Matthew Isakowitz Fellowship Program

Bretton (Brett) Alexander is Chief Revenue Officer at Firefly Aerospace.  Prior to this, Brett served as vice president for Government Sales for Blue Origin. Brett previously served as a senior policy analyst for space issues in the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy where he served both Presidents Bush and Clinton. From December 2006 to May 2011, he served as President of the Commercial Spaceflight Federation, the industry association of businesses and organizations working to make commercial human spaceflight a reality. From 2008 to 2011, he was a consultant in the space industry, providing strategy and business development advice to launch service providers and vehicle developers, as well as assessment of international space activities to NASA.

From 2007 to 2008, Brett served as the executive director for Space and the X PRIZE Cup at the X PRIZE Foundation, responsible for overseeing all aspects of the Google Lunar X Prize, the Lunar Lander Challenge, and the X PRIZE Cup.

Brett holds Master and Bachelor of Science degrees in aerospace engineering from the University of Virginia in Charlottesville, Virginia.

Bulent Altan is founding partner for Alpine Space Ventures.  Previously he was CEO of Mynaric, a laser communications company for space applications. He began his career as one of the first employees at the then newly-established SpaceX in 2004, having graduated from Stanford University, and the Technical University of Munich. At SpaceX, he was essential in growing the company’s avionics department from seven people to over 200 and was, as Vice-President, responsible for the avionics and control of the Falcon rockets and Dragon capsules. Bulent was also Vice-President of satellite mission assurance for the Starlink mega-constellation. 

Between 2014 to 2016 Bulent was a partner and mentor at the Munich area industrial start-up accelerator TechFounders and served as Head of Digital Transformation and Innovation at Airbus Defence and Space.

Eric C. Anderson is an entrepreneur with a history of introducing innovative products and services into new markets.  He is most well-known for pioneering the development of the space tourism industry as the Co-Founder and Chairman of Space Adventures. Eric has sold over half a billion dollars in spaceflight missions, including all of the self-funded private citizens to have visited the International Space Station (including Dennis Tito, Anousheh Ansari, Charles Simonyi, Ph.D. and Richard Garriott).

His philanthropic interests lie in education and global security.  In that vein, he serves as co-founder of the Planetary Security Foundation and as a trustee of the XPrize Foundation, the Koshka Foundation, and Seattle’s Museum of Flight. Eric is also a member of the Young Presidents’ Organization and was selected by the World Economic Forum as a Young Global Leader. He graduated magna cum laude from the University of Virginia with degrees in aerospace and software engineering.

Dr. Anousheh Ansari is an Astronaut, a Hi-tech serial entrepreneur and a global Change Maker. She is currently the CEO of the XPRIZE Foundation, the world’s leader in designing and operating large incentive competitions to solve humanity’s grand challenges. Ansari sponsored the $10M Ansari XPRIZE, igniting a new era for commercial spaceflight. Prior, Ansari served as CEO of Prodea Systems, a leading Internet of Things technology firm. She captured international headlines by embarking upon an 11-day space expedition, becoming the first female private space explorer, first astronaut of Iranian descent, first Muslim woman in space, and fourth private explorer to visit space. Ansari co-founded The Billion Dollar Fund for Women, with a goal of investing $1 billion in women-founded companies by 2020. Her memoir, My Dream of Stars, aims to share her life story as inspiration for young women around the world.

Natalya Bailey is an experienced leader and investor in deep tech companies. She founded Accion Systems, an ion engine company, leading it for ten years before it was acquired. Most recently, she ran strategy at Bloom Energy, a company making fuel cells and electrolyzers. Natalya is currently a fractional COO/co-founder for some friends' new companies, letting them focus on product and customers while she stands up legal, IT, finance, and HR and helps them craft their early go-to-market and business model strategies. She’s passionate about the people side of deep tech companies and building organizations that will be successful and good places to work for the long term. For the past four years she has also held a partner role at XFactor Ventures, where she has focused on deep tech and hardware companies founded by women, and she helps a few other funds with technical diligence in new areas like additive manufacturing, space, and quantum computing.

