before starting Analytical Space, Dan was the Director of Special Projects at Planetary Resources, the asteroid mining company, where he worked on business development and strategy for the CERES constellation, a network of hyperspectral remote sensing satellites, and the company’s long-term vision of asteroid prospecting. Dan also briefly worked at BCG in the London Office and the Space and Science Branch of the White House Office of Management and Budget. He graduated from HBS in 2017 and earned his MSc in Space Science and Engineering from UCL in London, an MPhil in Engineering from the University of Cambridge where he researched methods for 3D printing large structures on the moon using local materials, and a BS in Engineering and Astrophysics from Harvard University. Analytical Space recently won NASA iTech Cycle III and Dan was selected for Forbes “30 under 30” in Science.

Tom is SpaceX’s Vice President of Commercial Sales, with primary responsibility for sales and commercial business development efforts across the globe. In this role, he focuses on deepening relationships with satellite operators, governments, satellite manufacturers, space agencies, and private astronauts worldwide. Prior to assuming his current responsibility, Tom served as CEO at Structural Mechanics Corporation in Los Angeles and as a Sales Trader for Goldman Sachs in Tokyo. Tom is an Associate Fellow of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) and holds a Doctorate in Engineering Science and Mechanics from the NASA-Virginia Tech Composites Program.

Rachel Olney is a Stanford University Mechanical Engineering PhD candidate and the Founder and CEO of Geosite Inc. Most recently, she was included on the Forbes “30 Under 30” list of 2019 for enterprise technology. Additionally, she has taught innovation frameworks and built standard operating procedures for the most elite special operations. She has also helped create and scale an international program in national security innovation and conducted research for the US Air Force on the Strategic Implications of Ultra Low-Cost Access to Space. As the CEO of Geosite she leads a venture capital-backed Silicon Valley startup disrupting the geospatial data industry, making it easier for logistically intensive industries, such as Oil and Gas and the Department of Defense and Intelligence Communities, to easily leverage spatial data to increase operational efficiency.

Greg Orndorff is an aerospace industry veteran with over 30 years of experience across various leadership roles in the public, private, and not-for-profit sectors. Prior to joining Orbion past roles include Vice President, Government Systems at Vector Launch, Vice President – National Security Programs Business Development for SGT, Inc. where he led major business development activities into the Air Force Space and Missile Systems Center, the Naval Research Laboratory, the National Reconnaissance Office, and other Intelligence Community organizations, and Deputy Business Area Executive for National Security Space Programs at Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory (APL). Greg’s experience also includes executive roles with Northrop Grumman and Orbital Sciences Corporation. Greg is a former United States Air Force Officer where he performed tours in operations and acquisition of space systems.

Marlu Oswald is President of Seed Innovations, a woman-owned small business. Under her leadership, Seed Innovations has developed systems capable of scaling to ingesting and processing more than 60 terabytes of streaming data daily. Seed Innovations has helped both commercial and government entities find, fuse, and use data to their advantage.

Marlu has a Masters of Science in Electrical Engineering and has dedicated her career to developing innovative systems that provide insight based on complex and multisource data.

As leader of the firm’s Transportation and Space Group in Washington, D.C., Dara’s practice involves representation of satellite operators, aerospace manufacturers, launch services providers, communications companies, banks, private equity firms and hedge funds in debt and equity offerings, project, structured and vendor financings, mergers & acquisitions, financial restructurings and in negotiating commercial contracts. He also advises on regulatory, sanctions, anti-corruption, national security and export control matters.

PRIMARY FOCUS & EXPERIENCE

Mr. Panahy’s practice focuses on representing clients involved in the aerospace and communications industries. His experience includes representing satellite operators, aerospace manufacturers, launch services providers, communications companies, banks, private equity firms and hedge funds in numerous financings involving public offerings, high yield debt, investment-grade bonds, project and vendor financings, mergers & acquisitions, financial restructuring and reorganizations and in negotiating project contracts. He also counsels clients on domestic and international regulatory and trade matters, including licensing of communications systems, economic sanctions, regulation of foreign direct investment, anti-bribery and corrupt practices, national security and export control laws and regulations and risk management.

