Speakers

Dan Adams is recognized young leader in the space community. As General Manager of KSAT Inc, the US based subsidiary of the Norwegian ground station service provider, Kongsberg Satellite Services (KSAT), Dan has helped lead a revolution in commercial ground solutions at scale. Prior to assuming responsibility as regional leader for KSAT in the US, Dan served as Head of Sales for KSAT in the US market. Before KSAT, Dan worked at United Launch Alliance (ULA), where he led Civil Space and Small Satellite launch business development. Dan has an undergraduate degree in Business Management from the University of Wyoming and a Masters of Science in Systems Engineering from Colorado State University.

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

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

David Andres has over 20 years of experience in the satellite and broadcast industries performing various senior roles in sales, presales, marketing, business development and technical consultancy. He initiated his career in the UK in 1998 working for BT Media and Broadcast, Arqiva and Grass Valley. He moved to Spain in 2013 with his family and he is currently the VP of Sales and Business Development in Santander Teleport. He holds an MSc in Telecommunication Engineering and a master’s degree in Management of Alternative Energies.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Curt Blake is president of Spaceflight’s launch services group and previously served as senior vice president and general counsel. Curt has led efforts to expand Spaceflight’s global network of launch service providers while building relationships with key commercial-, civilian- and defense-related customers. Over the last several years, Curt oversaw the company’s growth from its early commercial rideshare launches on the Antares and Soyuz vehicles to become the industry’s rideshare leader and the world’s first commercial spaceline.

Curt brings more than 25 years of executive experience in high-growth and tech industries, with past experience including a range of senior executive and general counsel roles at Microsoft, Starwave, Corbis and Aldus. He’s a current and active board member of the Commercial Spaceflight Federation and the Seattle-based Pacific Science Center, as well as a contributor to numerous small-satellite conferences.

Growing up in Thailand and Ethiopia, Curt is a student of the world and still enjoys traveling for work and pleasure (but don’t ask him to take a middle seat).

Entrepreneur and investor with decades of international executive experience with Satellite, PayTV, and Consumer Electronics industries. Successfully conducted business in dozens of countries.

Clients and project implementation for companies that included: Airspan, ARSAT, AT&T, GloboSat, Glowlink, Lucent, Motorola, NahuelSat, RuralWeb , SuperCanal , Tdh SA, Telesat , among others.

Currently

Founder and President – Advantage IT International Inc. International Telecom Consulting.

Founder and Managing Partner – Clarke Belt 2.0 an NGSO Communications Satellite Project.

International Advisor – nexTenna – A low cost electronically steerable flat panel antenna technology for cell phones to football sized antennas for Satellites.

Prior employment

VP at Oak Communications-TV/Com-Hyundai , assisted transition company from Analog Cable – Satellite /PayTV hardware vendor, to focus on a digital development of an industry 1st demonstrable 1-45Msps variable consumer Satellite modem and a 256 QAM cable modem. The development resulted in the industry’s 1st deployed Satellite DVB compliant systems in both the Americas and Europe. Total of 6 new DTH Projects launched, 5 in Americas and 1 in Europe.

VP Uniden USA, Ft Worth consumer electronics company, Regional, National Accounts and International sales, marketing and business development responsibilities. Within Satellite division launched 1st successful Analog Satellite PayTV network in Brasil ( became GloboSat). Launched 1st Satellite delivered PPV utilizing AT&T Satellite and ANI system (TVN).

Regional Sales Fla – Motorola C&E – Two way communications equipment sales.

Other Activity

Former Member of Board of Directors of (SBCA) Satellite Broadcasting & Communications Association

Speaker and panelist at numerous Industry trade events, and Governmental Regulatory bodies including ITU in Geneva.

Mr. Brady has earned Bachelors of Technology degree from University of North Florida and is based in Jacksonville Florida and a US Citizen.

Loves Family, Friends, Football, Flyfishing, and Florida.

James Bruegger, the co-founder and CIO of Seraphim, is a prolific venture capitalist investor in the global Space Tech domain. James was the early VC investor in Arqit, Iceye, LeoLabs and D-Orbit and led investments in several companies that went public including Spire Global and AST & Science. Previously he worked at YFM Equity Partners and Burlington Consultants, a boutique strategy consultancy that was acquired by Deloitte & Touche. James holds a first-class degree in History from University College London.

Ian Canning joined OneWeb Technologies as Chief Operating Officer in January 2012.

Mr. Canning has more than 30 years’ experience in the global satellite communications and telecommunications industries. In this position, he is responsible for the dayto- day operations of the Company along with leading the development of the innovative solutions OneWeb Technologies brings to market.

Prior to joining OneWeb Technologies, Mr. Canning held many senior management positions for Stratos Global Corp., the leading global provider of advanced mobile and fixed-site remote communications solutions. He was responsible for Stratos’ global product and marketing portfolio, generating more than $700 million from advanced remote communications solutions, including the Stratos Advantage range of value-added services.

Positions held during his tenure at Stratos included Vice President, Global Product Marketing (2010-11), Vice President, Marketing and Product Management (2007-10), Stratos’ Managing Director, EMEA and Vice President, Sales (2004-07), and Director, EMEA and Asia (1999-2001).

In addition, Mr. Canning’s experience includes posts with other leading players in the commercial satellite communications industry. From 2001-03, Mr. Canning served as Director, Business Development EMEA and later as Director, Sales EMEA for Iridium Communications Inc. From 1995-99, Mr. Canning served as Manager, Partnership Program for Inmarsat. From 1983-99, he held senior sales positions with a variety of electronics and telecommunications companies, including Nortel Networks, Motorola Codex, and Racal Datacom.

Mr. Canning earned an MBA from London’s Greenwich School of Management.

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. 

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.

Mike Collett is Founder and Managing Partner of Promus Ventures in Chicago. Mike previously was Founder and Managing Partner of Masters Capital Nanotechnology Fund and also on the Technology Equity team with Masters Capital, a hedge fund.

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

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

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

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

After leading software research and development for over two decades, Jimi is the founder & CTO of Orbital Insight. Orbital Insight helps business and policy decision-makers understand economic and societal trends through geospatial analytics. His corporate focus is to develop artificial intelligence, machine learning, and computer vision, creating a new source of market data for diverse industries.

Before a successful $1B Monsanto acquisition, Jimi was the SVP of Science and Engineering at the Climate Corporation. Prior to that, he was CTO and Software Architect at Moon Express whose goal was putting the first commercial robot on the moon. As the Engineering Director for Google Book Search, he was in charge of
Google’s project to scan, index, and make searchable all the world’s books. As EVP of Engineering at Composite Software, he led product development around data visualization. At Nasa Ames Research Center, Jimi led Autonomy and Robotics projects and authored over 15 peer-reviewed publications, resulting in five patents. Jimi earned his Ph.D. and Master’s degrees in Computer Science from the University of Texas at Austin, and BA in Math and Computer Science from Rice University.

