Speakers

Abhi Tripathi has been working in Human and Robotic Space flight for over 20 years. He is presently the Director of Mission Operations at the UC Berkeley Space Sciences Lab (SSL).  The lab currently operates 3 NASA missions and has 4 more it is actively building and testing in preparation for launch.  This includes the twin spacecraft ESCAPADE mission to Mars.  Abhi is also an advisor to several exciting aerospace startups, both through his involvement at the Berkeley Skydeck Accelerator, and on his own.

Prior to his role at SSL, Abhi spent 10 years working at SpaceX, starting a month before the first launch of the F9.  He led certification (by NASA) of the Cargo and Crew Dragon programs at SpaceX.  These vehicles were certified faster than any visiting vehicles, before or since.  He served as the Dragon Mission Director from mission control on a dozen cargo re-supply missions to the International Space Station.  He also served as a Dragon Chief Engineer for Flight Reliability on the Crew Demo 1 and Demo 2 missions.  Before SpaceX, Abhi spent 10 years as an Aerospace Systems engineer at NASA Johnson Space Center.  There he worked on NASA’s long term planning and design work for Moon and Mars campaigns.

Abhi has degrees in aerospace engineering from the University of Michigan and University of Colorado.  He holds a Ph.D. in Geology/Micropaleontology from UCLA.

Dr Ane Aanesland is a Norwegian deep-tech entrepreneur with deep roots in scientific research. She is the co-founder and CEO of ThrustMe, an industrial space startup providing innovative propulsion solutions to maneuver satellites in space. In 2020, ThrustMe became the first company to successfully demonstrate an iodine-propelled electric propulsion system in space and now they deliver industrialized products to clients worldwide and are baseline on large EO satellite constellations.
Ane received the Innovation Medal of the Centre Nationale De La Recherche Scientifique (CNRS) in 2019 and was appointed by the French Government as an ambassador for its France 2030 space strategy in 2022.

Eric Anderson is President of And One Technologies and a startup investor, advisor and mentor in aerospace, IoT, mobility and medical systems. He has contributed to dozens of space products, missions, and programs. Eric currently supports technology and business aspects of several satellite and space activities. He emphasizes delivery of data and services via new technologies, channels, and business models including government access and use of emerging commercial space products and services.

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 was on the technical staff at Jet Propulsion Laboratory, worked at Sikorsky Aircraft, served eight years as a city Planning Commissioner and is on the board of the Kenya-based education non-profit The Kilgoris Project. Eric earned BS, MS and Ph.D. degrees in Aeronautics and Astronautics at MIT.

Dr. Jun Asakawa founded Pale Blue in 2020 to develop next-generation space mobility after working as an assistant professor at the University of Tokyo Graduate School of Frontier Sciences. He has led the development of propulsion systems for Procyon Probe (world’s first deep space microsatellite), AQT-D Satellite (water propulsion system), EQUULEUS Satellite (water propulsion system) and other small satellite/spacecraft. With his expertise in propulsion systems, Dr. Asakawa has won MIT Tech Review “Innovators Under 35 Japan 2020,” IEPC “Best Paper Award,” and has been selected as Bloomberg New Economy Catalysts 2022.

Anthony Baker is the CEO of SatVu, an earth observation company capturing the highest resolution thermal data from space for a safer and more sustainable earth. SatVu’s first satellite, HOTSAT-1, launched in 2023 and is the first of a planned constellation of eight. The images and short video captured by SatVu have wide applications, from economic monitoring and national security to climate solutions including urban and environmental heat monitoring.

Anthony has over 20 years’ experience in innovative satellite companies with roles in both commercial and government organisations. He has held roles as first CEO at Es’hailSat – The Qatar Satellite Company, Vice President at SES of Luxembourg, and worked at AsiaSat in Hong Kong, NATO in the Netherlands, and OFCOM in London.

Brian Barritt is CTO at Aalyria where he supports the software infrastructure for orchestrating networks across land, sea, air, and space that they spun out from Google. Prior to joining Aalyria, he established a new industry consortium for 5G Non-Terrestrial Networks and supported open source connectivity at Meta. Brian was a Senior Staff Software Engineer at Google where he worked for 7 years as the founding engineer of the Temporospatial SDN infrastructure that powered several terrestrial, high-attitude, and satellite networks.

Brian has more than 15 years of experience in advanced wireless networks. Prior to his tenure at Google he led engineering programs at Cisco and space communications programs at NASA.

Brian earned an MBA in Management of Technology & Innovation and holds BS, MS, and Ph.D. degrees in Computer Engineering.

Tom Barton is the co-founder and CEO of Antaris, an early-stage satellite software innovator backed by Lockheed Martin Ventures, Acequia, Possible Ventures and E2MC. Tom and team created Antaris in 2021 with a vision to revolutionize Software for Space—including leveraging open APIs and open source to dramatically reduce costs and time-to-orbit for satellites. The company is widely considered a New Space disruptor for the satellite ecosystem and has closed deals with some of the industry’s most recognized leaders.

Tom previously served as COO of satellite leader Planet Labs for three years and was a member of the leadership team responsible for putting the largest imaging satellite constellation in history into orbit. He was also CEO of Diamanti, Rackable Systems and Cygnus Solutions and has held senior leadership roles at Red Hat and Lightspeed Venture Partners. He holds both a B.S. and M.B.A. from Stanford University.

Colonel (Ret.) Dean Bellamy is the Executive Vice President of National Security Space, at Redwire. Dean brings his experience and expertise in strategic planning and program management in both the private sector and as a military officer to set and achieve new space development goals while meeting the needs of Redwire’s national security customers.

Prior to joining Redwire, Dean was Vice President of Space Strategies and Development at national security technology company Peraton. In that position, he led Peraton’s space resilience campaign and produced long-range strategies to help Peraton meet its space portfolio’s objectives, including. Peraton’s critical space capabilities included the development of secure cloud platform as a service for ground battle management command and control; development of indications and warning tools for the National Space Defense Center and National Reconnaissance Operations Center; flight safety and conjunction assessment support to the National Reconnaissance Operations Center; development and operations of commercial and civil ground stations; and operations and maintenance of NASA’s space network, near-Earth network, and deep space network. Dean drew on his expert knowledge of program management, leadership, and satellite operations developed through his years of service in the military. In addition to developing these strategies, Dean took an active role in their implementation.

Before joining Peraton, Dean served as a U.S. Air Force officer, retiring with the rank of Colonel. During his tenure in the Air Force, Dean served in a variety of positions related to satellite operations and acted in many other engineering and leadership roles. His most recent position as an Air Force officer was as Chief of the Policy and Strategy Group in the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO), where he led the development and implementation of the Integrated Protection Strategy, which was the first update of the space protection strategy in 35 years. Dean oversaw the NRO’s Space Enterprise Vision activities and served as Director of the NRO’s interagency representative to various high-level defense, intelligence, and government groups such as the Space Enterprise Vision, National Security Council, National Space Council, Space Defense Council, and Department of State. He also developed and implemented space policy and strategies for U.S. intelligence satellites.

Dean holds master’s degrees in aeronautical science, strategic intelligence, and strategic studies from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, the Joint Military Intelligence College, and Air War College, respectively. He also attended the executive leadership course at the Harvard University School of Government and is a certified acquisitions level three program manager.

Dr. Bryan Benedict serves as Senior Director of Innovation & Spacecraft Programs at SES Space & Defense. During his career he has worked extensively within the commercial industry, DoD and US Civil Agencies to socialize the advantages of hosting 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. 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.

Curt is an attorney and senior executive with more than 25 years of experience leading organizations in high-growth industries—and over 10 years as CEO of Spaceflight, Inc.—at the forefront of the NewSpace revolution. He has extensive expertise in strategic planning, financial analysis, legal strategy, M&A, and space commercialization, with deep knowledge about the unique challenges of NewSpace growth and the roadmap to success in the that ecosystem. He has forged relationships with key commercial, civilian, and defense-related customers. Milestones include opening the Indian PSLV to U.S. commercial customers, the first dedicated rideshare Falcon 9 launch vehicle mission deploying a then-record 64 satellites, and launching the first non-governmental mission to the moon (SpaceIL), as well as developing, launching, and orbiting several flavors of Sherpa, the Spaceflight OTV.

Brad brings over 20 years of software development experience in the aerospace industry to the ATLAS Space Operations team. He has designed, developed, tested, and deployed satellite command and control, mission planning, and data management applications throughout his career. Brad has led ATLAS’ initiative to fully integrate our Freedom Software™ with both ViaSat RTE and AWS Ground. Hence, expanding our globally federated network to 50 antennas in 20 Countries. Additionally, as the architect and visionary behind Freedom Ground Software as a Service™, Brad is responsible for hundreds of thousands of satellite passes and terabytes of data collected. He holds an MS in Computer Science from Northern Illinois University.

Steve “Bucky” Butow is the Director of the Space Portfolio at the Defense Innovation Unit (DIU). He joined the team in 2015 as an early plank owner when DIU was known as the Defense Innovation Unit Experimental (DIUx) and helped establish the organization’s operating locations in Silicon Valley, California; Boston, Massachusetts; and Austin, Texas.

In his reserve capacity, Butow is a Brigadier General serving as the Commander of the California Air National Guard where he leads 4,900 Airmen assigned to five wings and a headquarters staff. Prior to this assignment, he was a Special Assistant to the Director, Air National Guard.
Butow is a former Commander of the 129th Rescue Wing at Moffett Federal Airfield, CA, where his responsibilities included organizing, training, equipping, and maintaining 970 combat-ready forces and $1 Billion dollars of special mission aircraft and equipment supporting the U.S. Air Force’s combat rescue and personnel recovery missions. He has previously served as the Deputy Director of the Joint Search and Rescue Center for U.S. Central Command in 2005, and as Chief of Personnel Recovery for U.S. Air Forces Central in 2007 supporting Operations IRAQI and ENDURING FREEDOM. Prior to joining DIU, Butow was the Vice Chief of the Joint Staff, California Military Department with responsibilities including cybersecurity, incident awareness and innovation. He has more than 3,500 flying hours in T-37, T-38, C-130, HC-130 and MC-130P aircraft.

As a researcher with the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence (SETI) Institute, Butow worked on instrument concepts for Mars surface soil analysis at NASA Ames Research Center in Mountain View, CA. He later served as co-principal investigator for a series of airborne science missions for which he was recognized for outstanding achievement and contributions to the Space Science Division in 1999 and received an Ames Honor Award as a member of an Astrobiology Mission Project Team in 2000.