Sirisha Bandla currently works as the Vice President of Government Affairs and Research Operations for Virgin Galactic. In this role, Sirisha oversees legislative, regulatory, and government business priorities for the company, as well as work with research customers to fly science and technology experiments on VG’s SpaceShip class of vehicles. In July 2022, Sirisha launched to space as a part of the Unity22 mission, Virgin Galactic’s first fully crewed spaceflight. Previously, Sirisha served as the Associate Director for the Commercial Spaceflight Federation, an industry association of commercial spaceflight companies. At CSF, Sirisha worked on various policies with the aim to promote and enable the then emerging commercial space industry. Sirisha has a Bachelors of Science degree in aeronautical/astronautical engineering from Purdue and holds a Masters of Business Administration from the George Washington University. Sirisha serves as Vice Chair of the Board on the Future Space Leaders Foundation and is a part of the Purdue Engineering Advisory Council.

Charles F. Bolden Jr. [Charlie] was born in Columbia, South Carolina, and received his B.S. degree in electrical science from the U.S. Naval Academy in 1968, and earned his M.S. degree in systems management from the University of Southern California in 1977. He accepted a commission as a second lieutenant in the U.S. Marine Corps following graduation from the Naval Academy. Charlie flew more than 100 combat missions into North Vietnam, South Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia in the A-6A Intruder while stationed in Nam Phong, Thailand. After returning to the United States, he served in a variety of positions in the Marine Corps. While working at the Naval Air Test Center, he tested a variety of ground attack aircraft until his selection as an astronaut candidate in 1980. As an astronaut, he logged more than 680 hours during four Space Shuttle mission. Charlie left NASA and returned to the U.S. Marine Corps in 1997. In 2003, Charlie retired from the Marine Corps. In 2009, President Barack Obama appointed Charlie as NASA administrator, making him the second astronaut and the first African American to serve in this position. Charlie's military decorations include the Defense Superior Service Medal and the Distinguished Flying Cross. NASA awarded him the Exceptional Service Medal. In May of 2006, he was inducted into the U.S. Astronaut Hall of Fame.

Edward L. Bolton is a retired United States Air Force Major General. He also served as a senior executive at the Federal Aviation Administration, where he was the Assistant Administrator responsible for leading the modernization of the National Airspace System, and as Senior Vice President of the Defense Systems Group at Aerospace Corporation.

During his military career, Ed served as commander of the 45th Space Wing at Patrick Air Force Base, commander of the 30th Space Wing Operations Group at Vandenberg Air Force Base and commander of the 30th Spacelift Range Operations Squadron, also at Vandenberg Air Force Base. He completed assignments as the principal deputy to the chief operating office of the National Reconnaissance Office and as director of Air Force space and cyber operations at the Pentagon. While in acquisition, he led the Satellite and Launch Systems and the Space Launch and Range Systems program offices at the Space and Missile Systems Center at Los Angeles Air Force Base. He was also on the White House Staff during two administrations as a director on the National Security Council. He retired from active duty after serving as the Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Air Force for Budget. 

Ed earned a B.S.in electrical engineering from the University of New Mexico, and two M.S. degrees: the first in systems management from the University of Southern California, and the second in national security strategy from the National War College.

Click here to watch Ed’s interview on our series Navigating NewSpace. 

Dr. Bobby Braun is head of space exploration at APL.  Previously he led planetary exploration at NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory.

From 2017 through 2019, he served as dean of the College of Engineering and Applied Science at the University of Colorado Boulder during a time of tremendous growth in the educational, research and entrepreneurial programs of the college. Bobby was formerly the David and Andrew Lewis Professor of Space Technology at the Georgia Institute of Technology. Prior to joining the Georgia Tech faculty in 2003, he worked at the NASA Langley Research Center for 16 years. In 2010 and 2011, he served as the NASA chief technologist, creating and leading the initial implementation of a spectrum of NASA technology programs designed to bolster the nation’s capabilities in space.