He has a long-term interest in photography which led him, most recently, to eastern Idaho to photograph the August total eclipse.

Gregory Ewert shapes and executes Intelsat’s global business development strategy across the company’s network, mobility, media and government business units. He is also responsible for the structuring of Intelsat’s strategic roadmap and forging partnerships that will advance the company’s technology and service platforms, particularly for emerging applications such as land mobile and the Internet of Things (IoT).

Mr. Ewert has decades of experience in the broadband and mobility sectors, with an expertise in IoT and land-mobility applications. Prior to joining Intelsat in 2019, he served as President, Connected Car & Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) for Globalstar after beginning with the company as its Vice President of Business Development. At Globalstar, he led cross-functional teams responsible for the building of the company’s Connected Car and ITS business as well as the development of long-term strategies and partnerships that would drive the growth of the business.

Prior to joining Globalstar, Mr. Ewert spent four years at Inmarsat, where he served as the President of Inmarsat’s Connected Car, ITS and Enterprise business units. In that position, he led the development and execution of the IoT and M2M business plans, product roadmaps, infrastructure investments, channel distribution strategy and partnerships.

His experience also includes nine years at Iridium Communications, where he served in a similar role focused on the development of high-bandwidth mobile services for the maritime and aero sectors and the establishment of Iridium’s M2M business unit and associated product development and distribution channels. He also held senior leadership positions at Comsat International, Bell Canada Enterprise and Sprint.

Mr. Ewert earned a Bachelor of Science Degree from Canisius College in Buffalo, New York.

 Intelsat S.A. (NYSE: I) operates the world’s first Globalized Network, delivering high-quality, cost-effective video and broadband services anywhere in the world. Intelsat’s Globalized Network combines the world’s largest satellite backbone with terrestrial infrastructure, managed services and an open, interoperable architecture to enable customers to drive revenue and reach through a new generation of network services. Thousands of organizations serving billions of people worldwide rely on Intelsat to provide ubiquitous broadband connectivity, multi-format video broadcasting, secure satellite communications and seamless mobility services. The end result is an entirely new world, one that allows us to envision the impossible, connect without boundaries and transform the ways in which we live. For more information, visit www.intelsat.com.

Mr. Slava Frayter is the Regional Vice President, North America for Gilat Satellite Networks.

Joining Gilat in November 2019, Mr. Frayter oversees Gilat’s business operations in the region. He is responsible for developing and executing the company’s growth strategy in North America, as well as cultivating opportunities across various market segments such as cellular backhaul, enterprise, mobility, and government.

Mr. Frayter has an extensive experience in satellite communications. Prior to Gilat, he had a decade-long tenure with Newtec, a Belgian-based satellite communication technology company, where he held several management and C-level positions. During his time there Slava was instrumental in developing market strategy and leading significant expansion in the regions.

Mr. Frayter holds a bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering from the Riga Technical University in Latvia and an MBA in International Business & Finance from the University of Connecticut (UCONN). He speaks English and Russian fluently.

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.

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.

With 35 years of experience in terrestrial, avionics and space-based technology, solutions and managed services, he has a track record of bringing emerging technologies to market for managed services working with global partners and service providers to introduce next generation solutions into their communications and cloud service offerings.

Dennis was recognized with a Certificate of Achievement from Boeing for his contributions and efforts on the Boeing 777 development program.

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

Mr. Gelerman is a visionary engineer, innovator and businessman with over 40 years of experience.  In 1988, Mr. Gelerman founded Advantech Wireless Inc., serving as President and CEO for the last 30 years.  Steering the company from start-up to becoming a dominant global player in the satellite ground communication business, both in radio frequency and networking.  Through organic growth and acquisition, the company became one of the largest exporters in Quebec.

In 2018, after the acquisition of the radio frequency business by Baylin, Mr. Gelerman carries on forward with the Satellite Networking business, keeping in tradition and with continued strengths as a best-in-class industry leader, leading the pace of innovation with one of the most advanced VSAT satellite network platforms.

Prior to founding the company, Mr. Gelerman held various management and design engineering positions at Nortel Networks, in the Transmission Networks Division, where he led teams that developed several multibillion dollar microwave terrestrial radio systems.

Mr. Gelerman holds a Master’s of Science degree in Electrical Engineering (MSEE), specializing in Wireless Communications and Broadcasting.

Tina is Mynaric’s Chief Commercial Officer, as well as the President of Mynaric USA. An aerospace industry veteran with 20 years’ experience in airborne and satellite communication and connectivity, Tina’s career has taken in senior roles at Yahsat, Panasonic Avionics, and The Boeing Company.

Tina has additionally helped shape connectivity strategies at Airbus and Thales, as well as at new space satellite start-ups. Tina manages all customer-facing activities, ensuring the launch of our products in the various geographical and industrial target markets.

Katherine is the Chief Executive Officer for the ManSat Group. ManSat is the world’s largest commercial provider of satellite spectrum and offers bespoke consultancy services in spectrum regulatory matters.  Before joining ManSat, Katherine worked with U.S. defense contractors to bring commercial satellite and terrestrial communication technologies to austere environments in support of military, diplomatic, first responder, and commercial initiatives.

Katherine serves as President of Space & Satellite Professionals International (SSPI) and mentors entrepreneurs through Techstars Starburst Space Accelerator.  Katherine is a graduate of the International Space University’s Executive Space program and holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Commerce from the University of Virginia.

Dr. Shay Har-Noy (Shy) is Spire’s General Manager of Aviation, responsible for leading the business that is making air travel and shipments safer, more cost effective, and more efficient.  Shay most recently served as a leader on the Uber Maps product team and as Uber Boulder site lead.  Previously, he was VP and GM of Maxar/DigitalGlobe’s Platform business — their high growth effort to get DigitalGlobe’s 15 year digital library in the cloud and available for processing.

Prior to joining DigitalGlobe, Shay was founder and CEO of Tomnod combining crowdsourcing and machine learning to create new applications for satellite imagery. Tomnod was acquired by DigitalGlobe in early 2013.  Shay started his career at ViaSat where he worked on the deployment and market positioning of satellite communication systems around the globe for government, commercial aviation, and maritime customers. Dr. Har-Noy graduated summa cum laude from Rice University and received a Ph.D in Electrical Engineering with research in image processing from UC-San Diego.

Tess invests in technology and people who believe as strongly as she does that frontier technology will develop solutions for societal problems. She is a partner at Bessemer Venture Partners fostering entrepreneurship of frontier technology, specifically the commercialization of space, drones, autonomous vehicles, and agriculture and food technology.