Butow graduated from San Jose State University with a B.A. in Physics & Astronomy and earned a M.S. in Management with specialization in Air and Space Strategic Studies from the University of Maryland. He has also completed executive courses at Harvard’s John F. Kennedy School of Government, and was a member of the National Leadership Preparedness Initiative (NPLI) Cohort 16. Butow is a lifetime member of the Honor Society of Phi Kappa Phi for academic achievement.

Alan Campbell is a Principal Space Products Solutions Architect at Amazon Web Services (AWS). His focus is on empowering customers with innovative new Cloud-based scalable solutions for the Aerospace & Satellite segment. Alan specializes in Data Analytics / ML enabling key insights in Satellite Communications, Earth Observation, and IoT platforms.

Prior to joining AWS, Alan directed the Panasonic Avionics Satellite Engineering team, delivering premium QoE to Inflight passengers. He led a major Cloud & Data migration of 100+ applications resulting in cost savings and SLA improvements.

Alan’s experience ranges from a Fellowship award at CERN, the European Organization for Nuclear Research, to authoring a book on Embedded Systems at Texas Instruments. He holds multiple Cloud certifications, satellite credentials and patents.

Phil Carrai is President of the Space, Training and Cybersecurity division of 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 in Aerospace and Defense products and services.

Kratos Space, Training and Cybersecurity 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 in 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.

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.

Tim Chrisman is the Founder and Executive Director of the Foundation for the Future, an advocacy nonprofit focused on the intersection of space, finance and policy. Additionally, Tim leads Toffler Associates’ Defense Innovation practice and is the Space and Intelligence Partner at Distinctive Edge Partners. Tim is a former Army intelligence officer, a special advisor to the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and most recently, a CIA officer supporting the National Space Council. Tim is the author of the book Humanity in Space and is a prolific writer about the expanse of our civilization in space.

With over 25 years of experience in satellite communications and regulations at international level, Mr Ciccorossi has taken the following responsibilities:

– Acting Head of the Satellite Systems Coordination Division at the International Telecommunication Union (ITU)

– Chairman of the 22nd. International Space Radio Monitoring Meeting (ISRMM), September 2021.

– Counsellor of DG-Plenary at the CPM-2023 and WG-6C at the World Radiocommunication Conference 2012.

– Represented the ITU Radiocommunications Bureau at WRCs since 2003, as well as at several regional and international fora, including CITEL, ICAO, International Astronautical Congress, Eurocontrol, United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs, Forum Europe, the Regulatory Expert Group of the ISRMM and ITU Study Groups.

– Advising ITU Member States and Sectors Members on technical regulatory matters of space services.

– Responsible for the analysis of GSO and NGSO satellite systems submitted to ITU and the treatment of cases of harmful interference.

Jorge has conceived the first (and unique) Intergovernmental Online Platform to Report RFI cases affecting Satellite System (SIRRS), assisting 193 ITU Member States in its resolution.

He holds the degree of engineer in electronics from the National University of Technology (UTN) in Buenos Aires, an Executive Certificate in Management and Leadership from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in the US, and has studied satellite communications and spacecraft design at the University of Surrey in the UK.

Mike Collett is Founder and Managing Partner of Promus Ventures, a venture capital firm investing in deep-tech early-stage startups, with offices in Chicago, San Francisco and Luxembourg. Mike has been a venture capital investor for over 20 years. Mike has invested in over 100 startups, including Rocket Lab, AngelList, Whoop, Mapbox, ICEYE, Bellabeat, FLYR, Kensho, Cobalt Robotics, Swift Navigation, and others.

Prior to Promus Ventures, Mike was Founder and Managing Partner of Masters Capital Nanotechnology Fund, a venture capital firm. While working at Masters Capital, a hedge fund, Mike invested in software and hardware startups. Prior to venture capital, Mike was a Vice President in Merrill Lynch’s Mergers & Acquisitions group.

Mike holds a BA in Math and BA in English from Vanderbilt University. He also holds a MBA in Finance from Washington University in St. Louis.

Mike and his wife Paige have four children and live in Chicago.

Robert J. Conrad is the Vice President of Business Development and Strategy for Kepler Communications and is focused on building a high-performance team to expand Kepler’s satellite relay network within the US and global markets. Robert is a strategic leader and team builder who has been responsible for more than $1 billion in sales supporting ground and space systems for the U.S. Government and commercial space industry. Throughout his career, he has demonstrated commitment to responsible leadership, governance, and strategy, and the ability to engage a broad range of stakeholders and drive strategic initiatives.

Previously, Mr. Conrad was Vice President of Business Development at SpaceLink, an innovative company that opened the market for commercial space data relay networks. There he leveraged his US Government and broad professional network to position SpaceLink as a finalist for the NASA CSP Project; a commercial replacement program for the NASA Tracking Data Relay Satellite System (TDRSS) and secured SpaceLink’s first US Government contract with NASA Goddard Space Flight Center.

Before SpaceLink, he led as Chief Executive Officer at LJT & Associates, a small business aerospace government contractor that provided a range of services including system engineering, satellite and ground station operations, technology development, space launch operations, logistics, and general engineering support. Mr. Conrad began as Vice President of Business Development and General Manager and went on to become Chief Operating Officer and finally President and Chief Executive Officer. He drove strategy and managed P&L and business development. Under his leadership, the company grew to over $70M in annual revenue.

In recent years, he led a high-performance engineering team that developed a high data rate Ku-Band and Ka-Band satellite transceiver (LCT2) to relay launch telemetry to the ground through the geosynchronous NASA TDRSS satellite system.

Earlier in his career, Mr. Conrad worked at Allied Signal Technical Services where he served as Deputy Director of Space Services. He provided management and technical oversight on space services contracts which included the Consolidated Space Operations Contract at NASA Johnson Space Center, JPL Deep Space Network Contract, and the Commercial DataLynx Space Ground Station Network.

Mr. Conrad earned his Master of Science degree in Electrical Engineering from Johns Hopkins University with a concentration in RF & Satellite Communications, and a Bachelor of Science degree in Electrical Engineering from Capitol College. He holds a U.S. Patent on a wide band continuously tunable satellite QPSK transceiver.

Richard DalBello is currently the Director of the Office of Space Commerce. In this role he is responsible for managing the Department’s efforts to establish a space traffic control system to ensure safe space operations for commercial and international civil space ventures. In addition, Richard is responsible for the regulation of the US commercial remote sensing industry and for general advocacy, across the government, for commercial space industry interests.

Prior to joining the Department of Commerce, Richard was Virgin Galactic’s Vice President of Global Engagement. In this role, Richard was responsible for international business development for the company’s unique fleet of carrier aircraft and space vehicles. Prior to joining Virgin, Richard served as Director, Space and Aeronautics, in the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy. In this role, he served as the principal advisor on space and aeronautics matters to the Science Advisor to the President. In this position, Richard played a key role in the development and implementation of the Administration’s domestic and international space policy and program priorities.

Prior to joining OSTP, Richard served as the Vice President of Government Affairs for Intelsat General. He served previously as president of the Satellite Broadcasting and Communications Association, and for more than three years as the president of the Satellite Industry Association.

Richard earned a bachelor’s degree in political science from the University of Illinois, a master’s degree in law from McGill University, and a doctorate in jurisprudence from the University of San Francisco.

Guy is passionate about the expansion of human activity into space and how it brings immense value to our long-term sustainability and prosperity. Guy was an award winning NASA engineer, GNC engineer at Firefly and systems engineer at the Space Flight Lab before starting Cognitive Space in 2018 to fuel the space industry through AI. In his capacity as CEO, he sets the overall strategic and business direction of the company to maximize the value and impact to humanity.

Mindel De La Torre leads all regulatory and international market entry matters for Omnispace’s seamless ‘one global network.’ In this role, she applies her expertise in licensing, spectrum policy and international telecommunications to obtain key regulatory approvals on behalf of the company.

Previously, Mindel was Chief of the International Bureau at the Federal Communications Commission, where she led the agency’s efforts internationally – both on a bilateral and multilateral basis – including licensing of satellites. Prior to that, Mindel was President of Telecommunications Management Group, Inc., a leading global telecommunications policy consultancy. Throughout her career, she has held leadership positions on delegations to ITU global conferences. She also held various posts at the Department of Commerce in the National Telecommunications and Information Administration and the General Counsel’s office.

Mindel received her juris doctorate from the University of Texas and holds her bachelor’s degree from Vanderbilt University. She is a member of the Texas bar and the Federal Communications Bar Association and speaks Portuguese, French, Spanish, and Italian.

Tim Deaver serves as the VP of Strategic Solutions and U.S. Government Business Development and Sales in the Mynaric Washington D.C. area office and is responsible for creating and marketing customer solutions for Mynaric’s industry leading Laser Communication Terminals. Tim leads a team focused on Customer Success, from requirements capture, to solutions development, and customer delivery. He works closely with the Mynaric Sales and Engineering teams across critical Government and Commercial markets.

Prior to joining Mynaric, Tim worked for Airbus U.S. Space and Defense for 3 years leading their US Government focused small satellite capture and engineering efforts.

Mr. Deaver also worked for SES and SES Government Solutions for over 10 years where he led the business and product development activities.  Mr. Deaver led the SES GS team which won the USAF Space and Missile System Center (SMC) Pathfinder 1 contract for the purchase of near-end of life transponders, SMC’s Pathfinder 3 contract for prelaunched capacity on an SES satellite, the NASA Global-scale Observation of Limb and Disk (GOLD) hosted payload launched on SES-14 (built by Airbus Defense and Space) in 2018 and the FAA’s Wide-Area Augmentation System (WAAS) payload launched on SES-15 in 2017. Mr. Deaver also served as the program manager and eventually the Program Executive for the Commercially Hosted Infra-Red Payload (CHIRP) program which was launched in September 2011 aboard the SES-2 spacecraft.

Prior to joining SES, Mr. Deaver served 22 years in the U.S. Air Force in various space operational, acquisition and policy positions.  Tim holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Electrical Engineering from the University of Nebraska, a Master’s Degree in Electrical Engineering from the University of Colorado and a Master’s Degree from Air University.