Bobby is a member of the National Academy of Engineering, vice chair of the National Academies Space Studies Board, an American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics fellow, and the author or co-author of over 300 technical publications. He received a bachelor’s degree in aerospace engineering from Penn State, a master’s degree in astronautics from the George Washington University, and a doctoral degree in aeronautics and astronautics from Stanford University.

Tim Buzza brings more than 30 years of influence in space exploration to his work advising Relativity Space’s management team, helping structure and scale the fast-growing company for success. He guides the team on rocket design, testing, and launch site development, and has helped secure right of entry at Cape Canaveral. Before advising Relativity, he served as vice president of launch for Virgin Orbit, where he led program development for LauncherOne. As VP of launch and test at SpaceX, he helped grow the company from 10 to 3,000 employees; established launch sites on both coasts; and oversaw development of Falcon1, the first private liquid-fueled rocket to reach orbit. Tim holds an MS in mechanical engineering from Penn State. He volunteers as a mentor to local engineering students and holds multiple patents.

Click here to watch Tim’s interview on our series Navigating NewSpace. 

Mark Caylor is corporate vice president and president of Northrop Grumman’s Mission Systems sector, a leading global provider of advanced solutions for defense and intelligence customers. Mark oversees the development and production of large-scale, mission-critical systems and complex hardware and software products within the U.S. and internationally. He most recently served as corporate vice president and president, Enterprise Services, and chief strategy officer where he led the company’s Enterprise Shared Services organization, the corporate strategy, and mergers and acquisitions. He has also served as corporate vice president and treasurer for Northrop Grumman. 

Mark joined Northrop Grumman in 2002 as the director of Pricing and Cost Estimating at the company’s Aerospace Systems sector, where he also worked as deputy to the vice president of Technology Development.

 Mark earned a bachelor’s degree in aeronautical and astronautical engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, a master’s degree in aeronautics and astronautics from the California Institute of Technology, and a master’s degree in business administration from UCLA’s Anderson School of Management.

Dr. Cady Coleman is a former NASA Astronaut and retired U.S. Air Force Colonel with more than 180 days in space, accumulated during two space shuttle missions and a six-month expedition to the International Space Station (ISS) as the Lead Robotics and Lead Science officer. 

Cady served in a variety of roles within the Astronaut Office, including Chief of Robotics, and lead astronaut for integration of supply ships from NASA’s commercial partners. Before retiring from NASA, she led open-innovation and public-private partnership efforts for NASA’s Chief Technologist.

A popular public speaker and media consultant, she also serves as a research affiliate to MIT’s Media Lab. She is a regular contributor to ABC News and co-hosted Arizona State University’s Mission: Interplanetary podcast. From space, she coached Sandra Bullock for her role in “Gravity.” As an amateur flute player, she is known for her “Space Duet” with Ian Anderson of Jethro Tull and her work with the acclaimed Irish band, The Chieftains.

Cady serves on several boards, including the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History, Greenfield Community College and the ISS National Lab Education Advisory Group. She and her family were recently featured in two documentaries, PBS’s The Longest Goodbye, and The Wonderful: Stories from the Space Station. Her book, Sharing Space: An Astronaut’s Guide to Mission, Wonder, and Making Change, about her NASA experiences and the insights she gained as an astronaut, is due out this summer.

Frank Culbertson recently retired as President of the Space Systems Group at Northrop Grumman Innovation Systems. Frank was responsible for the execution, business development and financial performance of the company's human spaceflight, science, commercial communications, and national security satellite activities, as well as technical services to various government customers. These include some of Northrop Grumman's largest and most important programs such as NASA's Commercial Resupply Services (CRS) initiatives to the International Space Station (ISS) as well as various national security-related programs. Prior to joining Northrop, Mr. Culbertson was a Senior Vice President at Science Applications International Corporation (SAIC).

Frank was originally selected as a NASA astronaut candidate in 1984. For the next 18 years, he served in a variety of critical spaceflight and management roles for NASA's Space Shuttle and Space Station programs, including three launches aboard the Space Shuttle and command of the International Space Station. These flights included piloting STS-38 Atlantis in 1990, commanding STS-51 Discovery in 1993, and launching on STS-105 Endeavour to the ISS in 2001, plus returning aboard STS-108 Discovery after four months on the ISS. During Expedition 3 to the ISS, which began in August 2001 and returned to Earth in December 2001, Frank and his two Russian crewmates lived and worked in space for 129 days. In total, he has logged over 144 days in space and over five hours of extra-vehicular activity (space walk) experience.