Ms. Pivovarova has been at the forefront of small satellite, nanolaunch, and newspace industries since 2013. After obtaining a Master of Science in Space Studies from the International Space University, Ms. Pivo focused on building and managing international partnerships for the NASA Ames Research Center.

Ms. Pivovarova joined Planet Labs in 2015, where she gained extensive experience across several lines of startup business; such as driving strategy across partnerships, satellite manufacturing and insurance, launch campaigns, and regulatory affairs. As part of Planet’s Launch and Regulatory teams, Ms. Pivovarova played a key role in Dove, SkySat, and RapidEye satellite mission success.

Leveraging her experience ranging from early stage companies through corporate mergers and acquisitions, Ms. Pivovarova has spent the last year assisting startups in the newspace sector set their go-to-market strategies and execute their manufacturing and launch objectives to achieve company goals.

Recognizing the challenges, opportunities, and feasibility of agile newspace initiatives, as well as the continued importance of legacy institutions, Ms. Pivovarova is excited to bring her expertise to the NSR team to provide clients with the knowledge necessary to succeed in fast evolving verticals.

In addition to her Master of Science in Space Studies, Ms. Pivovarova also holds a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science and International Relations from the University of Central Florida.

Stephen helps clients in navigating complex issues under U.S. export control and economic sanctions regulations. He brings industry sector knowledge and a commitment to practical, business-focused solutions to his client relationships.


He is a recognized thought leader on economic sanctions issues, and he has a wealth of experience advising clients regarding a full range of regulatory issues under the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR), the Export Administration Regulations (EAR), and the sanctions regulations administered by the Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC). He has developed and implemented trade compliance programs, drafted Technical Assistance Agreements and export license applications, prepared commodity jurisdiction and classification requests, conducted internal compliance reviews, and drafted voluntary disclosures.


Stephen has particular strength in advising telecommunications industry clients, including satellite manufacturers and operators, network equipment manufacturers, and telecommunications service providers. He also works extensively with clients in the areas of aircraft, automotive, software development, chemicals, medical products, and higher education.

Chris is the president of Quilty Analytics, an independent research and consulting firm that provides strategy, competitive benchmarking, financial analysis, and investment diligence on all aspects of the Satellite & Space industry.

Prior to establishing Quilty Analytics in 2016, Chris served as a sell-side research analyst with Raymond James for 20 years, publishing hundreds of company-specific, macro, sector, and thematic research reports on the industrial, defense, space, wireless, and communications industries. Chris is widely-acknowledged as the leading Wall Street analyst on the Satellite & Space sector and has participated in 30 capital markets transactions over the past five years valued at over $2.5 billion

Chris received a BS degree in Systems Engineering from the United States Naval Academy in 1989 and an MBA from the University of Chicago in 1994.

Jason Rainbow is Group Editor-in-Chief of Finance Information Group, which provides perspective and information on M&A, financing, and corporate strategy through investment conferences, and unique financial publications including Transaction Advisors, SatelliteFinance, and Connectivity Business (formerly TelecomFinance). Previously, Jason was Editor for SatelliteFinance and has covered the UK, Ireland and Nordic regions for TelecomFinance. Before that he wrote financial news digests for Reuters, covering small-cap UK companies as well as wider macroeconomic issues.

Giulio Ranzo is Chief Executive Officer and General Manager of AVIO SpA since October 2, 2015.

Previously, Giulio Ranzo was Avio Aero’s Director of Strategy, Marketing & Government Affairs. He has been in Avio since 2011 and has held various positions as SVP Corporate Strategy (2011-2013), Investor Relations Officer (2012) and Board Member (2013).

He has also managed Avio’s Initial Public Offering preparation and clearance process in 2011-2012, the merger with General Electric Aviation in 2013 and the post-merger integration in 2014. In the period 2011-2013, he has been Board Member of Europropulsion, the ASL (Airbus Safran Launchers) – Avio Joint Venture for Space Propulsion.