Mike Dickey is a Founding Partner of Elara Nova. Dickey is a career aerospace executive focusing on national security and U.S. space competitiveness for the 21st century. Mike’s experience includes both serving as an Air Force officer, as well as a civilian senior executive level during the stand-up of the United States Space Force. He also has extensive experience advancing space strategy and business development within the space industry.

Dickey’s military career spans a variety of roles and mission areas including space operational commands in the Air Force and National Reconnaissance Office, early development of the Navy’s Theater Ballistic Missile Defense System for the Missile Defense Agency, and flight test of the B-2 Spirit bomber. He was also detailed to NASA, supporting requirements for the International Space Station.

As a civilian, Dickey served as Chief Architect of Air Force Space Command and then the U.S. Space Force and was instrumental in standing up the Space Warfighting Analysis Center. His efforts helped lead advance strategic shift of the Air Force’s space enterprise to a more resilient and combat effective posture.

Dickey has a B.S. and M.S. in Aerospace Engineering Sciences from the University of Colorado and a Master of Strategic Studies from Air University. He is a Distinguished Graduate of the U.S. Air Force Test Pilot School and three professional military education courses. His honors include 27 military awards, the NASA Group Achievement Medal and the National Reconnaissance Office Gold Medal.

He participated in leadership programs from Penn State’s Smeal College of Business and the Center for Creative Leadership, and is an Associate Fellow in the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics.

Preston Dunlap has over 20 years of executive leadership experience across technology, national security, and private investment. He is the founder of Arkenstone Ventures, serves on Boards and as Lead Independent Director of Pixxel Space Technologies, advises Fortune 100 and growth companies, private equity, venture capital, and institutions such as RAND, Stanford, and MIT and is a Senior External Advisor at Bain & Company.

He led the Defense Department’s Investment Committee strategy, analysis, and diligence for the Secretary of Defense to allocate and deploy $750B+ annually in industry sectors supporting national security, such as infrastructure, services, space, cybersecurity and software, AI, communications, transportation and logistics, ships, aircraft, vehicles, and weapons.

Mr. Dunlap started $250B+ of new programs with 4 Secretaries of Defense, including the newly unveiled B-21 bomber, Hypersonic Prompt Strike, classified space and intelligence, and Joint All-Domain Command and Control programs.

He led initiatives with the Vice President of the United States and Cabinet on the future of commercial, civil, and national security space, transformed federal Venture Capital investment, was the first Chief Technology Officer of the Space Force and Air Force with $75B of products, and served on the ground floor of successful software and infrastructure companies.

He holds a Master of Science in Operations Research and Management Science from George Mason University, a Bachelor’s degree in both Computer Science and Political Science from Duke University, and was a Harvard National Security Executive Fellow.

Mr. Dunlap is frequently cited as an authority in international media and as an expert witness for the United States Congress. His awards include the Secretary of Defense Medal for Meritorious Civilian Service, Secretary of the Air Force Medal for Meritorious Civilian Service, and Secretary of Defense Medal for Exceptional Civilian Service.

Dr. Baris I. Erkmen has been active in the development of advanced optical communication and sensing systems for two decades. He is presently CTO at Aalyria Technologies, driving the development of lasercom technology to connect space and ground communication networks.

Before joining Aalyria, Baris was the CEO of Hedron Space (2022-2023), developing an optical data-relay network for Earth-observation satellites. His past responsibilities include Engineering Director of Project Taara at X, the moonshot factory (2017-2022), where he developed a high-performance wireless optical communication product to expand terrestrial broadband networks. Prior to that he was the Lead for Project Loon’s Free-Space Optical Communications effort (2013-2016), where he and his team developed optical communications technology for a stratospheric platform. Baris has also been the Principal Investigator for NASA’s OPALS laser communication demonstration (2009-2013), which successfully demonstrated an optical downlink from the International Space Station to Earth. In 2022, Baris was elected Fellow of Optica for contributions to the advancement of wireless optical communication systems in performance, technology maturity, large-scale manufacturability, and cost.

Baris’s interests encompass the application of both classical and quantum properties of light to enhance communication and sensing capabilities for terrestrial, airborne, and spaceborne systems.

Dr Marco Esposito is Managing Director at cosine Remote Sensing.

Marco completed his PhD in Aerospace Engineering at the University of Naples, specializing in airborne remote sensing for air quality and land management. Having worked on various aerospace projects in Italy, most recently as coordinator of the Environmental Research Aircraft Lab of the Italian National Research Council, Marco moved to the Netherlands.

Marco spent almost 4 years at ESA ESTEC as calibration engineer first, in the science department working on EUV to IR sensors calibration for future planetary missions, and then as performance engineer in the Earth Observation department working on Sentinel 5 Precursor spectrometer TROPOMI.

Marco has been involved in a variety of research and development activities at cosine, all focusing on the miniaturization of optical instruments for Earth Observation and miniaturized suites of instruments for planetary exploration. Marco has been leading the development of space products including space Lidars for vegetation and bathymetry, as well as intelligent spectral imagers for EO from small satellites. He has produced more than 40 scientific publications, either as first author or as a co-author.

Having gained experience as system and performance engineer, project manager, program manager and team leader at cosine, Marco became managing director of cosine Remote Sensing as well as of the Italian branch of cosine.

Marco led the commercialization of the hyperspectral product line at cosine, the first ever miniaturized class of imagers able to connect hyperspectral, thermal imaging and artificial intelligence techniques in one compact solution for the Earth observation market.

Marco is currently leading the scale-up of the remote sensing business at cosine as well as the setup of the space factory for the series production of smart remote sensing instruments for Earth Observation.

Tim has over 30 years of experience across the telecom and satellite industries, having worked for leading consulting firms in both the UK and US. In 2002, Tim founded his own consulting company, TMF Associates, based in Menlo Park, CA, which has supported numerous operators, suppliers and investors, on market and technical analysis, business planning, and due diligence assignments. He was President of MSUA from 2006 to 2015 and since 2016 has been an independent director of Marlink.

Julián Fernández is the CEO and Co-Founder of FOSSA Systems, the Spanish company democratizing mass access to interoperable low-power IoT devices from space which has already launched 17 satellites into Space. Julián has experience in LoRa communications, IoT deployments and space infrastructure, having launched the first Spanish picosatellite FOSSASAT-1 in 2019 at the age of 16 and later founding FOSSA Systems as a company at 17. He was chosen as a Forbes 30 under 30 in 2022 and as one of the Top 105 NewSpace Executives. He has a background in telecommunications engineering, LPWAN technologies and currently manages a team of 25 people.

Marino Fragnito has joined Arianespace in March 2016 to manage the Vega Business Unit.
Since February 2018 he is also in charge of the overall Vega sales, marketing & business development activities in Arianespace and in November 2020 he has been appointed Senior Vice President and member of the Arianespace Executive Committee.
In this capacity, he manages the overall Vega activities and controls its associated Profit & Loss.
From January 2009 until March 2016 he served at the European Organization for the Exploitation of Meteorological Satellites (EUMETSAT) as Launch Services Manager. He previously covered different positions in industry, he began his career in Cannes, at Alcatel Space Industries, as mechanical engineer on telecom satellite projects and then joined ELV (European Launch Vehicle, an AVIO and A.S.I. company) in 2003 were he was later appointed Head of Mechanical Systems Development in the frame of the Vega development program. Before joining EUMETSAT he was also Head of the launcher design department at AVIO.
Marino Fragnito has a MSc. (Laurea Magistrale) in Aeronautical Engineering and holds a Ph.D. in Aerospace Science and Technology.

Pablo Gallego Sanmiguel is PLD Space Senior Vice President, Sales & Customers. Pablo brings extensive knowledge and experience in the aerospace market, specifically in the sector of Commercial Launch Services. Since September 2019, the former SpaceX employee has been working in the commercial and customer management of the Spanish company, representing PLD Space.
Before joining PLD Space, Pablo developed his professional career from California (United States) working as Mission Manager of Launching Services with SpaceX as well as providing aerospace consulting services.
Previously, Pablo had participated actively in several other rocket launch operations, such as Ariane 4, Ariane 5, Soyuz, Dnepr, Vega, Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy.
Pablo has participated in more than forty launch campaigns with different clients and launch bases such as Kourou (French Guiana), Yasny (Russia), Vandenberg (California) and Cape Canaveral (Florida).
Pablo has worked as a Launcher and Satellite Design Engineer at Airbus Defense and Space (CASA Espacio). Also, as Launch Mission Manager and Launcher Integration Engineer at Arianespace. Next, Pablo transition his career to the United States as a customer representative with Hisdesat (in Palo Alto), for the launching of the SPAINSAT and XTAR satellites with Ariane 5. After that, worked as Business Development Manager at INSA (ISDEFE), and also participated in the development and execution of the first mission of the Vega launcher with the European Space Agency. He was responsible for Business Development and Integration, putting into service the Earth observation satellite DEIMOS-2 with Elecnor-Deimos.
Currently, Pablo coordinates his activities between the United States and Europe where he directly addresses the needs of customers. “One of my main objectives is to keep up with the needs of our launch services to customers and validate the integration process. The preparation of the PLD Space’s first launch is one of my priorities as well as following market trends.”, expresses.

In addition, Pablo is registered with the U.S Department of State Directorate of Defense Trade Controls (DDTC), to be able to interact with different types of customers and suppliers, both in the commercial field and in other more restrictive areas, such as defense whose activities may be subject to ITAR regulation.

Dr. Darren Garber has been the CEO & CTO of Revolution Space since June 2022. Revolution Space is located in Boston and is developing the PALOMINO ion array electric propulsion system to enable precision missions from LEO to GEO and across cislunar space. Dr. Garber has over 25 years of experience in mission design, analysis, and operations with expertise in orbit determination, advanced navigation systems, and exploiting new technologies for space systems. He has supported over 47 successful missions for NASA, DoD, traditional aerospace, New Space, and academia. Dr. Garber also provides advisory support to multiple programs for the US government and commercial customers. He attended the United States Air Force Academy, received his Bachelor of Science in Astrophysics from the Ohio State University, and earned his Masters of Science and PhD in Astronautical Engineering at the University of Southern California.

Dennis founded LEOcloud to bring to market the first Space-hardened, scalable, multi-cloud Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS). LEOcloud Space Edge™ IaaS will enable the lowest latency and highest security for AI and analytics applications hosted in LEO, the lunar region and beyond. Multi-cloud services hosted in Space will drive competitive and operational advantage for commercial, government and military organizations.