While at NASA, Frank also served as Program Manager of the Shuttle-Mir Program for three years and Deputy Program Manager for Operations for the ISS program. Frank is a graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy at Annapolis, MD.

Robert Curbeam is the SVP of Space Capture at Maxar Technologies. Previously, he worked at Northrop Grumman as the Vice President of Business Development for the Space Systems Group, at Raytheon as the Mission Area Director for Civil Space and International Business, and at ARES Corporation in the Aerospace and Defense Division.

Prior, Robert was an astronaut with NASA. He held a wide range of positions with NASA as director of Safety, Reliability, and Quality Assurance for the Constellation program, deputy director of Flight Crew Operations; and Spacecraft Communicator (CAPCOM) branch chief. Robert was second-in-command for safety across NASA, as the deputy associate administrator of Safety and Mission Assurance at NASA headquarters. During his tenure with NASA, he served on three space shuttle missions and seven spacewalks.

Robert retired from the U.S. Navy after 23 years of service. He is a graduate of the Navy Fighter Weapons School (TOPGUN) and Navy Test Pilot School; was lead project manager officer for the F-14 Air-to-Ground Weapons Separation Flight Test Program; and logged more than 3,000 flight hours in 25 different aircraft and spacecraft.

Robert holds an advanced degree in aeronautical and Astronautical engineering and a Master of Science degree in aeronautical engineering from the Naval Post Graduate School in Monterey, Calif. He received his bachelor’s degree with merit in aerospace engineering from the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Md.

Karina Drees is the President of the Commercial Spaceflight Federation (CSF), where she is responsible for all aspects of the CSF operation including working directly with its 85+ members representing every aspect of the commercial space sector.

From 2012 to 2020, Karina served as CEO and General Manager of Mojave Air & Space Port (MASP) and held several other senior leadership positions at the company. Prior to MASP, Karina held senior positions in strategy, business development and operations for growing technology companies. She was most recently a member of the strategy and positioning team at SRA International. Before joining SRA, Karina held leadership positions at two investor-backed high tech startup companies in the Washington DC area.

Karina is currently the vice chair of the Federal Aviation Administration’s Commercial Space Transportation Advisory Committee (COMSTAC) and has been an active member of the CSF Board of Directors for five years, including serving as treasurer from 2017 to 2020. She has a BS from Arizona State University and an MBA from the MIT Sloan School of Management. She also completed International Space University’s (ISU) Summer Session Program in Beijing, China.

Charles Elachi was appointed Director of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in May, 2001. Charles received his B.Sc. (’68) in physics from University of Grenoble, France; the Dipl. Ing. (’68) in engineering from the Polytechnic Institute, Grenoble, and both a M.Sc. (’69) and Ph.D. (’71) degree in electrical sciences from the California Institute of Technology (Caltech). He also has a M.Sc. (‘83) degree in geology from the University of California, Los Angeles, and an MBA (’79) from the University of Southern California.

Charles joined JPL in 1970 and is professor of electrical engineering and planetary science at Caltech. Prior to becoming Director, he was JPL’s Director for Space and Earth Science Programs (beginning in 1982) where he was responsible for the development of numerous flight missions and instruments for Earth observation, planetary exploration and astrophysics. Charles was also principal investigator on six spaceborne radar instruments that mapped Earth, Venus and Titan.

Debra Facktor is Head of U.S. Space Systems for Airbus U.S. Space & Defense, Inc., reporting to the Chairman and President of Airbus U.S. She joined the company in March 2020 and is responsible for managing the two businesses within U.S. Space Systems: National Security Space and Space Exploration. She also serves on the board of the Airbus OneWeb Satellites Joint Venture.