Tess currently serves as a board director for Phantom Auto, Spire Global, and Iris Automation, and as a board observer for Rocket Lab, DroneDeploy, Velo3D, Forever Oceans, and Crosschq. She was included in Forbes’ 30 Under 30 in Venture Capital. She speaks and is published regularly on Bloomberg, TechCrunch and other publications on space and frontier technology.

Tess earned a Bachelor’s degree in aerospace engineering from the University of Michigan and a Master’s degree in aeronautics and astronautics engineering from Stanford. She went on to work for Boeing and then SpaceX where she worked with the government on integrating its payloads with the Falcon9 rocket. She remains close to her alma mater by co-teaching a class at Stanford, serving on the board of advisors for the Stanford Technology Ventures Program, and founding the Stanford Aero/Astro Alumni Association.

Tess is passionate about space exploration and imagines a future where we all travel to space. She hopes to one day take a trip herself.

Aaron Hawkins serves as the Director for Viasat’s Real-Time Earth (RTE) Ground-Segment-as-a-Service (GSaaS) business area. He is charged with enabling the network’s global expansion, strategic business development, and creating innovative solutions to enhance the RTE customer experience.  Aaron has also led business development efforts within Viasat’s Antenna Systems full-motion antenna business area.

Aaron brings over 17 years of defense and commercial aerospace experience. He started his professional career as a national security representative within the executive branch of the United States government where he led efforts domestically and internationally to confront transnational threats through engagement with allied partners, often utilizing geospatial tools.

NASA Center of Excellence for Collaborative Innovation (CoECI) & NASA Tournament Lab (NTL) Lead of Federal Programs

Christine is the Director, Civil Programs for Stellar Solutions which is a small, woman-owned engineering consulting company that strives to satisfy customers’ critical needs while realizing employees dream jobs. She is an integral part of the NASA CoECI and NTL team working to instill challenge, crowdsourcing, and freelance talent innovation approaches at NASA and across the US Government. She leads projects with agencies external to NASA including the National Institutes of Health, National Geospatial Intelligence Agency, National Institute of Standards and Technology, Reclamation, and several others. She has supported innovation work totaling approximately $100M. You hear about some of her experiences on the Cool Collaborations podcasts #21-22.

Her experience in human spaceflight includes performing engineering integration on the Orion Crew Module (Artemis) supporting Lockheed Martin Space Systems. Christine previously held roles in the Intelligence Community including System Acquisition Manager, and Contracting Officer’s Technical Representative (COTR) for the Department of Defense, System Engineering Technical Advisor (SETA) supporting the Federal Government, and project manager and technology solutions consultant for Silicon Graphics Inc. (SGI). She has considerable knowledge of signal recognition and geolocation systems. Christine was a project manager for Schlumberger working in state government and utility projects. She has worked in all aspects of system acquisition, development and delivery. Christine is certified in Agile Leadership Essentials, Agile Leadership for Teams, is a NASA 1X Innovator, Project Management Professional (PMP), and an Agile Product owner. She is certified in the Defense Acquisition Workforce Improvement Act (DAWIA) System Planning, Analysis, Research, Development, and Engineering, and is a Level I Professional Continuity Practitioner with the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and is a Baldrige Performance Excellence examiner. She has received awards including the NASA Silver Achievement Medal, National Institute of Child Health and Human Development Innovation Award, Orion Sustained Technical Achievement Recognitions (STAR), NASA Johnson Space Center Certificate of Appreciation, and the NASA Silver Group Achievement Award.

Christine received her B.S. degree in Electrical Engineering from The Pennsylvania State University and her M.S. degree in Engineering Administration from George Washington University.

Former COO at Kayser-Threde and former Director of Program Development at EUMETSAT, the European Organization for the Exploitation of Meteorological Satellites, Clemens has an in-depth knowledge of system engineering and program management for the development of complex operational space-based infrastructures.

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

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

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

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

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

Adam is an Affiliate Principal Advisor at Euroconsult with specialization in Earth observation (EO) and disruptive technologies. In over 20 years in the industry, Adam has advised a wide range of clients including government organizations, investors and commercial actors along the EO and space value chain. He has managed over 200 consulting and market intelligence projects focusing on EO markets and industry, satellite imaging and operations, and government space programs. He Initiated Euroconsult’s research and consulting activity in the EO sector including the Satellite-Based Earth Observation: Market Prospects report; now in its 15th edition (2022), the first annual research report focused on evolutions within the EO sector. He has held various positions in the company, including director of the company’s Space Practice and Managing Director of Euroconsult North America. Previously he worked for the European Space Agency within the Directorate of Earth Observation on developing new applications utilizing EO data, and the UK National Remote Sensing Center (now Airbus).

As Founder, Chairman and CEO, Chris leads the overall company strategy and direction for Astra. Chris previously served as CTO of NASA and founded OpenStack, an open-source cloud computing infrastructure software project that is one of the three most active open source projects in the world.

At NASA, he partnered with Google and Microsoft and helped create Google Moon and Mars (online maps that allow you to explore the planets) and worked with the White House to develop the cloud computing strategy for the government. Chris advises and serves as a board member at various tech companies.

Dr. Lyon (Brad) King is the Chief Executive Officer and Co-Founder of Orbion Space Technology;  he is also the Richard and Elizabeth Henes Professor of Space Systems Engineering at Michigan Technological University.  Dr. King is a recognized expert in the field of spacecraft technology and he has served on numerous NASA, Department of Defense, Intelligence Community, and NSF advisory panels, and has published more than 100 papers on space propulsion systems.  Dr. King earned his Ph.D. from the University of Michigan.

Dr. Laurie Leshin, director of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory since May 2022, is a distinguished geochemist and space scientist with extensive leadership experience in academia and government, including senior NASA positions.

Leshin was president of Worcester Polytechnic Institute from 2014 to 2022 and previously served as Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute School of Science dean. At NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center from 2005 to 2008, she served as director of science, then deputy director for science and technology, leading strategy, planning, and implementation of more than 50 Earth and space flight projects. In 2010, Leshin became deputy associate administrator of the Exploration Systems Mission Directorate at NASA Headquarters, overseeing future human spaceflight.

Her numerous honors include NASA’s Outstanding Leadership Medal and Distinguished Public Service Medal, and the Meteoritical Society’s Nier Prize for outstanding research by a scientist under the age of 35. The International Astronomical Union named asteroid 4922 Leshin to honor her planetary science contributions. Leshin advised President George W. Bush on space policy, and Barack Obama appointed her to the Smithsonian Institution’s National Air and Space Museum advisory board. Leshin holds a bachelor’s degree in chemistry from Arizona State University, and master’s and doctoral degrees in geochemistry from Caltech.

Leshin is the first woman to serve as JPL director, a role that also includes serving as vice president of Caltech, which manages JPL for NASA. She will also continue as co-investigator for two instruments on NASA’s Mars Curiosity rover.