He is a thought leader for Space-based cloud services, and believes the emerging Space economy will require terrestrial communications and cloud infrastructure to be extended into Space.

Prior to forming LEOcloud, Dennis was the Chief Commercial Officer for Cloud Constellation Corporation where he had global responsibilities for sales, marketing, channel management, and strategic alliances.

Dennis has over 35 years of experience in terrestrial, aerospace and Space-based technology, solutions and managed services. He has a track record of bringing emerging technologies to market working, with global partners and service providers to introduce next generation solutions into their communications and cloud service offerings.

He earned his BS in Electrical Engineering from Virginia Tech, and his MBA from Radford University.

Tina Ghataore joined Aerospacelab in August 2023 as Group Chief Strategy and Revenue Officer, and CEO of Aerospacelab’s new North American branch. Prior to joining the fast-growing international startup specialized in designing, manufacturing and operating small satellites, Tina served as Chief Commercial Officer of Mynaric and President of Mynaric USA where she led the company’s efforts to position Mynaric as the preferred laser communication provider for aerospace application for both government and commercial markets.

In 2022, Tina’s contribution to the aerospace industry was recognized by both the public and industry peers alike when she was voted Via Satellite’s “Satellite Executive of the Year”, accepting her award in front of a select audience at the industry’s leading annual conference ‘Satellite 2022’.

Before to take on her leading role at Mynaric, she was the Executive Vice President of Inflight Connectivity Solutions at Yahsat, a leading UAE Satellite Operator, where she was responsible for the overall strategy and execution of enabling the organization to launch into the Mobility Satcom Services business. In 2007, she founded The EKKAM Group, a strategic management consulting firm focused on serving clients in the aerospace/aviation and telecom industries. Key clients included Airbus, Panasonic and Thales. Tina held multiple leadership roles at Panasonic Avionics Corporation, where she was instrumental in efforts to launch the Panasonics Global Communications Services business, currently serving over 80+ airlines globally. She was also charged to establish the strategy and grow the software, applications and media business, serving the In-Flight Entertainment and Communications industry.

Tina began her career at The Boeing Company’s Satellite Systems business unit. She was integral to the building and launch of Connexion by Boeing (CBB) business, the first-of-its-kind true broadband communications services for commercial airlines. As part of the business development organization, she participated in the early pursuits of the Teledesic (LEO) and Ellipso (MEO) satellite programs. She was also a key member of the due diligence team efforts, resulting in the acquisition of Hughes Space and Communications. Tina received her Bachelor of Honors Degree in Aerospace Engineering from Kingston University in the U.K. She is also a graduate of the International Space University.

As Vice President of Strategy at Omnispace, George Giagtzoglou is responsible for developing corporate strategy, market and competitive intelligence, and supporting strategic partner development initiatives for the company that is redefining mobile communications.

Previously, George was the President of Alazo Consulting. In this role he delivered expert satellite industry insights to support strategic investments and acquisitions. The company serves companies seeking to invest in satellite communications, satellite operators, satellite industry vendors, banks, bondholders with satellite industry debt, private equity firms, and satellite bandwidth customers seeking to restructure their business.

George was also previously the head of Corporate Development at ABS Global with responsibilities including corporate development, corporate & regional strategy, business planning, market intelligence, satellite business case development, and financing.

Prior to ABS he was with Intelsat for 11 years as the head of Corporate Strategy & Planning and also led Corporate Development, Global Marketing, Product Strategy & Development, and Business Development. Mr. Giagtzoglou was instrumental in various company sale processes in 2005 and 2008, and the acquisition of PanAmSat in 2006. He played a key role in developing and commercializing the company’s capabilities, primarily in the area of broadband services.

Prior to joining Intelsat in 2000, Mr. Giagtzoglou’s career in the space and telecommunications industry included engagement leadership positions in the telecommunications practice of A.T. Kearney Management Consultants, and senior engineering and business management positions at Telstra (Australia).

Daniel Gizinski is the Chief Strategy Officer at Comtech. In his current role, Daniel is focused on creating comprehensive strategies and developing innovative technologies that will help ensure the U.S. Department of Defense and coalition forces maintain a strategic advantage across today’s information dominant battlespace. Daniel collaborates with teams across the enterprise to develop cutting-edge, integrated solutions that address the most challenging mission needs of today while anticipating capabilities that will be needed in the future.
During his tenure with Comtech, Daniel has held multiple senior management and leadership positions including serving as the President of Comtech Satellite Network Technologies, Inc. and holding a position as Vice President of Product and Strategy for Comtech Systems, Inc. Prior to joining Comtech in 2019, Daniel held program management and leadership positions at General Electric, Sierra Nevada Corporation and L3Harris Technologies.
Daniel holds a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering from the University of Virginia and a master’s degree from Duke University.

Katherine is the Chief Executive Officer for River Advisers (formerly ManSat) which specializes in international spectrum regulation and market access. Before joining River Advisers, Katherine worked with U.S. defense contractors to bring commercial satellite and terrestrial communication technologies to austere environments in support of military, civil, and commercial initiatives.
Katherine serves as Chairwoman of Space & Satellite Professionals International (SSPI), mentors through the Techstars Starburst Space Accelerator and Space Generation Advisory Council, and supports the ITU’s Girls in ICT initiative.
A graduate of the International Space University’s Executive Program, Katherine holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Commerce from the University of Virginia.

Founded by Jacqueline in December 2021, Magnestar has built a platform for satellite operators, regulators, and military groups, to predict signal interference, expedite coordination agreements, and enable a secondary market for spectrum, therefore increasing communications resiliency in contested and congested environments.

Jacqueline leverages her diverse educational background, performance in enterprise technical sales, and vast network, to lead Magnestar’s world-class team. Within her career, she has built data architecture for over four dozen organizations across Canada, the US and China, led the development of six software applications before leaving her senior leadership role at one of Canada’s largest pension funds in order to pursue her passion for space, sustainability, and entrepreneurship.

Jacqueline enjoys running, yoga, competitive hockey, and is an executive committee member at the Royal Ontario Museum.

Lori Gordon, MPA, PMP is a Systems Director in the Corporate Chief Engineer’s Office at The Aerospace Corporation, leading national security, cybersecurity, and infrastructure protection and resilience enterprise integration initiatives for the space enterprise. With almost two decades of experience in the Federally Funded Research and Development Center (FFRDC) and private sector communities, she has advised a range of federal agencies in initiatives to accelerate technology innovation in complex systems while mitigating national security and civil space enterprise risk. Ms. Gordon is a Partner with Aerospace’s Center for Space Policy and Strategy (CSPS) and a Fellow at the National Security Institute (NSI), and has served on several curriculum advisory boards in cybersecurity and information technology, law and government, and resilient design. Ms. Gordon holds a Masters in Public Administration from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst.

As the Chief Commercial Officer (CCO) of Isar Aerospace, Stella Guillen is responsible for all Strategy, Business Development, Sales, and Marketing activities. Stella’s background spans the satellite industry, from telecommunications to launch services.

From 2010 to 2016, Stella built up and oversaw sales efforts and client relationships for SpaceX. She joined the company at an early stage of the Falcon 9 / Falcon Heavy program, signing SpaceX’s first European customers such as SES, Inmarsat, Eutelsat, Hispasat, and others, winning more than $1B in sales. Stella worked in different Business Development and Sales positions: for Arianespace, Inc. and Spaceflight Industries, she managed all aspects of the launch services sales and marketing activities for customers and some of the largest satellite fleet operators such as SES, Intelsat, and satellite service providers such as Spacenet and Verestar, she opened new markets worldwide extending their customer base and raising company valuation.
She holds an MBA from Johns Hopkins University and a Bachelor of Arts degree from Loyola University.

Tarun Gupta is Chief Product Officer and Co-Founder of Skylo Technologies, the world’s most ubiquitous non-terrestrial network (NTN). His role is to deliver an elegant end-to-end IoT solution that gives customers the ability to transform their business. Skylo is the only solution that can cost-effectively provide 100% coverage across the globe – from space – allowing customers to connect to any part of their business anywhere, at any time, all the time.

At Skylo, Tarun sets the vision for product development, innovation, and design. He manages the product management, product marketing, business development, marketing efforts and other strategic initiatives across the organization.

Prior to joining Skylo, Tarun worked for Google in various roles. Notably, he was the Head of Strategy and Operations for the Google Assistant, and helped bring the Gigabit Fiber to thousands of residences across the US. Tarun has 20+ years of experience in engineering and development of telecommunications networks. He advises several companies regarding market fit, product enhancements, and overall strategic direction.

Tarun earned his BSEE in Electrical Engineering from the University of Virginia and his MS degree in Management as a Fellow from the Stanford Graduate School of Business.

Aaron Hawkins is the Director for Viasat’s Real-Time Earth (RTE) Ground-Station-as-a-Service (GSaaS) business area and the strategic partnership manager. In those roles, Aaron is charged with enabling the network’s global expansion, building alliances, and developing innovative win-win solutions to enhance RTE customer success. He has overseen the expansion of RTE from two sites in 2019, to a global network of S/X/Ka-band antenna systems supporting missions from EO-imagery and SAR to orbital debris removal and Optical ISL demonstrations for commercial and government satellite operators.

Aaron has 20 years of experience in defense and aerospace earned through careers in the government and private industry. He started his professional career as a national security representative in the executive branch of the United States government. For over a decade, he served in various domestic and overseas assignments focused on confronting transnational crime through engagement with allied partners, often times incorporating geospatial solutions. Following his service, Aaron joined Viasat as a Director of International Business Development for Earth Observation antenna systems, provided training and consulting within the U.S. government, and since 2019 has led revenue generation, strategic alliance, and network growth in the RTE ground service business area.

Dr. Lucy Hoag is the Founder and CEO of Violet Labs, an early stage startup building single-source-of-truth software for complex hardware engineering teams. The Violet platform is the first SaaS integration platform that is purpose-built for hardware. Like Zapier, but for rockets and robots.

Prior to founding Violet, Lucy spent time as a Systems Engineer and Technical Program Manager at DARPA (SETA for TTO), Google, Waymo, Lyft and Amazon, helping bring satellite, self-driving car and drone projects to life.

Jeff Huggins is an aerospace and defense sector expert, growth leader and President of the U.S. arm of Cailabs, a global company and leading player in laser communications.