For more than 30 years, Debra has guided new and established companies through unprecedented industry change. Her industry experience extends from government program support and international relations, to executive leadership in start-ups, academia, and in a public company. Through January 2020, Debra was Vice President and General Manager of Strategic Operations for Ball Aerospace. Debra represented Ball Aerospace as its senior executive in the Washington, DC area, where she led the company’s Washington Operations, Marketing & Communications, and Strategic Development portfolios. Prior to joining Ball in January 2013, Debra served as the president of DFL Space LLC, an aerospace consulting firm focused on developing innovative business strategies for its clients.

Her extensive business experience includes serving as president and an owner of AirLaunch LLC, a small business that won funding from the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) and the U.S. Air Force to develop an operationally responsive small launch vehicle. She served as vice president of Business Development and Strategic Planning for Kistler Aerospace Corporation, which raised over $600M in private capital to develop a reusable launch vehicle for commercial markets and laid the groundwork for commercial resupply of the International Space Station. She is founding president of the WIA Foundation, former chair of the board of WIA, former board member of the American Astronautical Society (AAS), and former appointed member of the FAA’s Commercial Space Transportation Advisory Committee (COMSTAC).

She holds both a B.S. and M.S. in Aerospace Engineering from the University of Michigan and is an alumna of the ISU summer session program in Space Policy and Law.

The Honorable Lori Garver is the former Deputy Administrator of NASA. Prior to her Senate confirmation, she headed the NASA transition team and was the lead space policy advisor to Senator Clinton and Senator Obama during the 2008 presidential campaign. She is currently the CEO of Earthrise Alliance—a philanthropic initiative established to fully utilize Earth science data to combat climate change. Her other senior positions have included General Manager of the Air Line Pilots Association, Vice President of Avascent and Executive Director of the National Space Society. She is the founder of Capitol Space and AstroMom—which led her to Star City where she trained and received her medical certification for a spaceflight on a Soyuz mission to the International Space Station.  

Lori serves on the Board of Directors of Maxar Technologies (NYSE: MAXR) and the Board of Advisors of Students for the Exploration and Development of Space (SEDS). She has served as an appointed special government employee and member of the NASA Advisory Council and the FAA’s Commercial Space Transportation Advisory Council and is a former President of Women in Aerospace and the American Astronautical Society. She is also a co-founder of the Brooke Owens Fellowship Program. Lori earned a bachelor’s degree in Political Science and Economics from Colorado College and a master’s degree in Science, Technology and Public Policy from George Washington University.

John Gedmark is the co-founder and CEO of Astranis, whose mission is to help bring the four billion people online who are without internet by building small, low-cost telecommunications satellites. John was previously the founding Executive Director of the Commercial Spaceflight Federation and Director of Flight Operations at the X PRIZE Foundation. He earned a bachelor's degree in Aerospace Engineering from Purdue University and a master's degree in Aerospace Engineering from Stanford University.

Kacy Gerst is the Chief of Commercial Strategy for the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) where she focuses on preparing breakthrough technologies for successful transition from lab to market. She runs an internal business accelerator and advises DARPA leadership on industry partnerships. Prior to DARPA Kacy spent time at ARPA-E, Fruanhofer labs, and Sikorsky Aircraft as a systems engineer for Blackhawk and Naval Hawk helicopters. Kacy has a dual business and engineering master’s degree from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and a systems engineering undergraduate degree from Virginia Tech.

The Honorable Daniel S. Goldin is an entrepreneurial and scientific visionary, with the distinction of serving as NASA’s longest-tenured Administrator from April 1992-November 2001 reporting to three U.S. Presidents. He is credited with the re-emergence of NASA after the Cold War, as he diplomatically fostered east-west international cooperation and oversaw the redesign, construction, and initial operation of the $120B International Space Station, as well as guided the initial concept of the James Webb Space Telescope to assure it would see back to the beginnings of creation. As the founder of Cold Canyon, an innovation advisory company, and as a senior advisor to Cerberus Capital Management, his career spans space exploration and science, aeronautics, air traffic management, national security systems, semiconductors, advanced sensors, hypersonic, communications, and artificial intelligence. With his accumulated experience, Mr. Goldin is a highly sought-after leader in advancing American technologies and businesses. 