Rich Leshner has been working in the DC space policy community for nearly two decades, with experience in the non-profit, government, and industry sectors. Rich’s NASA experience had him working on international projects for collaboration in exploration, managing a $150 million portfolio of innovative small business research, and working in the Administrator’s office. He worked for two years at the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, where he supported the development of the 2010 National Space Policy as well as championed reforms to more fully integrate commercial space capabilities into national programs. Since 2014 Rich has been at Planet, the small satellite Earth observation data and analytics company based in California. Rich was previously Planet’s Vice President for Regulatory and Government Affairs, and is now the Executive Vice President of Planet Federal – Planet’s subsidiary for work with the U.S. government. Rich has a MS in Aeronautics and Astronautics from Stanford, and a PhD in Public Policy and Public Administration from George Washington. He lives in DC with his wife and daughter.

Janna is a senior attorney and technology strategist focused on national defense, intelligence, and commercial space sectors. She has unique, cross-sector expertise in guiding programs and technology development for U.S. government and commercial initiatives, including engagements directed to launch services, satellite communications, unmanned vehicles, C5ISR sensors and network architectures, cloud computing, and cybersecurity.

Prior to joining BAE Systems, Janna was with Northrop Grumman, where she facilitated innovation and strategic collaborations for their Missions Systems Sector to advance defense and intelligence capabilities. Prior to that, Janna worked for Facebook, where she supported Facebook’s mission to enable global internet connectivity. She helped to frame industry partnerships to catalyze delivery of space-based and high-altitude global connectivity solutions. Before Facebook, Janna was in private legal practice, where she served as legal counsel to U.S. and international clients in the aerospace and defense, commercial space, and telecommunications industries.

Janna is a volunteer with the Space Foundation, served on the Defense Innovation Board, Space Advisory Committee, and is a registered patent attorney. She frequently speaks about the rapidly evolving laws and policies affecting the defense, intelligence, and commercial space industries. Janna is committed to diversity in the space industry, and is a strong advocate for new space professionals.

Robert Lightfoot is the executive vice president of Lockheed Martin Space and an officer of Lockheed Martin Corporation. In this capacity, he is responsible for leading the Space business, which is more than $11 billion enterprise employing nearly 22,000 people and provides advanced technology systems for national security, civil and commercial customers. The Space portfolio includes integrated systems for satellites, human spaceflight, strategic and missile defense, satellite command and control, sensor and data processing including predicative analytics and big data applications, space observatories and interplanetary robotic spacecraft, and a range of sensing, communications, and exploration payloads.

Previously, Mr. Lightfoot served as vice president of Operations for Lockheed Martin Space responsible for production operations, including assembly, test and launch operations (ATLO), supply chain, quality, program management and all facilities, logistics, and security services. He also served as vice president of Strategy and Business Development within Lockheed Martin Space. In this capacity, he was responsible for growing the Space business with a comprehensive strategy to develop new markets and while maintaining the current portfolio. Lightfoot also led strategic planning, advanced technology concepts and new business acquisition efforts for each of the five lines of business. Prior to joining Lockheed Martin in 2019, he served as the president of LSINC Corporation.

He spent 29 years at NASA, where he served as associate administrator, the agency’s highest-ranking civil service position. He held other critical leadership roles to support space operations, exploration and science missions including director of the Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, and director of Propulsion Test at Stennis Space Center in Mississippi. He also focused on strategies for key missions including the Space Shuttle’s return to flight following the Columbia tragedy, then initial transition and retirement efforts for shuttle infrastructure.

He was inducted into the State of Alabama Engineering Hall of Fame in 2010. He also received numerous awards during his NASA career, including the Presidential Rank Award for Distinguished Executives, the highest honor for federal government work, in 2006, 2010 and 2016.

Mr. Lightfoot received a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering from the University of Alabama where he is a Distinguished Departmental Fellow for the Department of Mechanical Engineering, a College of Engineering fellow, and previously served on the Mechanical Engineering Advisory Board.

Mitja currently holds the position of CEO of STN, based in its headquarters in Slovenia, Europe.

As one of the company’s founders in 2004, Mitja has more than 17 years of experience in the industry and has been key to its commercial success. With strategic planning and forward-thinking, the company expanded rapidly and is recognised globally today. Offering a spectrum of services in satellite, broadcast, telemetry tracking & equipment co-location, STN has become a trusted partner for hundreds of respected clients and their projects worldwide.

Mitja is currently on the Directors board of the WTA (World Teleport Association), regularly participating in their Washington events and collaborating with the team on many industry research reports.

Before 2004 and his current profession, Mitja held senior positions in different industries and resided in both Switzerland and London during his career.

Mitja holds a degree in Economics and fluently speaks English, German, and Slovene.

Brian Manning is co-founder and CEO of Xona Space Systems, a company focused on enabling safer operation of modern devices by providing high-performance satellite navigation and timing services from small satellites in Low-Earth Orbit. He holds an MBA from the London Business School and an MSc in Aeronautics and Astronautics from Stanford University. Brian is a former SpaceX engineer coming from an entrepreneurial background of small family businesses, and co-founded Xona in 2019 with an extraordinary team of GNSS and satellite experts who met at Stanford University.

As a Ground Enterprise Architect at The Aerospace Corporation, Steve is currently engaged with NOAA’s Office of Systems Architecture & Advance Planning within NOAA/NESDIS where he is supports efforts to define the future NESDIS Ground Enterprise and establish the long-term vision and implementation strategy to evolve its satellite ground capabilities towards multi-mission enterprise solutions leveraging commercial service offerings

Steve has been focused on complex/scientific data information systems in support of environmental observation science and ground system operations for over 30 years. During that time he has supported the design of satellite ground systems for the European Space Agency’s European Remote Sensing satellites, NASA’s Earth Observing System, USGS Landsat program, and most recently NOAA’s Geostationary, Polar, and Space Weather satellite programs.

As part of NASA’s Geosciences Interoperability Office (GIO), Steve promoted the use of open community-based standards for IT systems interoperability throughout NASA and between Federal partner agencies, facilitating the adoption of Earth science research results across Federal partner agency decision-support systems.

Steve is a graduate of the University of Leeds in the UK with a bachelor’s degree in Physics with Astrophysics, and a Ph.D. in Infrared Astronomy. He is a FEAC Certified Enterprise Architect and an alumnus of the International Space University.

Dr. Martin joined Astroscale U.S. in August 2019 as SVP of Operations and Programs. She brings many years of space technology management, operations, and engineering expertise to the Astroscale team.

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 joined 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.

Ryan McKinney is General Manager of Satellogic North America. Prior to this, he was Head of Strategic Initiatives at Descartes Labs. Descartes Labs is a 2014 spin-off from Los Alamos National Labs focused on provisioning multiple global remote sensing modes of data on an automated planetary-scale platform providing multi-modal applications using AI/ML models and algorithms for rapidly advanced analytics.