After leaving behind a distinguished career as a Naval Intelligence Officer, during which he focused on national overhead and intelligence systems, Jeff moved into the private sector, where he held senior roles at several major companies, including Israel Aerospace Industries North America and Raytheon. He led the expansion of an established $24 million company, driving it to more than $40 million in value between 2016 and 2020, and served as the CEO and Chairman of the Board of the U.S. classified aerospace wing of Safran. Safran, a major French aviation company, is the second-largest aircraft equipment manufacturer in the world.

Jeff, who also worked as a presidential appointee in the State Department, holds a Bachelor of Science in engineering from the U.S. Naval Academy and an MBA from the Darden School of business at the University of Virginia with additional graduate studies at the Naval War College and the Naval Postgraduate School.

He is considered an expert in combining the creative applications of tech, people and solutions to grow companies. At Cailabs, he is driving growth in the U.S. to meet rising demand from the defense and commercial sectors.

George John ensures regulations do not disrupt innovation and investment for established and emerging technologies particularly in the aerospace, telecommunications, sports, medical, and mobility industries.

Technologies empowering satellite connectivity, smartphone downloads, the monitoring of ball trajectory and speed or athlete biometrics at sporting events, real-time telehealth applications, and drone deliveries encounter U.S. and international regulation.

Operators of these and similar platforms regularly rely on George to navigate related legal, policy, and technical challenges. He advises clients on radiofrequency (RF) spectrum use, orbital debris mitigation, and remote sensing licensing while engaging the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, national administrations outside the United States, and international standards bodies, including the International Telecommunication Union. Those interactions have helped him shape and streamline regulations on RF spectrum, the safety and sustainability of space, and Earth imagery; negotiate RF spectrum rights at international fora; and complete associated due diligence for venture-capital and private-equity investments.

Before joining Hogan Lovells, George served as in-house regulatory and transactional counsel for a pioneering nanosatellite company, where he secured satellite, earth station, and remote sensing licenses and negotiated satellite launch and insurance agreements. Other previous stops include the FCC’s International Bureau Satellite Division, where he tackled satellite and earth station licensing and rulemakings, and the Federal Aviation Administration’s Office of Chief Counsel, where he undertook commercial space launch, reentry, launch site operation, and other aviation regulation projects.

Outside of work, George actively mentors young lawyers and others interested in space, telecommunications, and technology.

Lewis is a VP at Generation Space, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Seraphim Space Manager which manages a $300M AUM fund entirely focused on space. Lewis holds a first-class Aerospace degree from the University of Southampton and was previously a Thermal Analyst working on jet engines at Rolls-Royce. At Generation Space, Lewis has supported more than 20 transactions into space businesses, responsible for over $150m of deployed capital.

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.

Jason Kim became chief executive officer of Millennium Space Systems, a non-fully integrated Boeing subsidiary based in El Segundo, California, in December 2020. Millennium Space Systems provides alternative, relevant and affordable solutions to today’s aerospace challenges. The company designs space flight systems and develops space mission and system solutions for the U.S. Intelligence Community, Department of Defense and National Aeronautics and Space Administration, as well as commercial customers.

Kim has more than two decades of experience in executive management involving small and large satellites, unmanned aerial vehicles, mission payloads, ground systems, artificial intelligence and machine learning, data processing, command and control, launch, program management, systems engineering, prototyping, assembly and integration, and testing and operations of aerospace and defense systems.

Previous to his current position, he was the business development executive at Raytheon Intelligence & Space, where he led a team to fully develop and execute a global and domestic growth strategy. He worked to meet the growth goals of a vertically integrated, multi-billion-dollar space and command-and-control business.

From 2006 to 2019, Kim demonstrated his ability to grow companies as vice president of Strategic Planning at Millennium Space Systems and as a program manager at Northrop Grumman Aerospace Systems.

Biography

From 1999 to 2006, he served as a program manager in the U.S. Air Force’s Space Superiority Systems Program and Reconnaissance Systems Program offices, where he gained a deep background in advancing autonomous systems starting on unmanned aerial vehicle programs such as the Global Hawk and Predator and growing to acquisitions and developments of first-of-its-kind classified and unclassified space and ground systems.

Kim has served on the National Defense Industrial Association board of directors and Space Enterprise Consortium formation committee and has been an active member of the National Security Space Association.

He is a graduate of the U.S. Air Force Academy with a Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering. He received a Master of Science in Electrical Engineering from the Air Force Institute of Technology and a Master of Business Administration from the University of California at Los Angeles Anderson School of Management.

Dr. David Korsmeyer is the acting deputy center director at NASA’s Ames Research Center in California’s Silicon Valley.

Most recently, Dr. Korsmeyer was the associate center director at NASA Ames for nearly two years and was responsible for the overall scope and direction of the center’s operations and facilities. He also managed the NASA Research Park – co-located at Moffett Field – which hosts academic, industry, and other government organizations. He is one of four senior center leaders guiding and managing NASA’s virtual institutes based at Ames, competitive internal research and development projects, and external research collaborations.

Korsmeyer previously has served as the associate center director for Research and Technology where he led the Center’s overall efforts in research, sciecne, and engineering developments that support NASA’s missions in aeronautics, science, exploration, and technology. Key achievements during this time included the successful initiation NASA’s next lunar rover, the VIPER or Volatiles Investigating Polar Exploration Rover. For six years prior to that role he was the director of engineering and led a broad range of spacecraft projects, proposals, and engineering support of technology, wind tunnels, and science experiments. Notably, he led the center’s expansion into small satellites and nanosats, including: NASA’s Lunar Atmosphere and Dust Environment Explorer, or LADEE; numerous space biology instrumentation missions on the International Space Station, and the launch of 30 cubesats. For over nine years Korsmeyer served as chief of Ames’ Intelligent Systems Division, NASA’s premier research and development organization for artificial intelligence, robotics, and adaptive software supporting aeronautics and space missions, like the Mars Exploration Rovers, Spirit and Opportunity. At Ames since 1991, Korsmeyer has been instrumental in the formation and management of many projects and NASA-wide technology programs in his early career. After receiving his Senior Executive Service certification in 2006, he supported key government initiatives including the 2009 Presidential Review of Human Spaceflight, and the 2020 Artemis Program Status Assessment. Korsmeyer regularly supports agency-level technology and engineering teams for NASA’s Aeronautics, Space and Technology, Human Exploration, and Science Mission Directorates at Headquarters.  Korsmeyer received a Meritorious Presidential Rank Award in 2011, and a Distinguished Presidential Rank Award in 2021.

Korsmeyer earned his bachelor’s degree in Aerospace Engineering from Pennsylvania State University in State College, Pennsylvania, and both his master’s and doctorate in Aerospace Engineering from the University of Texas in Austin. He is a Sloan Fellow with a master’s degree in Management from the Stanford University’s Graduate School of Business and is active in the International Astronautical Federation, the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, and the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers.

Chris Kunstadter is Global Head of Space at AXA XL and manages the company’s space insurance team. He is actively involved in all aspects of AXA XL’s space activity, including technical, financial, and actuarial analysis, coverage design, claims handling, industry outreach, and business development.

Chris is a recognized leader in space risk management issues. For over three decades, he has worked closely with global satellite operators and manufacturers, launch providers, industry groups, and others to develop cutting-edge solutions that enable investment and innovation in space. Chris has collaborated with policymakers and space agencies around the world to enhance space safety and promote responsible space activity.

Chris received a BA degree in Literature and an MS degree in Engineering from the University of California. He holds a Commercial Pilot license with Instrument and Multi-Engine ratings and is a Certified Flight Instructor. Chris is an avid musician and serves on the boards of several music-oriented not-for-profit organizations.

Žilvinas Kvedaravičius is the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Kongsberg NanoAvionics. Previously holding the position of Chief Sales Officer, he has been a pivotal figure in the company’s growth over the past seven years. Žilvinas brings an in-depth understanding of the company’s technology and has fostered strong global stakeholder relationships. He holds a bachelor’s degree in Economics and Business Management from the Stockholm School of Economics in Riga.

Andy has 44 years with NGC/TRW and a total of 46 years working in advanced space programs specializing in, advanced manufacturing, spacecraft design, micro-electronics, nuclear products, space logistics, and astrophysics projects. As a NG Fellow 2, 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 advanced manufacturing (AM) experts in the country and has produced over fifty papers in AM, in-space manufacturing, lunar and planetary sciences, hypersonics, and miniaturization of spacecraft components. He brings his innovative approach to problems and has won several Corporate awards for innovation.
Andy is an appointed Research Professor at the University of New Mexico and is on the faculty 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 degrees in Aerospace Engineering and Applied Mechanics, and received a Masters degree in 1980 from the University of Missouri Science and Technology in Astrophysics.

Mr. Letarte is a Vice President at AE Industrial and is primarily focused on origination, transaction due diligence, executing new investments, and monitoring portfolio investments. Mr. Letarte has helped lead AE Industrial’s recent space investments in York Space Systems, Redwire, Firefly Aerospace, and Sierra Space. Additional active investments at AE Industrial include Belcan, BigBear.ai, Resolute Industrial and Kellstrom Aerospace. He currently serves on the Board of Directors of AE Industrial portfolio company Belcan. Prior to joining AE Industrial in 2018, Mr. Letarte was an investment banker at Moelis & Company for 5 years, where he focused on M&A, restructuring and strategic corporate advisory across a broad spectrum of industries including aerospace and defense. Prior to joining Moelis, Mr. Letarte was in J.P. Morgan’s Leveraged Finance Group, where he provided debt capital solutions and acquisition financing. During his career, Mr. Letarte has completed over $50 billion of mergers and acquisitions across 60+ transactions and assisted in over $100 billion of debt financings.

Whitney Lohmeyer is currently serving a one year detail as the Chief Technologist of the FCC’s Space Bureau. She is on leave from her role as faculty at Olin College of Engineering and as a Research Affiliate at MIT. Whitney is passionate about higher education and enabling affordable Internet to empower individuals, and connect schools and healthcare centers. She has advised more than thirty companies on wireless system design and spectrum strategy. Whitney was the first engineer hired at OneWeb, where she worked with Qualcomm, actively contributed to policy reform at the FCC and ITU, and served on the U.S. Delegation to the 2015 World Radio Conference. Whitney received her Ph.D. in Aeronautics and Astronautics from MIT in 2015, and her M.S. in Aeronautics and Astronautics from MIT in 2013, and her B.S. in Aerospace Engineering from NC State University in 2011.