Frederick D. Gregory is a former NASA astronaut, former NASA Deputy Administrator, and retired U.S. Air Force Colonel. He logged 455 hours in space as pilot for the Orbiter Challenger in 1985, as spacecraft commander aboard Discovery in 1989, and as spacecraft commander aboard Atlantis in 1991. He retired as a Colonel in the United States Air Force after logging 7,000 hours in more than 50 types of aircraft, including 550 combat missions in Vietnam. His 30-year Air Force career included serving as a helicopter pilot and as a fighter pilot.

 Fred served as NASA's deputy administrator from 2002 to 2005 and was the first African-American to hold this executive position. He was responsible for overseeing the International Space Station, Space Shuttle, and many other critical operations.  Prior, he served as the Associate Administrator for Space Flight and the Associate Administrator in the Office of Safety and Mission Assurance. He holds a Bachelor of Science degree from the United States Air Force Academy and a Master's degree in Information Systems from George Washington University. 

Dr. John M. Grunsfeld is founder of Endless Frontier Associates. He previously served as Associate Administrator for the Science Mission Directorate at NASA Headquarters in Washington, D.C. Prior to that, he served as the Deputy Director of the Space Telescope Science Institute in Baltimore, managing the science program for the Hubble Space Telescope and the forthcoming James Webb Space Telescope. John’s background includes research in high energy astrophysics, cosmic ray physics and in the emerging field of exoplanet studies with specific interest in future astronomical instrumentation.

John joined NASA's Astronaut Office in 1992. He is veteran of five space shuttle flights, and visited Hubble three times during these missions. He also performed eight spacewalks to service and upgrade the observatory. He logged more than 58 days in space on his shuttle missions, including 58 hours and 30 minutes of spacewalk time.

John graduated from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1980 with a bachelor's degree in physics. He subsequently earned a master's degree and, in 1988, a doctorate in physics from the University of Chicago using a cosmic ray experiment on space shuttle Challenger for his doctoral thesis.

Phillip (Phil) is a Managing Director in Morgan Stanley’s Investment Banking Division. He joined Morgan Stanley in 2002 as an Analyst in the firm’s Melbourne, Australia, office. In 2004, he relocated to the New York office where he joined the Global Industrials Group. Phil specializes in the coverage of Aerospace & Defense, General Industrial and Security companies and has worked on a variety of M&A and capital markets transactions for clients across these industries. Notable space-related transactions include the announced sale of Ball Aerospace to BAE Systems, the IPO of MDA, the SPAC merger of Rocket Lab with Vector Acquisition Corp, Harris Corporation’s acquisition of Exelis and its merger-of-equals with L3 Technologies, and debt and equity financings for several commercial and government-customer focused space companies including Virgin Galactic, Maxar and Aerojet Rocketdyne. Phil currently resides in Brooklyn, NY, with his wife Laura and their four daughters.

Jessica Jensen is SpaceX’s Vice President of Customer Operations and Integration. As the key interface for all SpaceX customer missions (commercial, military, and civil), she ensures seamless integration and program management of satellite, rideshare, Dragon crew and cargo missions, and future human spaceflight missions. She also manages an incredible team of Space Operations Engineers who operate each Dragon spacecraft, train our NASA and civilian astronauts, and who are developing the mission operations approach for Starship’s lunar missions. Jessica joined SpaceX in 2006, leading the vibration and acoustics team. She also served as the SpaceX program manager for NASA’s Cargo Resupply Services (CRS) contract for 7 years and 17 successful Dragon flights, shepherding the team from development through frequent operational missions. Jessica also worked reliability initiatives on the Starship program for 2 years. Jessica started her career as a vibration and acoustics engineer at The Aerospace Corporation. She holds a Bachelor of Science in Aerospace Engineering from Virginia Tech and was awarded NASA’s Exceptional Public Service Medal for Leadership in 2015.