Ryan possesses over 20 years of experience in sales and business development, including a diverse background with start-up, turnaround, and high-growth environments. He has successfully driven growth through direct-to-consumer sales and partnership building with OEMs, VARs, Global Remote Sensing Producers (space, air, and terrestrial,) and system integrators. His multi-industry experience includes private and public sectors. Prior to Descartes Labs, he was with Cyence Inc. (acquired by Guidewire Software) focused on cyber risk modeling. Prior to Cyence, Ryan worked with other enterprise IT hardware and software companies supporting both US Government and large enterprise business.

Jarrod is the Director of Rideshare Sales at SpaceX responsible for sales and commercial business development efforts for SpaceX’s small satellite rideshare customers. In this role, he focuses on deepening the relationship between SpaceX and the worldwide small satellite community. SpaceX’s SmallSat Rideshare Program provides small satellite operators with competitive pricing, increased flight opportunities, flexibility, turnkey service and—most importantly—a ride to space on the world’s most advanced and proven launch vehicles.

Jarrod holds a bachelor’s degree in Aerospace Engineering from the University of Michigan, a master’s degree in Aerospace Engineering from Georgia Tech, and a master’s degree in Business Administration from the University of Southern California.

Prior to co-founding ThinKom (www.thinkom.com), William (Bill) Milroy held the position of Senior Engineering Fellow within Raytheon’s Electronic Systems (ES) Segment.  During his tenure, he managed and lead the RF antenna design, development, and production of a wide range of Phased-Array/ESA implementations for both radar and communication applications. He co-founded ThinKom Solutions in 2000, where he currently holds the titles of Chairman and CTO.  Located in Hawthorne, California, ThinKom Solutions is focused on the design and development of innovative antenna access solutions and products for the Broadband Wireless Communication market.

Mr. Milroy is a graduate of UCLA, earning BSEE, MSEE, and Engineer (Ph.D. course, field, and examination requirements) degrees and is the inventor or co-inventor of 40+ awarded and pending US patents in the fields of 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.)

Katherine Monson is the Chief Operating Officer for Hedron. Hedron is an aerospace company that is building a hybrid RF and Optical relay network. This dynamic communications infrastructure enables the growing space industry to provide low-latency data to commercial and government end users here on earth.

Prior to joining Hedron, Katherine served as the CEO of KSAT Inc. for Kongsberg Satellite Services (KSAT). KSAT is a world-leading provider of ground station services for satellites, rocket launchers, and experimental spacecraft, and supported over 96% of commercial satellites launched into NGSO during Katherine’s tenure.

Katherine is an avid hiker, and enjoys learning new languages and exploring new places. She lives in Boulder County, Colorado.

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

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

Dr. Rudranarayan (Rudra) Mukherjee is the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory’s Lead for In Space Servicing, Assembly, and Manufacturing (ISAM). He is also the founder of the Space SMART Think Tank. For more than a decade, he has been Principal Investigator for various robotics research and technology projects for NASA, NOAA, DARPA, and other DoD and civil entities. His leadership experience includes NASA’s Strategic Capability Leadership Team for Rendezvous and Capture, Topic Area Manager for Strategic Technology Transfer and Research grants, roles in JPL’s Office of Strategic Planning and JPL’s Chief Technologist’s Office for Astrophysics, and ASME Technical Committee on Multibody Systems and Nonlinear Dynamics. He holds a PhD in mechanical engineering and is author of more than fifty peer reviewed articles. When he is not advancing space technology, you can find him seeking inspiration from uncommon beauty in common places.

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 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.

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

Primary Focus & Experience

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

Pelton joins Iridium from Pryon, an AI company focused on augmented intelligence for the enterprise, where he served as Chief Product Officer.  In this role he was responsible for all aspects of the company’s augmented intelligence product portfolio, leading the engineering team and product development efforts.  Prior to this, Pelton was Vice President of Collaboration and Devices at Avaya, where he managed a portfolio of voice and video endpoints, soft clients and collaboration services.  Before Avaya, he served as CTO and Vice President for Infrastructure Engineering at Polycom and led Cisco’s corporate Technology Center where he worked on the Internet Routing in Space (IRIS) program consisting of developing a router for use in satellites and transitioning of satellite ground networks to multiservice IP networks.

Brian Pemberton leads corporate sales and marketing activities for Omnispace, which is redefining mobile connectivity for the 21st century. In this role, he is responsible for establishing the global distribution strategy, developing the product marketing strategy, and building the brand for the world’s first seamless, 5G-based ‘one global network.’

Brian brings more than 20 years of experience in global wireless, terrestrial and satellite communications to his role. Most recently as the Vice President and General Manager of Iridium Communications Inc.’s Aviation and Maritime businesses, Brian was responsible for ensuring the success of two key global growth initiatives for the company. He led the company’s award-winning broadband initiative, Iridium Certus, which provided unprecedented mobile satellite services for aviation, maritime and terrestrial customers. He also led the development and launch of the Iridium GMDSS enhanced safety service which offered reliable coverage at sea. Prior to that, Brian held senior marketing and engineering roles at commercial and military aviation leader ARINC, which is now part of Collins Aerospace.

Brian holds a master’s degree in business from the Johns Hopkins Carey Business School and a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering from Virginia Tech University.

Mr. Peterson is a Business Development Director for the Swedish Space Corporation (SSC). He has more than 20 years of industry experience supporting ESA, NASA, military, and commercial space missions. SSC is a global provider of advanced space services. Offering the world’s most flexible, high performance, global ground station network, SSC provides reliable access to spacecraft from single satellites to constellations, from LEO to Lunar and beyond. Our partners trust SSC to manage all necessary ground network services. With more than 50 years of experience, SSC is the first company in the world to offer communication services to lunar missions with regular lunar contacts for more than a decade.

Anton Quiroz Anton has over 16 years of experience in the semiconductor industry and over a decade in the aerospace and defense industry. As the CEO of Apogee Semiconductor, he led the successful release of a family of innovative radiation hardened products in plastic packaging and continues to expand the space plastic integrated circuit roadmap. At Apogee Semiconductor, he and his team have pioneered the utilization of reliable commercial processes to reduce the cost of rad-hard components from silicon design and manufacturing, to package assembly and testing.

In addition, Anton has held various management positions at Cobham Advanced Electronics Solutions and at Texas Instruments.

Atif Qureshi is a Director of New Business Capture for Robotics and Space Operations at MDA. In this role, he seeks opportunities to apply advanced robotics technology to provide mission solutions for the space economy. Prior to this, he played a similar role at Maxar where he created a number of technology development projects in collaboration with NASA and the DoD as well as supported the development of the DARPA RSGS in-space servicing mission and the NASA SPIDER in-space assembly payload. Before that, he spent many years as an engineer at NASA.