Dr. Jon Luminati is the Senior Vice President and Deputy for the Labs Sector at BlueHalo. In this role he works to align diverse technology roadmaps and program execution plans with corporate strategy and customer needs across a workforce of more than 500 people. He is also leading the stand-up of BlueHalo’s Centers of Excellence business unit, bringing a unified approach to program management, engineering, and manufacturing across the sector’s program and product development efforts. These efforts span multiple capability areas including space, counter-UAS, autonomous systems, cyber, and AI/ML.

Dr. Luminati was previously the Director of Technical Program Management in BlueHalo’s Advanced RF Systems Division focused on developing and delivering ground-based phased array systems supporting satellite command and control and other mission areas.

Prior to joining BlueHalo, Jon served as a Colonel in the United States Air Force with a career spanning engineering, program management, and operations in space, intelligence, and missile defense. In his final active-duty assignment, he led the Integrated Experiments and Evaluations Division in the Space Vehicles Directorate of the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL). In this role, he led the conceptualization, acquisition, and operations of a $1B+ portfolio of AFRL’s on-orbit satellite experiments including numerous small satellite programs.

He holds a PhD in electrical engineering from the Air Force Institute of Technology where he studied synthetic aperture radar waveform design and processing. He also holds master’s degrees from Cornell University, the Naval Postgraduate School, and the Eisenhower School.

Mr. Lusczakoski is a Vice President at AE Industrial and is primarily focused on financial modeling, due diligence, executing new investments, and monitoring portfolio investments. Mr. Lusczakoski brings over seven years of aerospace industry experience to AE Industrial. Prior to joining AE Industrial in 2018, Mr. Lusczakoski was a Lead Engineer in the Program Development group at Williams International, where he led multiple integration programs for UAVs, military trainer aircraft and business jets.

Dr. Martin joined Astroscale U.S. in August 2019 as Executive Vice President. She brings many years of experience in space technology management, operations, and engineering to support the foundation and growth of Astroscale U.S.
Dr. Martin previously held the position of the Director, Orbital Solutions at General Atomics Electromagnetic Systems (GA-EMS). She was responsible for the management and technical performance of the engineering staff and delivery of projects, including planning and managing technical and programmatic solutions to ensure quality, business, and financial objectives were met.
Prior to joining GA-EMS, Dr. Martin was the Chief Operating Officer at Surrey Satellite Technology US, where she led the Surrey project management and engineering teams. As a member of the Surrey Satellite US Executive Team, Dr. Martin managed the bidding, negotiation, and execution of projects, and was responsible for ensuring the company’s cost-effective methods were appropriately applied to the execution of programs.
Dr. Martin transferred to Surrey Satellite US from Surrey Satellite Technology Ltd. in the United Kingdom, where she held several positions including the Head of Telecommunications and Navigation business unit, encompassing the Galileo payload programme. Prior to Surrey, Dr. Martin was a Project Manager and Scientist at QinetiQ.
Dr. Martin earned a Master of Science in astrophysics and a Doctorate in mathematics and computational sciences from the University of St. Andrews in Scotland. She loves to explore and adventure the mountains in Colorado.

Jason B. Mello is the CEO and Co-Founder of The KMC Group, LLC. Jason provides executive-level strategic consulting to the Defense, Intelligence, and Space sectors for both commercial and government customers. With a focus on corporate strategy and business execution, Jason works with companies by providing strategic solutions, government engagements, proposal support, and advisory services to C-suite leaders focused on driving revenue and growth. Jason is a sought-after speaker, community leader, and mentor to support STEM in schools.

Previously, Jason served as the President of Firefly Space Transport Services (STS), a wholly owned subsidiary of Firefly Aerospace Inc., leading Firefly’s Government Relations, Capture & Proposal Team and its Federal and Commercial Business Unit focused on commercial, civil, and military requirements for space transportation. During his time at Firefly, Jason’s leadership and key government relationships led to the company’s divestiture of its foreign ownership. Leading revenue, he secured multiple commercial launch agreements along with developing a multi-year billion-dollar pipeline key to future growth. Specifically, Jason captured the company’s 1st U.S. Space Force contract to fly the United States Space Force’s VICTUS NOX responsive space mission along with securing major contracts with Lockheed Martin, L3Harris, etc. Jason’s strategic acquisition expertise was key to Firefly’s Northrop Grumman partnership to build a future medium launch vehicle.

Before joining Firefly, Jason served as a Colonel in the United States Air Force at the Air Force Office of Scientific Research (AFOSR), where he held the role of Chief Research and Technology Officer. In this capacity, he oversaw an annual portfolio of over $500 million and 62 senior scientists and engineers responsible for researching and developing future technologies crucial to the Air Force and Space Force.

Prior to his time at AFOSR, Jason was the Director of the National Intelligence Portfolio, where he led the oversight team for the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition and Sustainment overseeing a $9 billion annual portfolio of intelligence community programs. He has a proven history of leading various classified and unclassified satellite and intelligence programs. He led the first Launch Acquisition Division at the National Reconnaissance Office, where he spearheaded the use of small launch vehicles for National Security while executing a $1B annual budget. Jason served at the White House for three years as a White House Military Social Aide. In his 23 years in the Air Force, Jason led in multiple acquisition and operations positions vital to the National Security of the United States.

Jason holds a Master of Arts in Organizational Management from George Washington University, a Master of Engineering from the University of Massachusetts and a Bachelor of Science in Chemical Engineering from Worcester Polytechnic Institute.

Beyond his professional endeavors, Jason values family and community. He is happily married with three children and actively contributes to his community as a volunteer for youth baseball and his church. He also serves as the President of the Ashburn Village Community Association, a thriving community with over 5,300 homes and more than 20,000 residents.

William (Bill) Milroy currently serves as Chairman and CTO of ThinKom Solutions, Inc., located in Hawthorne, CA and focused on the design, development, and manufacture of innovative antenna access solutions for the Fixed and Mobile Broadband Wireless Communication markets.

Prior to co-founding ThinKom, Mr. Milroy held the position of Senior Engineering Fellow within the Electromagnetic Systems Department of Raytheon’s Electronic Systems (ES) Segment. During his tenure at Raytheon (Hughes Aircraft), Mr. Milroy managed and led the RF antenna design, development, and manufacture of a wide range of antenna array implementations and products for radar and communication applications in both the commercial and military marketplaces including 1-D and 2-D Electronically-Scanned Arrays (ESA’s).

Mr. Milroy is a graduate of the University of California at Los Angeles, earning BSEE, MSEE, and Engineer (Ph.D. course, field, and examination requirements) degrees. He is the author or co-author of nine journal and symposia papers in the fields of Network Analysis, Circuits, Antennas, and Microwaves. He is the inventor or co-inventor of over fifty awarded and pending patents in the fields of Electromagnetic Scattering, Materials, Microwave Devices, and Antennas. Mr. Milroy is a past Chairman of the Los Angeles Chapter of the IEEE Antennas and Propagation Society (APS.)

Dr. Anton Monk – VP and CTO of Wireless Initiatives, Viasat

Dr. Monk is VP and CTO of Wireless Initiatives at Viasat, a global provider of satellite services. At Viasat he focuses on new technology and business initiatives, such as satellite direct-to-device and 5G NTN for both commercial and government applications. Before that he was VP of business development at XCOM Labs, which develops advanced 5G solutions. Previously, he was VP of Strategic Alliances and Standards at Cohere Technologies, which developed a groundbreaking wireless modulation technique known as OTFS. He was a co-founder, VP and CTO of Entropic Communications, a publicly traded semiconductor company that invented the MoCA home networking solution. Prior to Entropic he developed communications ICs at Conexant and ComStream and was a researcher at JPL. He sits on various industry, advisory and academic boards, including the UCSD Jacobs School Dean’s Council of Advisors. Dr. Monk earned a M.S. from Caltech and B.S. and Ph.D. from UC San Diego, all in Electrical Engineering.

Matthew Morris is the ICEYE US Director for Defense and Civil. He has a long tenure working in the intelligence field, is a veteran of the U.S. Marine Corps, and served in civilian roles at the NATO Special Operations Headquarters, Joint Special Operations Command, and U.S. Space Command.

Ahsun Murad is the President and CEO of Optimal Satcom, which he co-founded as a spin-off from Lockheed Martin and Comsat in 2002. Over the last 18 years since its founding, Optimal Satcom has grown to support a large segment of the satellite industry with products and customized solutions that help its customers run their business – over 15 satellite operators, 20 of the largest satellite service providers, and major US Government DoD and civilian agencies use Optimal Satcom products and systems today. As a world expert in satellite communications technology, Mr. Murad advises satellite companies and governmental agencies on satellite system design, application of emerging technologies, and formulating policy decisions.

Mr. Murad has worked for over 25 years in various positions across the satellite communications industry. Immediately before founding Optimal Satcom, he held management positions at Lockheed Martin and COMSAT Laboratories. In these positions, he headed the development of products for transmission planning and satellite capacity management and was the lead system architect for a number of commercial SATCOM and MILSATCOM projects. Before joining COMSAT Laboratories, Mr. Murad worked at the NASA Center for Satellite and Hybrid Communications Networks where he was involved in research and development related to hybrid satellite-terrestrial mobile communications systems, and complex multi-satellite systems. Mr. Murad graduated from the Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi, India, with a Bachelor of Technology degree in Electrical Engineering. He holds a Master of Science degree in Electrical Engineering from the University of Maryland at College Park.

Armand Musey is President and Founder of Summit Ridge Group. He has over 15 years of equity research, investment banking, and consulting experience. Armand has completed dozens of financial valuation, strategic analysis, business development, corporate governance, and business plan creation assignments in the communications industry and has experience working on numerous financing and M&A transactions. His projects include leading Summit Ridge Group’s support of the U.S. Department of Justice’s Antitrust division’s review of the proposed T-Mobile/Sprint merger. Armand’s involvement with a wide breadth of companies has allowed him to develop a deep understanding of a range of media and telecom issues and the complex web of relationships underlying the sector’s competitive dynamics and associated regulatory issues. His legal background allows him to understand the heavily regulated telecom sector. During litigation support assignments, Armand’s legal background also allows him to quickly digest legal documents and identify industry issues likely to be most relevant to the legal team he supports. Prior to founding Summit Ridge Group, Armand led the satellite industry research teams for Banc of America Securities, and later Solomon Smith Barney where he also covered the wireless tower industry. He earned numerous honors as a research analyst including being named to the Institutional Investor “All American” team three times (2000-2002) and the Wall Street Journal “All-Star” team. He was ranked as the top satellite industry analyst by Greenwich Associates. He was previously president of a boutique investment bank specializing in the satellite, media, and telecom industries.