Between 2007 and 2011 he has been CFO and co-General Manager of the Italian activities of Cementir Holding, a company operating in the building materials sector.

He has started his career in Booz Allen Hamilton, a strategy consulting company leader in the Aerospace&Defense Sector, where he has held the roles of Associate, Senior Associate, and Principal between 2000 and 2007. In those years he has developed business strategy projects for major European companies and institutions operating in Commercial and Military Aerospace, Space Launchers and Technologies, Defense Electronics, Business Jets and General Aviation.

He holds a Master’s Degree in Civil Engineering from the University of Rome (1995) and a Ph.D. in Structural Engineering (2000) from a joint program with the University of California San Diego, where he has worked as Graduate Research Assistant between 1996 and 1999.

Married and father of two children, he is 44 and speaks fluent English and French.

Don Richardson is the founder and President of MIL-SAT Global Communications. Building on 35 years’ experience in the satellite and military communications industry, Mr. Richardson is currently focused on the deployment of LEO satellite antenna and ground network infrastructure around the world. As co-founder of CMT Teleport Services, RedVu Satellite Networks, and KL Fiber Optics, Mr. Richardson serves on the Board of Directors of each company. A US Navy veteran and military communications expert, Mr. Richardson has supported numerous Navy, Coast Guard, MSC, and NATO satellite communication initiatives.

Steve Richeson joined Mission Microwave in 2017 and is responsible for the company’s global sales and marketing. He has over 30 years of Satellite and Radio Frequency (RF) experience in engineering and executive roles across the wireless and satellite communications industry including positions at Harris Corporation, EchoStar, Scientific-Atlanta, GTE Spacenet International, Radiation Systems SATCOM Technologies, and Schlumberger. As a Schlumberger Field Engineer Steve launched the LOGNET service in the Gulf of Mexico with a portable VSAT terminal on a semi-submersible drilling platform – in 1986. This was the first commercial mobile VSAT system. Steve is a Senior Member of the IEEE and a Registered Professional Engineer. He earned his engineering degree at Georgia Tech and an MBA at Georgia State University.

Christopher Richins is Founder and CEO of RBC Signals, a provider of global satellite communication “infrastructure as a service.” Richins began his career as an RF Communications Engineer at Boeing Sea Launch, where he supported multiple launch campaigns from the ship-based equatorial launch site. After business school, he completed an internship with SpaceX before joining Bain & Company as a management consultant. Post Bain, Richins held management roles at Arkyd Astronautics (Planetary Resources), Space Angels Network, Expedia, and Applause. Richins earned an MBA from the Darden Graduate School of Business at the University of Virginia as a Jefferson Fellow, a master’s degree in Astronautics from the University of Southern California, and a bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering from Brigham Young University. He lives with his family near Seattle, Washington.

Noel Rimalovski is a Managing Director at GH Partners, an independent New York-based investment banking firm. Mr. Rimalovski leads the firm’s representation of mergers and acquisitions, corporate restructurings, debt financings, and strategic advisory services to domestic and international clients. At GH, Mr. Rimalovski specializes in the telecom, media, technology, space and defense sectors.

Prior to joining GH, Mr. Rimalovski was with Macquarie Capital, Wasserstein Perella, and Lazard Frères.

Mr. Rimalovski graduated from Tufts College and received an MBA from Columbia Business School.

Mir Sadat, Ph.D., is a Director at the U.S. National Security Council, where he leads the interagency on defense and space policy issues. In this role, Mir advises the President, Vice-President, National Security Advisor, White House Senior Officials, and Cabinet Members. Mir is also a naval officer with intelligence and space qualifications and in his preceding two naval assignments, he served as a Space Policy Strategist with Chief of Naval Operations and a Space Operations Officer with U.S. Tenth Fleet. Mir has a PhD from Claremont Graduate University and has taught at various universities in California and in Washington, DC. Prior to joining the government, Mir spent 10 years in various capacities at Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman, and Raytheon.