At Goddard Space Flight Center, he worked to develop and test new technologies for in-space servicing and assembly, including the OSAM-1 mission and the various Robotic Refueling Mission (RRM) missions to the ISS. At Johnson Space Center, he was a robotics flight controller, where he planned and executed ISS and Space Shuttle robotic operations, including ISS repair missions, the capture of visiting vehicles like HTV and Dragon, and the Hubble Servicing Mission 4.

Chief Technology Officer at Boeing Satellite Systems International, leads technical development and deployment of critical engineering capabilities across the company’s commercial satellite portfolio. Throughout her 20-year career at Boeing, Radpour has led teams through design, verification, launch, and on-orbit activities with a portfolio of products ranging from the classic 376 to higher-power 601 and 702, serving customers across Asia, Europe, South America, and North America. Radpour is a graduate from the University of Southern California, with both a Master’s and Bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering.

Ryan Reid is President of Boeing Commercial Satellite Systems International, Inc. (BSSI), which oversees the strategy, integration and execution of Boeing’s commercial satellite business. Reid is responsible for general management of all Boeing commercial satellite, ground system and services contracts. Reid also leads the team that is designing and building the next generation of spacecraft in the Boeing satellite factory.

Prior to his current position, Reid was the director of the O3b mPOWER satellite program where he led the Boeing team responsible for the development and execution of an advanced 11-satellite constellation for SES.

Previously Reid was the director of Space System Architectures, where he led the engineering team responsible for cybersecurity implementation in space applications, architecture modeling, simulation, analysis, system development and deployment. Since joining Boeing in 1999 as a payload systems engineer supporting commercial satellite programs, Reid has held engineering, management and program leadership roles across both commercial and government businesses.

Reid received his bachelor of science degree in electrical engineering from University of California Riverside and a master of science degree in electrical engineering from the University of Southern California.

Mr. Ronai is a seasoned telecom executive with over 20 years’ experience in telecom industry leadership roles. Prior to joining NOVELSAT, Mr. Ronai headed marketing and business development at Gilat Satellite Networks. Earlier, he served as head of microwave business development at Broadcom following the acquisition of Provigent where he served as VP Marketing. Mr. Ronai also served as CMO at Ceragon Networks and VP Marketing at ECI Telecom. Mr. Ronai holds an MBA and a B.Sc. degree in Electrical and Electronics Engineering from Tel Aviv University.

Lorenzo is a Technology Fellow and Chief Data Architect with Deloitte. With over 28 years of experience, Lorenzo delivers large complex BI/DW, EDM, Analytic, and data modernization programs and solutions to GPS market clients like the Bureau of Engraving and Printing, Ginnie Mae, US Air Force, US Space Force, and US Army. Lorenzo advises clients integrating emerging technologies and next generation architectures to drive greater mission value from enterprise data.

Lorenzo is an AI & Data Engineering and CDO Services campaign leader, as well as a Data Management / Architecture subject matter expert (SME), serving as strategic advisor to numerous Government CDOs / CDAOs.   Lorenzo also leads internal development efforts creating accelerators, approaches, strategies, and offerings that help clients optimize access, management, quality, sharing and utilization of their enterprise data via next generation architectures that integrate cloud, big data, data management and advanced analytics.

As an experienced aerospace executive and thought leader, Mr. Rush oversees Redwire’s business portfolio, long-term planning, and strategic investments. Rush’s experience championing space manufacturing technology development and adoption through key public-private partnerships with NASA and DoD agencies—including eight successful spaceflight missions on the International Space Station and implementation of in-space manufacturing and assembly capabilities poised to transform spacecraft design— is positioning Redwire to expand its space infrastructure technology portfolio.

Rush is a member of the NASA Advisory Council and serves as Chairman of its Regulatory and Policy Committee. Rush also serves on the Physics Advisory Group at the University of North Florida.

Previously, Rush served as president and CEO of Made In Space, leading its growth and eventual acquisition by Redwire. Prior to his time at Made In Space, Rush was a partner in a boutique patent law firm.

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.

Experienced CEO with a large professional background in the Telecommunications Industry, Jaume Sanpera is a classic in technological entrepreneurship in Spain.

Founder of various companies mainly telecommunications, creating a business group that was listed on the stock market and with a wide international presence, such as Eurona, (1st telecom satellite operator in Europe that was listed in 2010), Ambientum , (leading the enviromental sector in Spain), Cidec a praxis technology, TechnoTrends, Festuc etc.

Jaume is backed by almost 30 years of experience in Telecommunications and recognised  achievements in this sector.

Its consolidation as an entrepreneur and CEO expert in the Telecommunications Industry makes him a very present figure in the media, forums and other information and broadcasting platforms.

Mr. Schmidt is a Managing Director at KippsDeSanto & Co., recently acquired by Capital One’s commercial bank, and co-heads the Aerospace & Defense Group, where he focuses on sellside and buyside M&A advisory engagements and sourcing growth capital.  Key areas of experience includes space, defense electronics, and armaments.  Prior to joining KippsDeSanto & Co., Mr. Schmidt worked at a competing investment bank where he helped create a leading Aerospace·Defense·Government Services industry banking group.  Notable space-related clients and assignments include multiple General Dynamics space businesses, BEI Precision, Orbital Sciences, GeoEye, and other space-component businesses.

Leading up to his entry into investment banking, Mr. Schmidt served in various combat arms assignments in the US Army across the globe and in various Joint and Army staffs working on classified intelligence assessments, equipment modernization, and weapons testing.  Mr. Schmidt earned a B.S. in (aeronautical) engineering 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).

Rob Schwarz is Momentus’ Chief Technology Officer and is responsible for the vision and technical direction of the full line of Momentus products He has more than 20 years of experience working in space systems engineering and product development. He thrives on finding innovative solutions to the complex challenges of spaceflight.

Before Momentus, Rob was the CTO of Space Systems Loral and Maxar satellites. There he supported the development, manufacturing, launch, and operations of over a dozen spacecraft before moving into management roles. Rob also served as Executive Director of Systems Engineering at SSL where he was responsible for creating a new Product Management organization and providing leadership to several new product concepts including in-space servicing, software-defined spacecraft, commercial space stations in geosynchronous orbit.

With 20 years of in-house general counsel experience, Randy Segal brings an individual perspective to every matter she handles, both as your outside counsel and as someone who has walked in your shoes. With a focus on satellite, wireless, drone, and technology transactions, Randy provides commercially practical solutions in industries where technological change is ever-present. Randy’s practice often involves multi-level chess games, where every move needs to be considered from a multitude of angles to be successful.

As a result, Randy’s practice is reflected in three segments. First, as co-leader of the Space and Satellite practice, Randy has handled many types of transactions, from day-to-day matters to the most complex international transactions for industry operators, investors, and technology providers. She has been involved in taking companies public, advising on acquisitions, divestitures, and complex cross-border joint ventures, as well as large satellite system development, deployments and funding.