Francis has over 20 years of experience in the Telecoms and Technology sectors and is a founding member of Rivada Networks. Francis currently serves as Chief Operating Officer, having served in several strategic and operational roles since the company’s inception.  Francis also serves as the Rivada company Secretary and is on the Executive Leadership Team of Rivada Space Networks.  Prior to joining Rivada, Francis worked in the strategic consulting sector, most notably for Accenture and McKinsey & Co.

As leader of the firm’s Transportation and Space Group in Washington, DC, Dara Panahy’s practice involves representation of satellite and space infrastructure operators, aerospace manufacturers, launch services providers, communications, earth observation and data services companies, banks, private equity firms, hedge funds and other investors 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.

Mr. Panahy’s practice focuses on representing clients involved in the aerospace, communications and data service industries. He advises on 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.

His recent representations include:
• numerous commercial satellite and launch services procurements for clients in North America, Europe, the Middle East and Asia
• procurement and financing of next-generation, multi-billion dollar regional and global fixed and mobile satellite systems
• various satellite, aerospace and communications company mergers & acquisitions, strategic venture transactions and restructurings in North America, Europe, the Middle East and Asia
• bank and capital markets financings, and private placements, involving global, regional and national communications, broadcast, broadband, remote sensing and asset tracking companies and service providers

Mr. Panahy is a regular speaker at space and communications conferences, a visiting lecturer at the International Space University and has published articles and delivered numerous presentations on finance, commercial and regulatory aspects of the aerospace and communications industries. He has been recognized as a leading lawyer in Telecom, Broadcast and Satellite Financing in Chambers USA and The Legal 500. Mr. Panahy speaks fluent Spanish and Farsi.

Devon Papandrew leads new business efforts at Stoke Space, a startup building 100% reusable medium-lift rockets designed to fly daily. In addition to commercial and government business development, Devon is responsible for helping shape strategy, as well as delivering competitive intelligence and market insights. Previously VP of Business Operations at Spaceflight Inc., Devon developed a series of innovative tools that connected business development, mission management and the engineering teams in a manner that enabled Spaceflight to build, sell, and execute complicated rideshare missions. He holds a BS in Physics and Economics from Georgetown University where he played four years of Division I football.

Corey is Partner in Moss Adams’ Aerospace & Defense industry group and leads the firm’s Space practice. Corey is a licensed CPA and has practiced public accounting since 2009. He specializes in assurance and business advisory services and supports a wide range of companies ranging from start-ups to publicly traded companies within the Commercial Aerospace, Defense, and Space industries. Corey leverages his knowledge and expertise in the industry to provide client centric services and insights to help companies achieve their business objectives and strategic goals.

Moss Adams is an accounting and advisory firm that provides space and satellite companies with a full range of services including assurance and tax, transaction advisory services, tax credit and incentives, government contracting auditing and consulting, IT compliance, technical accounting assistance, and more! Moss Adams has over 4,000 professionals, operates out of 30 locations in the U.S., and serves more than 400 Commercial Aerospace, Defense, and Space clients across all service lines.

Maxime leads Euroconsult’s Space industry consulting practice and manages from end to end consulting assignments related to upstream activities in the satellite value chain such as access to space, manufacturing and in-orbit operations. He joined Euroconsult in 2012.

Maxime created Euroconsult’s Space Logistics Markets reports and he is in charge of Satellites to be Built & Launched in the Next Ten Years, one Euroconsult’s flagship research reports since 2019. He also led the growth of Prospects for the Small Satellite market, a trusted market analysis on the segment.

Maxime is a recognized expert and is regularly invited as a panelist or speaker in various professional events. He is also regularly interviewed by national newspaper or TV to comment the evolution of the industry.

Chris is the president of Quilty Space, 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 Spacein 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.

Ramesh Ramaswamy leads the International Division at EchoStar, including the Hughes Network Systems international services and system sales, global subsidiaries, mobile satellite system sales, and EchoStar Mobile Limited operations in Europe. Prior to his current position, Mr. Ramaswamy served as Executive Vice President and General Manager of the Hughes international division, providing satellite broadband equipment and services for network operators, enterprises and consumers outside the United States both directly and through subsidiaries in Europe, India and Brazil.

Mr. Ramaswamy started his career at Hughes as a software engineer and has held increasingly senior positions in engineering, operations, marketing and sales.

Mr. Ramaswamy holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Electrical Engineering from the University of Madras in India and a Master of Science degree in Electrical Engineering from the University of Texas, Arlington.

Alexander Reissner started his career in the space business with RUAG Space, working in Thermal Hardware and later in Mechanical Engineering on projects like Sentinel or Bepi Colombo. He then joined the Austrian Institute of Technology and became the Team Leader for Electric Propulsion Systems. In 2013, he became the head of the Department of Aerospace Engineering shortly after it was moved to FOTEC. After growing this department from 5 to 17 scientists and engineers, he realized the potential of the FEEP technology in the SmallSat market and founded ENPULSION.

His education took him from a Dipl.Ing. (MSc) in Physics at the Technical University of Vienna to the Korean Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) in South Korea where he started a PhD program in Aerospace Engineering. He then followed his supervisor to the Technical University of Dresden where he finished his PhD Program. Alexander Reissner was also appointed to be the General Chair of the International Electric Propulsion Conference (IEPC) in 2019, which took place in Vienna.

Since 2019 TESAT Chief Commercial Officer, responsible for Sales & Marketing, Product Management, Strategy and Communications for the complete product portfolio including RF- and Laser products.
2002-2019 several management positions in operational Sales & Marketing at Airbus (former EADS) in the defence and space business, as well as the international Sales, Marketing and Strategy organization at the Paris HQ.
1993-2002 several Key Account Manager and Sales Management Position in the terrestrial telecommunication business.
Master Degree in electrical engineering from the German Air Force University and Executive MBA from Northwestern University – Kellogg School of Management and WHU – Otto Beisheim School of Management.

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.

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.

Mr. Rogers is responsible for Rocket Lab’s global launch portfolios across commercial and government customers. With a career spanning space and launch segments, Mr. Rogers brings a transformative perspective to U.S. Government and Allies’ developmental and operational systems.

Before joining Rocket Lab, Mr. Rogers was Advanced Systems Manager at Ball Aerospace, leading technology development programs for Defense and Intelligence customers across spacecraft and remote sensing payloads. Mr. Rogers’ aerospace career includes leadership roles in launch vehicle design, manufacturing, and launch support of the Atlas V, Delta IV, and Vulcan-Centaur launch vehicles with United Launch Alliance, and systems engineering of the Ares launch vehicles at NASA Marshall Space Flight Center.

Mr. Rogers holds a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Colorado, a Master of Science in Mechatronics Engineering from the University of Denver, and a Master of Business Administration from Colorado State University.

Alexis Sáinz is the global co-leader of the Hogan Lovells Space and Satellite practice and a member of the Infrastructure, Energy, Resources & Projects group. She regularly represents export credit and multilateral development agencies, satellite operators, aerospace manufacturers, launch services providers, communications companies, financial institutions, project sponsors, private equity firms, hedge funds, and other industry participants on structured, project and vendor financings, in negotiating commercial and corporate transactions, and with commercially strategic regulatory matters. She also provides industry advice in connection with debt and equity offerings, joint ventures, mergers & acquisitions, and financial restructurings.

Alexis works with investors and lenders to understand the underlying issues impacting space projects and companies, at the intersection of commercial, regulatory and financing aspects of a transaction. She works with project parties to focus on key deal points and to identify appropriate industry-based risk mitigants and efficient allocation of risk in order to build consensus and drive closure. She works with companies to build a project and financing strategy from the ground up, anticipating financing issues early in the development of a new project or the growth of a company.

Alexis co-chairs the American Bar Association’s Committee on Space Law. She co-authored the chapter on “Commercial Satellite Programs” in the Routledge Handbook of Space Law. Prior to beginning her legal career in 2007, Alexis spent over 10 years working in internet-based industries, including e-commerce and media. She previously served as a consultant for the World Bank, National Geographic, and domestic non-profit organizations in connection with internet-based technology, and she was an early member of KPMG Peat Marwick’s financial service’s e-commerce consulting practice, where she focused on emerging technologies.

Alvaro Sanchez is Integrasys CEO, Marquess of Antella (Noble Title 1649), Alvaro is Software and Industrial engineer by European University and a master’s degree in business by ESIC Business School. On 2022 he was considered one of the “20 under 35” young space and satellite professionals by the SSPI.
Alvaro during the last 10 years has worked at Integrasys as Management, Sales Executive roles where he was very successful growing the sales, revenue, profit, and responsibilities within the company; and previous to that he was working at CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research as an RF Engineer, measuring timing in a Nanosecond Synchronization for measuring the Neutrino Speed. Adding to his professional repertoire, in 2021 Alvaro collaborated with IE University to achieve his lifelong goal of helping others. He was professor of “Introduction to Business Management” at the Artificial Intelligence Degree. Recently he is focused on the company expansion, with the latest opening, INTEGRASYS Ukraine.

Emmanuel is the Chief Growth Officer at EnduroSat. As such he helps shaping the future of the company by addressing specific challenges of scaling up. Emmanuel is also managing the French entity of EnduroSat in Toulouse.

Before that, Emmanuel spent most of his career in Airbus, occupying various positions in design and engineering, spacecraft flight operations, program management, business development and sales, working with commercial partners and government administrations alike. Emmanuel has worked on 4 continents, being based in France, Egypt, India, and the Bay Area in the United States.

Emmanuel is passionate about developing new space businesses. He has been focusing on business innovation and project management, and led some major sales and business development campaigns that ended up diversifying radically the product portfolios of his companies.

Mr. Schmidt is a Managing Director at KippsDeSanto & Co. and co-heads the Aerospace / Defense Group.

Prior to joining KippsDeSanto & Co., Mr. Schmidt was a Senior Vice President in Houlihan Lokey’s Washington, DC office and a member of its Aerospace·Defense·Government Services industry investment banking group, where he focused on sellside and buyside M&A advisory engagements, sourcing growth capital, and conducting strategic alternatives assessments. Prior to joining Houlihan Lokey’s ADG practice, Mr. Schmidt was a cavalry officer in the U.S. Army, serving in Europe, the Middle East, and the United States in various combat arms assignments. He also served in the Pentagon on the staff of the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, working on classified intelligence assessments and transformation efforts, and he served on the U.S. Army Staff, working on equipment modernization and weapons testing.

