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.