Second, as an advisor to technology investors and their portfolio companies, Randy has advised on transactions focused on big data analytics, IT, wireless systems, spectrum licenses, environmental analytics, wireless proximity analysis, drone technology, terrestrial positioning, and other innovative technologies.

Third, Randy provides “strand of pearls” advice to global clients, working seamlessly with our international offices to develop familiar, comfortable and “right-sized” solutions. Randy’s extensive cross-border experience has resulted in an extensive tool-kit of resolutions for the most complex of legal regimes. Randy’s transactional and advisory experience is both deep and broad, working throughout North and South America, Europe, Asia and the Middle East and on the most complex of international programs and legal issues.

Vagan Shakhgildian was named President of Comtech Satellite Networks Technologies Corp. (a Canadian Corporation) on January 3, 2022. Previously he held various senior management positions at Comtech, including CEO of Memotec. Vagan first joined Comtech in March 2021, as part of the acquisition of Canada-based UHP Networks. As the CEO of UHP Networks, he led the company from a virtual start-up to a market leader in high-performance VSAT systems.

Prior to that Dr. Shakhgildian was the President and COO of Advantech Wireless, Head of Research at Adaptive Broadband and held senior R&D positions with Motorola and Signal Processors. Dr. Shakhgildian holds advanced degrees in mathematics and electronic engineering, as well as an MBA from the London Business School.

Prior to founding TrustPoint, Patrick Shannon was a Vice President at Astro Digital where he was a 5x satellite program manager and responsible for strategy, business development, and program execution. Before that, Mr. Shannon was Vice President of Business Development at SpaceQuest Ltd, where he drove company strategy and oversaw all contract and internal R&D program execution. He got his start as a satellite systems engineer at Orbital Sciences later transferring into their Corporate Development and M&A group. He has spent the last 12 years studying and developing commercial service solutions for historically DoD/IC operated systems and holds degrees from MIT and Stanford University.

Rolf Skatteboe is president and CEO of Kongsberg Satellite Services AS (KSAT).

Rolf was one of the founders of KSAT and has been CEO since the start 2002. He worked with at the Norwegian Space Agency for 10 years. He was responsible for the development of the Svalbard ground station

Rolf is MSc, Medical Physics and Biomedical engineering, Norwegian Institute of Technology, 1984 and MSc, GeoPhysics, University of Saskatchewan, Canada, 1994. He has management courses at Norwegian University of Business and Economics. He holds various board positions.

KSAT is a commercial Norwegian company, providing ground station and earth observation services primarily from polar orbiting satellites. KSAT is located with its headquarters in Tromsø, Norway. The company owns and operates ground stations located at 15 different locations world wide. KSAT is operating more than 200 antenna installations at 24 locations and is supporting approximately 150 different satellite systems more than 50 000 times pr month.

Nina has more than 10 years of experience in the satellite industry, having held various positions while at KSAT. With a background from publishing and content marketing, she is currently responsible for the company´s communication across the business units.
Representing KSAT, Nina travels to countries around the world speaking on panels and seminars, engaging government and commercial stakeholders.

In her previous role as International Sales Manager, Nina’s main focus was Maritime Monitoring services based on SAR data (Synthetic Aperture Radar). KSAT provides oil spill monitoring and vessel detection services globally and has pioneered the industry with pushing the timelines for Near-Real-Time (NRT) delivery of actionable information- leveraging the global ground network, especially the unique Svalbard station.

Nina has had the opportunity to work with several of the most significant international oil companies (IOC´s), government authorities, coastguards and other stakeholders with key focus areas in Latin America, South America, and the Middle East.

Her portfolio also included the European Maritime Safety Agency (EMSA), an Agency providing technical assistance and support to the European Commission and Member States on maritime safety, pollution by ships, and maritime security.

Nina is former Chairman of the Norwegian Oil Spill Control Association, (NOSCA), a non- profit association dedicated to promoting products and services within global oil spill preparedness and response, representing more than 30 Norwegian companies.

She lives in the Arctic Capital of Tromsø in Norway- an ideal place for Polar Ground Stations and cross-country skiing.

Sita Sonty is Partner and Associate Director in the Aerospace And Defense and Public Sector practices of The Boston Consulting Group (BCG). She held senior roles as a former U.S. diplomat and aerospace executive.

Sita made history as the Head of Human Spaceflight Sales at SpaceX, where she executed the first private spaceflight sales on the Crew Dragon on a Flyer and to the International Space Station. Sita also guided global market strategy for Starlink’s expansion Lower Earth Orbit Free as the next generation telecommunications market offering.

As Vice President for International Business with the Sierra Nevada Corporation (SNC), Sita directed Business Review Teams on international defense and space sales pursuits, including capture management, risk mitigation, legal, tax, finance, supply chain, engineering, and product design.

A Director for National Security, Sita led Raytheon’s corporate engagement with U.S. Executive Branch agencies and ensured the corporation’s compliance with legal, regulatory, and policy frameworks for multiple governments.

Sita amassed over seventeen years of service as a career U.S. diplomat. Sita led the International Security Advisory Board bringing A&D companies’ strategic recommendations to Secretary Kerry; she also served as Chief of Staff for Legislative Affairs and Senior Advisor for Defense Sales to South and Central Asia.  Her overseas posts include Croatia, Libya, Syria, Coalition Provisional Authority in Iraq (2004), and Egypt.

She graduated with distinction from Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies; studied at Jussieu in Paris (1998) and the Centre des Etudes Maghrebienne en Tunisie (CEMAT) (2001); and graduated magna cum laude from Amherst College in Political Science and Economics.  Her native tongue is Telugu; she also speaks Hindi, French, Arabic, Croatian, and Urdu.  Sita serves as Executive Board Member for Women in Aerospace, The Johns Hopkins University President’s Alumni Council, and the Washington Leadership Program.

Tyghe Speidel is the Co-founder and CTO at Lynk. Tyghe is the inventor of the company’s core IP. Prior to Lynk, Tyghe was the Principal Spacecraft Systems Engineer at NexGen Space, where he was responsible for system design and technology application on NexGen Space technical projects. Tyghe also worked as a Management Consultant for Accenture developing supply chain analytics and simulation capabilities for the DoD. While at Accenture, Tyghe founded and was the global lead for Accenture’s commercial space community of practice, which he created to develop a portfolio of projects and clients for the firm in the commercial space sector. Tyghe gained experience in orbital mechanics, satellite navigation and control, and spacecraft systems design as a spacecraft engineer at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, working on terrestrial satellites and a Mars rover. He holds a BS and M. Eng in Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering from Cornell University.

Dr. John Springmann is VP of Space at Tomorrow.io, where he is responsible for the development of its space program and radar products. He completed his Ph.D. in Aerospace Engineering at the University of Michigan and has played key roles in the development of space weather CubeSats, commercial remote sensing constellations, and general-purpose spacecraft.