Dipender Saluja is a Partner of Capricorn Investment Group, and a Managing Partner of the Technology Impact Fund. He’s been an investor and board member at Planet for eight years.

Prior to Capricorn, Dipender was Chief of Staff at Cadence, a global market leader in electronic design. Prior to that, he worked at Data General (EMC), Honeywell, ROLM (IBM), and the GF Energy Research Center. He is an electrical engineer by training, and attended UND, Univ of Minnesota and Stanford. Dipender serves on the boards of AST, Automatiks, Encell, GotIt, Innovium, Joby Aviation, Navitas, QuantumScape, RayVio, Saildrone, Sense and Sunpreme, is a member of the Leadership Council of Cyclotron Road, and is on the investment committee of PRIME.

Dr. Sandhoo is the Superintendent of the Spacecraft Engineering Department of the Naval Center of Space Technology (NCST) at the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory (NRL). As the Superintendent, he provides executive direction and technical leadership in the development of policies and objectives necessary in conducting research, design, and development in the areas of satellite and orbital transfer vehicle systems, with an emphasis on new and advanced space systems and technologies to improve the performance of the Navy mission.

The spacecraft engineering department is responsible for executing a $170M program, including the development of cutting edge space capabilities in satellite servicing, space robotics, and satellite operations.

After working at NASA’s Johnson Space Center, Johns Hopkins University’s Applied Physics Laboratory, and in industry, Sandhoo began his career at NRL in 2005 as a senior aerospace engineer on the Operationally Responsive Space initiative. He progressed into broader roles at NRL, including time as the science advisor for the U.S. Navy’s Fifth Fleet in Bahrain, and as a member of Naval Warfare Integration Group (N00X) on the staff of Chief of Naval Operations.

He holds a Bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering from the University of Maryland, a Master’s degree in electrical engineering from Johns Hopkins University, Master’s from the U.S. Naval War College, a Master’s and a Doctorate in Aeronautics and Astronautics from George Washington University, and is an MIT Seminar XXI Fellow. Since 1986, he has served in uniform in the U.S. Marine Corps and U.S. Navy. Currently, Sandhoo is a Captain in the U.S. Navy Reserve as an Engineering Duty Officer. He is the recipient of numerous personal, unit, and campaign awards, which are all a tribute to the Sailors, Marines, and civilians he served alongside throughout his Navy, Marine and civilian career. Of them all, he most treasures his peer-awarded Battalion Marine of the Year Award.

Rob Schwarz is the Vice President of Product Management at Maxar Space Solutions. He has over 20 years in the space industry working in space systems engineering and product development. Rob is passionate about finding new problems and working with talented teams to create innovative solutions to those problems. He holds degrees in Mechanical Engineering and Aeronautics/Astronautics from Rutgers University and MIT.

With 25 years’ experience in the satellite industry, including 18 years as in-house general counsel, Randy Segal brings an individual perspective to every matter she handles. As co-leader of the Space and Satellite practice, Randy has handled many types of transactions, from day-to-day matters to the most complex international transactions for industry operators, investors, and technology providers. She has been involved in taking companies public, advising on investments, acquisitions, divestitures, and complex cross-border joint ventures, as well as large satellite system development, deployments and funding. Her practice has expanded to reflect the breadth of innovations and newspace participants in the space industry today, as well as teaming arrangements between traditional and newspace players and advising the new mega-constellation operators, launchers and customers. Randy is a frequent speaker and writer in areas of space innovation and joint venture arrangements, and advises extensively on the same, coast to coast and globally.

John is the Chief Executive Officer of HawkEye 360, a developer of space-based radio frequency (RF) mapping and analytics capabilities. He previously served as Senior Vice President of Allied Minds where he led the formation of and the investment into HawkEye 360, along with other Allied Minds companies such as BridgeSat, Federated Wireless, Optio Labs, Percipient Networks, and Whitewood Encryption Systems. John’s investment activities and management expertise center upon the intersection of profit-maximizing private capital and the unique requirements and R&D capabilities of the U.S. government.