Mr. Schmidt earned a B.S. in engineering (aeronautical) from the United States Military Academy at West Point, an M.S. in operations research from the Naval Post Graduate School, and an M.B.A. from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. He is registered with FINRA as a General Securities Registered Representative (Series 7, 63).

Thomas Scott Jensen is the CEO of Gatehouse Satcom, a visionary company at the forefront of revolutionizing the global satcom industry through cutting-edge satcom software solutions.

With a passion for pushing the boundaries of technology, Thomas leads a dedicated team that is committed to delivering innovative, specialized software solutions that drive connectivity, efficiency, and reliability in satellite communications.

Thomas and the Gatehouse Satcom team are shaping the future of 5G NTN connectivity, enabling businesses and individuals to connect seamlessly, regardless of their location.

Pratish brings over 30 years of engineering, business development, marketing and management experience across enterprise, consumer electronics, space and aerospace / defense industries to his role as General Manager of Aitech USA. In addition to leading the American business unit, Pratish helps develop the company’s global growth initiatives as well as manage its technology offerings.

For 10 years prior to joining the company, he led global military defense companies, identifying new opportunities, leading mergers and acquisitions and building successful businesses. He holds an MBA from Pepperdine University as well as a BS in Computer Science with Minor in Electrical Engineering from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.

Dr Michal Shimoni is an awarded scientific expert in the field of hyperspectral. She has extensive experience implementing spectral imaging in a variety of applications, including defense and security, environment, precision agriculture, water quality, natural and anthropogenic hazards, and urban landuse mapping. Through her extensive knowledge of machine learning, multi-sensor imaging, 3D and physical modelling, and sensor integration into airborne and spaceborne platforms, she has become an expert in several research and development programs of the European Commission, NATO, and the European Defence Agency.
Michal is currently employed as the Director of Analytics and Applications for Kuva Space, where she coordinates the development of products and services.

Nina has more than 15 years’ experience in the satellite industry holding different roles in the company and is currently heading the Communications Team at KSAT.

Due to her in-depth knowledge of the industry as well as the end-user segments, she often represents the company at leading satellite and space industry events around the world as well as engaging with governments and stakeholders of all types.  Moreover, because she has worked extensively on both the Ground Station and Earth Observation sides of the business, she has important insights into both.

Nina is former Chairman of NOSCA Clean Oceans, an innovation cluster dedicated to promoting oil spill control technology globally for preparedness and response, as well as transferring technology and knowledge to battle unwanted effects from algae and ocean plastic.

KSAT provides environmental protection- and vessel detection services globally and has pioneered the industry with pushing the timelines for Near Real-Time (NRT) delivery of actionable information- leveraging their global ground network, especially the unique Svalbard station. For many years her focus was on developing markets for KSAT´s Maritime Monitoring services based on SAR data (Synthetic Aperture Radar).

Nina played a key role in taking services to market and worked with several of the large international oil companies (IOC´s), authorities, coastguards and other stakeholders leading the sales efforts in Latin America, South America and the Middle East markets.

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 European maritime security.

Robert W. Sproles, Ph.D. is CTO at Exolaunch, focusing on Exolaunch’s market-defining products and services at scale. With over 350 satellites launched across a global variety of launch vehicles, Exolaunch has the separation systems, mission management experience, and deep industry relationships to serve even the most complex of launch service needs.

With over two decades of experience, Dr. Sproles is a people-centric technical leader with a passion for developing new technical capabilities and leading teams to deliver. Sproles spent nearly a decade at Spire Global, where he installed a global ground station network, managed early satellite builds and test facility development and led the satellite design team. He ended his tenure serving as VP of Constellation Planning and Operations, overseeing satellite operations, launch, ground stations, and satellite communications to enable tomorrow’s constellation needs. At the time of his departure, he had overseen the launch of more than 150 satellites on over 30 missions; installation, maintenance, and operations of over 30 ground stations around the globe; and operation of the world’s largest constellation of multipurpose Earth Observation satellites.

Prior to Spire, Sproles spent a decade in large-scale emergency response, where he developed a UAV program to aid in assessing chemical disasters and pioneered remote field data collection using mobile devices. He holds a Ph.D. in applied physics from the University of Arkansas at Little Rock with a specialization in rocket engine health and performance.

Brooke is a Partner in McKinsey’s Aerospace & Defense practice and leads McKinsey’s global Space practice. She supporting a range of clients – established companies, disruptors, and investors – on space and defense engagements. Her focus is on growth strategy, innovation, and transactions related work, including topics such as go-to-market strategies, market sizing, strategic portfolio reviews, ecosystem market scans, equity story development, and market diligences.

In addition to her client engagements, Brooke has co-led McKinsey’s space knowledge partnerships, including collaborations with the Aerospace Industries Association and the World Economic Forum. She has also spoken at industry events and in the media on space industry dynamics, in addition to serving as a mentor to early-stage space companies via the Creative Destruction Lab incubator program.

Her published work covers topics such as space investment funding trends, satellite constellation performance analysis, the role of space in global priorities, and industry R&D funding analysis.

Brooke’s background prior to McKinsey is in finance and economics, and included work with a boutique financial and economic analysis firm, where she worked closely with leading economists on complex analysis of financial markets. She is a graduate of The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania and the University of Pennsylvania Law School, as well as Bucknell University.

As President of The Satellite Industry Association (SIA), Tom 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. Tom became the president of SIA in December of 2014.

Prior to joining SIA, Tom 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).

Tom 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.

Experienced innovation and engineering executive across multiple industries including wireless networking (cellular and WiFi), consumer electronics, silicon platforms, and large-scale cloud client computing. Currently CTO of Carnegie Technologies. Other roles included SVP Software Engineering at Comcast NBC Universal, VP of Engineering at Cable Vision Systems, VP Silicon Platform at Motorola PCS, CTO of Dell’s Client Solutions Group, and CTO Broadband at Texas Instruments. He was a founder and CTO of two successful startups: Wi-Fi innovation leader Aironet Wireless (acquired by Cisco) and 4G wireless innovator Raze Technologies. He started his career at the National Security Agency.

Drew Svor is a partner in Sheppard Mullin’s Washington, D.C. office and a member of the firm’s Telecom Team. He frequently represents space and satellite companies, network operators, and other innovative, new technology companies in matters before the FCC and other key regulators. Drew focuses on providing strategic advice to operators and investors navigating complex regulatory issues—with a particular focus on approvals for complex cross-border transactions and authorizations for novel use cases in proceedings involving spectrum access, space safety, and national security. Drew also advises companies situated at the crossroads of technology and foreign investment, frequently representing telecommunications and technology companies before the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States and the “Team Telecom” Executive Branch agencies.

Drew has been recognized for inclusion in Best Lawyers in America in the Communications Law category. Drew serves as a member of Law360’s Telecommunications Editorial Advisory Board and is also a board member of the Washington Space Business Roundtable. Drew also frequently speaks and writes on telecommunications and satellite-related matters at industry events, including at events hosted by the Federal Communications Bar Association and the ABA Space Symposium.

Al Tadros is the Chief Technology Officer of Redwire. In this role, he is focused on making strategic investments that support Redwire’s customers, advancing technology development and commercialization, and maintaining a nimble and collaborative technical culture. With nearly three decades of experience as an aerospace executive, Al is a thought leader in in-space servicing, assembly and manufacturing with a proven track record in maturing satellite and space systems programs for exploration, national security, and commercial innovation.

Previously, Al was Chief Growth Officer and Executive Vice President of Space Infrastructure at Redwire. In this role, he oversaw the company’s long-term growth strategy and business development activities, and was responsible for advancing development, increasing adoption, and building momentum for Redwire’s mission-enabling capabilities within the civil, defense, and commercial space sectors.

Prior to Redwire, he served as Vice President of Space Infrastructure and Civil Space at Maxar Technologies, where he led significant innovation in next-generation spacecraft design and space infrastructure, integrating robotics and in-space satellite manufacturing, servicing, and assembly capabilities. Over the course of his career at Maxar, Al contributed to 13 missions and launch campaigns, many of which deployed cutting-edge communications and remote sensing systems. Al has worked with both commercial enterprises and government agencies to develop space systems for communications, satellite servicing, remote sensing, and exploration.

An authority in in-space servicing, assembly, and manufacturing, Al holds patents in the field of attitude control systems and was responsible for early telerobotics research for the International Space Station.
He holds a bachelor’s degree in aerospace engineering and a master’s degree in mechanical engineering from Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

Dr. Xiaoming Yin is a Senior Investment Manager at Lockheed Martin Ventures. Her primary investment focus at Lockheed is in Space Technologies, Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning, Next Generation Computing, Quantum Technologies, Data Analytics, and Advanced Materials.

Prior to joining Lockheed Martin Ventures, Xiaoming was a Fintech Associate at Pivotus Ventures. At Pivotus, she developed the investment thesis and worked on product development for a next-generation digital bank. Before joining Pivotus, Xiaoming worked five years as a Quantitative Researcher in Citigroup Option Market Making trading division.

Xiaoming received M.S and Ph.D in Electrical Engineering from Northwestern University, where her work was published and presented in several international journals, as well as conferences. Xiaoming also received B.A in Economics and B.S in Electrical Engineering from Rice University.

Kate Zimmerman currently is leading HawkEye 360’s software engineering teams, managing how HawkEye 360 builds its geolocation processing pipelines and applies deep learning to maximize value from HawkEye 360’s large-scale geospatial datasets. HawkEye 360’s satellites deliver precise mapping of radio frequency (RF) emissions and provide the unique ability to identify and geolocate sources of RF from space. HawkEye 360 is leveraging a cloud-native architecture to manage complex analytic pipelines that leverage multiple machine learning models and other algorithms to provide deeper insights to our RF data.

Before joining HawkEye 360, Zimmerman worked at Amazon Web Services (AWS) leading a team of data scientists, and prior to entering industry was an active-duty officer for the United States Air Force, where she worked on RF satellites and ground systems at the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO). She is a graduate of the United States Air Force Academy and the U.S. Air Force Institute of Technology, with degrees in Computer Engineering and Electrical and Electronics Engineering.