Previously, he was Chief Engineer at BlackSky Global (2014-2018), where he was responsible for the spacecraft development, operations, and overall constellation architecture. As an independent consultant, he was instrumental in the development of the Photon satellite at Rocket Lab (2018-2020). His expertise is in space mission design, spacecraft systems engineering, and technical program execution.

Chris Stott serves as the Executive Chairman of ManSat. Chris cofounded ManSat in 1998 with his father, Bryan, and over the following 20 years grew the company as its President and CEO to become the largest commercial provider of satellite spectrum in the global space industry. Chris also serves as the Chair of IceSat, ManSat’s subsidiary company in Iceland.

In 2000 Chris left his position as Director of International Commercialization and Sales with Lockheed Martin Space Operations to become ManSat’s President. Prior to his work with Lockheed Martin, Chris was an executive with the McDonnell Douglas and the Boeing Company working in International Business Development on the Delta Launch Vehicle program.

Mr. Stottler founded Stottler Henke in 1988 and is a lead AI researcher there. He combines a very strong applied research record in artificial intelligence with practical experience in rapid and efficient knowledge engineering and AI system design and fielding. He was or is the Project Manager on many Stottler Henke’s space application scheduling systems, including satellite and ground resource scheduling and aerospace manufacturing scheduling. He also leads Stottler Henke’s automatic intelligent fault detection, diagnosis, reconfiguration, recovery, and replanning systems.

Sven Strohband is a Partner and Managing Director at Khosla Ventures, where he led the firm’s early investments in Berkshire Grey, GitLab, Hermeus and Rocket Lab, among others. An engineer at heart, Sven is passionate about technologies that forge new industries and accelerate novel user experiences.

Previously, he led technical diligence for six years at Mohr Davidow Ventures for the infrastructure IT and sustainability practices. He also worked across the portfolio to recruit technical talent, run product-market fit experiments and develop fundraising strategies.

Prior to that, Sven led technical projects at the Electronics Research Lab of Volkswagen, ranging from LED front lighting and electrochromic glass to driver-assistance systems and robotics. He was also lead engineer and project lead for the Stanford racing team’s autonomous car, Stanley, which won the 2005 DARPA Grand Challenge. Now featured at the Smithsonian Museum, Stanley was  the foundation for Google’s self-driving car efforts. He also co-founded and was CEO of AI company Metamind, which is now a key component of Salesforce’s AI product Einstein.  

He holds a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering from Purdue University and a Ph.D. in mechanics and computation from Stanford University. Sven sits on the boards of numerous companies including Berkshire Grey, Rocket Lab, Velo3D, Waabi and ThoughtSpot. 

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

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

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

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.

Steve Tunnicliffe joined ST Engineering iDirect in September 2007 from British Telecom where he supported the Global Services organization in the sale of satellite-based connectivity solutions from BT Media & Broadcast. He entered the satellite industry in 2000 working for Loral (now Telesat) heading up Business Development for EMEA. Prior to joining the satellite industry, he spent 6 years working for the leading Middle East broadcaster, MBC, in marketing, sponsorship and airtime sales where he eventually ran the Marketing Department.

Steve has a BA (Hons) in Arabic and Middle East Studies from Durham University and an MBA from Durham Business School. He is currently a Durham Leadership Academy Mentor and has been an MBA Mentor for the past 7 years. He has spent much of his life travelling, living, and working in the Middle East and East Africa.

Dr. Marco Villa serves as Chief Revenue Officer for Terran Orbital Corporation, an industry-leading small-satellite products and services provider. Dr. Villa’s established expertise plays an integral role in managing daily operations, strategic efforts and the acquisition and execution of satellite opportunities for civil, defense, and commercial organizations worldwide. Prior to his position at Terran Orbital, Dr. Villa served as the Director of Mission Operations at SpaceX, where he managed Dragon spacecraft missions. Dr. Villa also advises on corporate strategy and business execution in high technology industries. With a doctoral degree in aerospace engineering and a master’s in engineering management, Dr. Marco Villa continues to make his mark in the aerospace industry domestically and internationally.

Mr. Waters joined XipLink in 2007 to help spin-off from the former parent company, Xiphos Technologies of Montreal, Quebec (Canada), and to establish XipLink as a significant market player for WAN optimization in satellite and wireless communications.  Prior to XipLink, he was Senior Vice President of Global Sales at iDirect Technologies, Inc. from 2001 to 2007, where he was a key contributor to the senior management team that resurrected a struggling dot-com business to a leader in IP based satellite VSAT systems.   iDirect was sold to Singapore Technologies in 2005 for $165M USD.

Prior to iDirect Mr. Waters was VP of Worldwide Sales for CoManage Corporation, a software developer of OSS Systems for ISP’s, CLEC’s and Alternative Telco’s.  Other career accomplishments include FORE Systems as Director of the Mid-Atlantic Region for this leader in ATM switch technologies, where his team consistently obtained top-performing company awards.  During his tenure at FORE, Mr. Waters led the company into the next generation Service Provider market by closing the first large-scale ATM networks at internetMCI, UUNET and America Online along with early wins in the ATM enterprise market at accounts such as Dupont, Comsat, Virginia Tech University, Lockheed-Martin and Johns Hopkins University.   Prior to FORE Systems, Mr. Waters held regional sales positions at Network Systems Corporation from 1984 to 1994 and Wang Computer from 1980 to 1984.  Mr. Waters attended Michigan State University, where he was named Captain of the MSU Ski Team in 1979 and graduated with a B.S. in Accounting in 1980.

Jeff Watts is the General Manager (GM) of Blue Canyon Technologies (BCT), where he is responsible for day-to-day operations, profit & loss, program execution, strategic planning, and administrative functions at the company.

BCT, a wholly owned subsidiary of Raytheon Intelligence and Space (RI&S), is an industry-leading provider of small satellite components, spacecraft, and mission operations support for government and commercial customers across the globe.

Prior to his current role at BCT, Watts was the Director of the Constellation Management and Control (CMC) program area within R&IS.  Under his leadership, CMC provided integrated mission management and command & control ground system solutions that continuously optimize and orchestrate mission operations across heterogeneous constellations of space vehicles to achieve increased mission utility, agility, and timeliness for customers.

Since joining R&IS in 2014, Watts has served in diverse leadership roles spanning business operations, engineering, and program management.

Prior to 2014, Watts worked at The Boeing Company where he served in engineering and leadership roles on U.S. Government aerospace programs, including the Shuttle Transportation System (Space Shuttle) and Special Programs within Boeing’s Space and Intelligence Systems (S&IS) division.

Watts holds a B.S. degree in Aerospace Engineering from Embry-Riddle University and a M.S. degree in System Architecture and Engineering from the University of Southern California

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