A former Airborne Ranger-qualified U.S. Army infantry officer with duty stations at the 82d Airborne Division & UNCSB-JSA of the Korean DMZ, John holds a BS from the United States Military Academy at West Point, and an MBA and MPA from Harvard University.

Alexander is the Chief Executive Officer of GK Launch Services (GK), a company established in 2017 by the decision of the State Space Corporation “Roscosmos”. The company is an operator of the commercial launches of the Soyuz-2 LV from the Russian launch sites. The key task for GK is to develop the services of Soyuz-2 commercial launches and to market the Russian launch vehicles worldwide. Alexander Serkin has been the CEO of the company since its foundation.

Mr. Serkin’s professional career has always been devoted to space industry and commercial space launches with Russian launch vehicles. After graduating from Plekhanov Russian Academy of Economics (nowadays – Plekhanov Russian University of Economics), in 2005, he joined the International Space Company Kosmotras where, in 2012, Alexander Serkin was appointed Director General. Under his management and close involvement, 5 successful launches of the Dnepr LV were carried out from 2013 to 2015.

In 2017, Alexander Serkin took up duty as CEO of GK Launch Services. The company is successfully fulfilling the commercial contracts for satellite launches on the Soyuz-2 rocket from the Russian launch sites.

Jake is a researcher and geographer specializing in geospatial machine learning and computer vision. His research with satellite imagery focuses on time series analysis, super-resolution, and object detection with overhead imagery. Jake also is leading SpaceNet 6, a sensor fusion challenge featuring both synthetic aperture radar and electro-optical remote sensing data for foundational mapping.

Todd Simon is a geospatial industry specialist with London investment firm DN Capital, and founder of Geospatial Alpha, to invest and stimulate innovation in geospatial intelligence.  Todd has also served as an advisor to the European Space Agency.  He is a former senior technology investment banker with DLJ, Credit Suisse, and Oppenheimer, and has held executive and board positions with location technology companies including GroundTruth, the world’s largest mobile proximity intelligence company, and Gravy Analytics, the first geo-signals data cloud.  Todd holds an MBA with Honors from Columbia Business School and a BA from Brandeis University.

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.

John Stack, Managing Director, Head of Aerospace & Defense Investment Banking (US), has 25 years’ global strategy, business development and M&A experience focusing on publicly-held and private companies.

Mr. Stack previously was VP, Strategy & Business Development and a member of the Senior Leadership Team at Cessna Aircraft Company, where he led the Columbia Aircraft acquisition. Prior to that, he was Director, Strategy Development & International at Textron, where he helped reshape the company’s business portfolio and worked with company presidents on strategic plans, operational challenges and growth. During his career, he has led project, M&A and joint venture teams in more than 15 countries in Europe, the Middle East, Africa and Asia, and he lived in Switzerland for more than four years.

Mr. Stack holds a degree in Business Administration from Bryant University and an MBA from Fordham University. He is a commercial pilot with instrument and multi-engine ratings. He also is a certified Six Sigma Green Belt and proficient in French.

Janice Starzyk is the Vice President of Commercial Space at Bryce Space and Technology. She heads the commercial practice to help government and commercial customers devise strategies and solve long-term problems using market analytics. Her extensive experience and contributions in the space industry include leading the commercial strategy and market intelligence for launch service providers United Launch Alliance and International Launch Services. Prior to this, Janice was a program manager and senior analyst at Futron Corporation working with a broad range of civil, military and commercial customers in the space industry. She has provided community leadership for more than a decade on the board of the Washington Space Business Roundtable. Janice holds a master’s of international relations and economics from Johns Hopkins, an MBA from Tulane and a bachelors of foreign service from Georgetown.

As President of SIA, Tom Stroup is the trade association’s lead advocate for regulatory and policy issues of critical importance to SIA’s membership, including spectrum and licensing issues, defense and public safety matters, and export control and international trade issues. He also manages the day-to-day operations of SIA, including member communications, staff leadership, and organization of SIA sponsored events.

Prior to joining SIA, Mr. Stroup was with Shared Spectrum Company (SSC), a leading developer of spectrum intelligence technologies, where he served as CEO. For more than a decade, he served as the President of the Personal Communications Industry Association (PCIA). Previous to his position at SSC, he founded and ran several companies in the technology industry, including Columbia Spectrum Management, P-Com Network Services, CSM Wireless, and SquareLoop.

Mr. Stroup holds a BS, summa cum laude, in Public Administration from the University of North Dakota. He is also a graduate of Georgetown University Law Center where he served as Editor of the Georgetown Law Journal.

Paul Struhsaker serves as Chief Technology Officer of Carnegie Technologies Satellite Solutions division and leads its product development as well as its intellectual property strategy. Paul was previously CTO of Dell’s Client Solutions Group where he was responsible for technology strategy, innovation pipeline, technology incubation, and thought leadership. Paul’s other roles included SVP Software Engineering at Comcast NBC Universal, VP of Engineering at Cable Vision Systems, VP Silicon Platform at Motorola PCS, and CTO Broadband at Texas Instruments. He was also a founder and CTO of two successful startups: Wi-Fi innovation leader Aironet Wireless (acquired by Cisco) and 4G wireless innovator Raze Technologies.

Heidi Thelander is VP of Business Development at Comtech Xicom Technology, addressing a wide range of opportunities for the premier high power amplifier supplier in the Satcom industry. Heidi has over 25 years of experience in the Satcom industry including satellite payload and ground-system design, program management, and new business development roles. She joined Xicom from Wavestream Corporation where she was instrumental in developing and promoting their high power Ka-band SSPA product line.

Other past roles include product management and marketing for optical networking start-up Centerpoint, business development for Lockheed Martin’s Western Development Labs, and a full range of engineering, management and business development positions at TRW Space & Electronics Group (now part of Northrop Grumman). Heidi has her BSEE from Marquette University and MSEE in Communication Systems from the University of Southern California.

Lt. Gen. John F. Thompson is the Commander, Space and Missile Systems Center, Space Force Command, Los Angeles Air Force Base, California. He is responsible for more than 5,000 employees nationwide and an annual budget of $6 billion. As the Space Force Program Executive Officer for Space, General Thompson manages the research, design, development, acquisition, and sustainment of satellites and the associated command and control systems. His extensive portfolio includes military satellite communication, missile warning, navigation and timing, space- based weather, space launch and test ranges, certification for launch, space superiority, responsive space and other emerging evolutionary space programs.

General Thompson entered the Air Force in 1984 as a graduate of the U.S. Air Force Academy. He has served in a variety of scientific, acquisition and logistics-oriented capacities, including staff assignments at Air Force Systems Command, Air Force Materiel Command and in the office of the Assistant Secretary of the Air Force for Acquisition.

The general has been Chief of the Commodities Division, Ogden Air Logistics Center, Utah, and Chief of the Air Vehicle Division, C-17 System Program Office, Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio. He also served as Director of Propulsion, Oklahoma City ALC, Okla.; and Chief of Staff, Air Force Materiel Command, Wright-Patterson AFB. He has commanded the 327th Aircraft Sustainment Wing, Tinker AFB, Okla., and the 303rd Aeronautical Systems Wing, Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio, where he served as Air Force Program Executive Officer for Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance. General Thompson has also served as Air Force Program Executive Officer for Strategic Systems, Deputy Program Executive Officer for the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter Program, and KC-46 Program Director.

Prior to assuming his current position, General Thompson was Commander, Air Force Life Cycle Management Center, Air Force Life Cycle Management Center, Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio.

Dr. Derek Tournear is the Director of the Space Development Agency (SDA). Established in March 2019, is responsible for unifying and integrating the Department’s space development efforts, monitoring the Department’s threat‐driven future space architecture, and accelerating fielding of new military space capabilities necessary to ensure U.S. technological and military advantages in space.

Dr. Tournear most recently served as Assistant Director of Research and Development for Space within the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Research & Engineering where he was responsible for coordinating all DoD efforts in space, and initiating programs to address critical gaps.

Dr. Tournear previously held leadership roles in industry,
most recently the director for Harris Space & Intelligence (SIS) research & development. SIS was a $2B business focused on providing advanced technical solutions addressing the top National Security threats from underwater to outer space.

Prior to industry, Dr. Derek Tournear was a Senior Program Manager (SNIS‐HQE) at the Intelligence Advanced Research Projects Activity (IARPA) in the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI). At IARPA, Dr. Tournear served as a senior scientist for space activities and space technologies in the Office of Smart Collection.

Dr. Tournear was previously a Program Manager for the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), Tactical Technology Office and Strategic Technology Office. At DARPA, he initiated and directed a large portfolio of program, with an emphasis on sensors and space.
He has professional experience at Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) managing intelligence and defense programs.

Dr. Tournear has a Ph.D. in physics from Stanford University and a B.S. from Purdue University. In 2010 he received an “Outstanding Alumnus” award from Purdue University and a 2008 DARPA award for “Outstanding Accomplishments in a Systems Technology Area.” Dr. Tournear is a 2011 recipient of the Secretary of Defense Medal for Exceptional Public Service, and a 2012 recipient of the Office of Director of National Intelligence Award for Exceptional Public Service.

Richard (Ric) A. VanderMeulen is Vice President, Space & Satellite Broadband at Viasat the world’s largest operator of Satellite Communication Capacity. In this position since 2009, VanderMeulen is engaged in Viasat’s efforts serving government and commercial markets with broadband, fixed and mobile Satellite Communication Services, Satcom Ground Segment solutions, and Satcom Customer Premise Equipment solutions.

Bringing both engineering and business expertise during his more than 30 years in the Satellite Communications industry, Mr. VanderMeulen has held senior general manager and program manager positions at Viasat, The Boeing Company, and Rockwell Collins. Before the formation of Government Systems Division, VanderMeulen was Vice President General Manager Government Satcom. He was responsible for all Viasat’s government Satcom programs.

He joined Viasat in 2001. Previously, he served as Director, Business Development for Boeing’s Space and Communication Group new ventures. Mr. VanderMeulen began his business career with Rockwell Collins as a design engineer and eventually as a business leader responsible for design completion and transitioned to production of multiple Satcom Systems including Milstar, SMART-T, SCAMP, and others.

Ric was born in Detroit, Michigan. He attended the University of Virginia and graduated in 1977 with a Bachelor of Science in Applied Mathematics and Computer Science.

Chief Technical Officer PI/PM Education: MSEE, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven Ph.D. in EE & CE, The University of Arizona Dr. Vermeire joined Space Micro from Arizona State University, where he was an associate professor of research and director of the Wireless and Nanotechnology research programs. He has been the principal investigator on a wide variety of research topics, including radiation effects on microcircuits and novel design techniques for mixed-signal circuits using CMOS and SiGe fabrication technologies. His recent projects include the development of Radiation Hardened by Design (RHBD) integrated circuits under the Trusted Foundry program.

Dr. Vermeire spent 3 years as CTO at Ridgetop Group in Tucson before joining Arizona State University as a research professor in 2005. He holds 7 patents and has authored more than 50 peer-reviewed publications. Dr. Vermeire received a Master of Science in Electrical Engineering from the Catholic University of Leuven, Belgium in 1991 and a Ph. D. in Electrical and Computer Engineering from the University of Arizona in 1999.

Dr. Marco Villa grew up in Italy and developed an early passion for airplanes and spacecraft. After obtaining his private pilot license and serving in the Italian Parachutists Corp, Dr. Villa received his Bachelor’s Degree in Aerospace Engineering in 1999 from Politecnico di Milano, Italy.

Throughout his career, Dr. Villa has worked on some of the most advanced and cutting-edge programs in the industry, from technology demonstration satellites to leading commercial efforts, and he has developed a unique expertise that combines management, finance, and technical knowledge.

Following a brief stint as a structural analysis at Carlo Gavazzi Space in Milano, Italy, he moved to the United States and earned his Doctoral Degree in Aerospace Engineering in 2005 while also leading a small satellite development projects. Dr. Villa also earned his Master’s Degree in Engineering Management while working as a system engineer and project manager for Swales Aerospace and as a contractor for NASA and the Air Force. This period provided Dr. Villa with a broad understanding of spacecraft systems as he performed leading roles for many innovative small satellite and launch vehicle systems, including the Air Force sponsored TacSat 3 spacecraft and the Autonomous Flight Safety System.

In 2007, Dr. Villa joined Space Exploration Technologies (SpaceX), where he served as Director of Mission Operations, with direct responsibility over the definition and execution of the Dragon spacecraft’s mission to the International Space Station. Dr. Villa was integral in the effort to secure and execute $2.5B in contracts for ISS cargo resupply and crewed Dragon development programs while also supporting the sales and business development department. Before leaving SpaceX in 2013, Dr. Villa played an important role in the on-going effort to develop the crewed version of the Dragon capsule, with responsibilities ranging from the definition of the overall concept of operations to the establishment of the crew training methodology.

In 2010 Dr. Villa and Max Vozoff founded mv2space LLC, a Business Development, Strategy formulation and support services consultancy. Its clients include both start-ups and established companies in the government and commercial space domains, energy, automotive and digital media sectors.

With mv2space, Mr. Villa brings deep experience in strategy formulation and implementation, program management, and systems engineering, and has developed advanced financial modeling and analysis tools that, when customized for each client, form the basis for their business plans, strategies, and priorities.

Dr. Villa currently serves as the President and COO of Tyvak Nan-Satellite Systems Inc. His responsibilities span from day-to-day management of the company, to direct the company strategic efforts, to acquisition and execution of all nanosatellite opportunities for government, commercial and university customers both nationally and internationally.

Rich Waterman is a Vice President for Space Systems Integration for the Parsons Corporation. He is responsible for the execution and growth of space systems work for Parsons. He currently leads the $100M Launch Manifest Systems Integrator (LMSI) program, managing a team of employees and subcontractors to deliver small satellite mission manifest systems integration supporting the U.S. Air Force. Rich has supported national security, civil, and commercial space efforts for over 30 years including supporting the sale, integration, and launch of commercial and government payloads on American and Russian space launch systems working for companies including International Launch Services, Lockheed Martin, General Dynamics, and venture capital-funded organizations. Rich holds a Master’s and Bachelor of Science in Aerospace Engineering, from the University of Michigan.

Mark Watt is a partner at Noosphere Venture Partners. NVP is a single-family office investment fund that is one of the most active investors in the new space economy. Recent space investments that NVP has made include Firefly Aerospace (launch), D-Orbit (deployment services), EOS SAR (synthetic aperture radar), EOS Data Analytics (image analytics) and SETS (plasma propulsion). Mark has over 25 years of experience in technology both as an investor, operator, and advisory.

Tony Wilkey is Senior Vice President at AvL Technologies with responsibility for US Sales, Marketing and Customer Service. Tony has 30 years of experience in satellite communications in engineering, sales, program management, and general management roles. He began his career at Ford Aerospace in Palo Alto, California (1981-1983) before joining RSI SatCom Technologies (1983-1987, 1992-1995), Georgia Tech Research Institute (1987-1992), COMSAT RSI (1995-1998), and TriPoint Global (1998-2000). Most recently he served as Director of Antenna Systems Business Development for ViaSat (2000-2008), a $500MM US satellite ground systems equipment provider, before joining AvL Technologies in 2008. Tony earned his Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering from Georgia Institute of Technology (Georgia Tech) in 1981 and his Master’s degree in Mechanical Engineering from Stanford University in 1983.