Dan Hastings is the Cecil and Ida Green Education Professor of Aeronautics and Astronautics, and head of the Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics. He is also the School of Engineering’s Associate Dean for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion.  He first joined the MIT community as a graduate student in 1976, after receiving his bachelor’s degree from Oxford University. He received his MS (1978) and PhD (1980) degrees in aeronautics and astronautics from MIT. He joined the MIT faculty in 1985.  Previously, he served as MIT’s dean of undergraduate education from 2006 to 2013, and in 2014, was appointed to a five-year term as the director of SMART, the Singapore-MIT Alliance for Research and Technology. He was appointed head of the Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics in 2018.  Dan has had an active career of service outside of MIT, and from 1997 to 1999, served as chief scientist of the Air Force. In this role, he provided assessments on a wide range of scientific and technical issues affecting the Air Force mission. He was also chair of the Air Force Scientific Advisory Board from 2002-2005.

Jarrett Jones is the Senior Vice President of the New Glenn Heavy-Lift Orbital Launch Vehicle for Blue Origin. He is responsible for the overall strategy, business plan, design, development, build and execution of the New Glenn launch vehicle and business unit. Jarrett has over 25 years of experience in the aerospace and defense industry.   

Jarrett came to Blue Origin from Rolls-Royce, where he most recently served as the Executive Vice President for Customer Business, Government Relations and Sales in North, Central and South America. Prior to that role, he was the Vice President of the LiftSystem Program, leading the team responsible for the design, development, production and sustainment of the propulsion system which provides the vertical lift capability to the F-35B Lightning II STOVL variant. Prior to Rolls-Royce, Jarrett’s experience includes more than eight years with Honeywell International, Defense and Space Electronic Systems, in addition to extensive experience in manufacturing, quality and process improvement.  

Jarrett holds a B.S. in Industrial Management/Industrial Engineering and a M.B.A. from Purdue University. He is also a certified PMI PMP, Six Sigma Black Belt, and Demand Flow Technology expert.

As prior Vice President of the Build and Flight Reliability Team at SpaceX, Hans Koenigsmann led the company’s quality engineering and process development teams.  He has more than 25 years of experience designing, developing, and building complex avionics and guidance, navigation, and control (GNC) systems for launch vehicles and satellites. At SpaceX since the company’s inception in 2002, he built up the avionics, software, and GNC departments and developed the launch readiness process used during each launch campaign. He developed the company’s risk mitigation process and initiated the risk database, establishing a similar process for system-level changes to the vehicle and ground systems. He was the chief avionics architect of the Falcon 1 and early Falcon 9 efforts, and launch chief engineer for the last three Falcon 1 missions and most of the early Falcon 9 flights.  

Hans retired from SpaceX in 2021 and has since been working on the supervisory board of OHB-SE, as well as advisor to Vast and Stoke Space.

Hans has a PhD in aerospace engineering and production from the University of Bremen and an MS in aerospace engineering from the Technical University of Berlin. 

Bhavya Lal is the former Associate Administrator for technology, policy, and strategy, responsible for providing evidence-driven advice to NASA leadership on internal and external policy and budgetary issues, strategic planning, and technology investments. Previously, she was the acting chief of staff at NASA and directed the agency’s transition under the administration of President Biden. She was also the acting chief technologist of NASA, the first woman to hold the position in the history of NASA. Before arriving at NASA, she was a member of the Presidential Transition Agency Review Teams for NASA and the Department of Defense. For 15 years prior to that, Dr. Lal led strategy, technology assessment, and policy studies and analyses at the Institute for Defense Analyses (IDA) Science and Technology Policy Institute (STPI) for government sponsors. Her analyses have been at the center of almost all White House space-relevant policies for the last decade, and for her contributions, she was nominated and selected to be a Member “Academician” of the International Academy of Astronautics. Dr. Lal holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees in nuclear engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), a second master’s from MIT’s Technology and Policy Program, and a Ph.D. in public policy and public administration from George Washington University.

Joe Landon serves as Vice President of Advanced Programs Development for the Commercial Civil Space line of business for Lockheed Martin Space. In this role, he leads an organization accountable for new business growth, strategy development and enterprise collaboration for human and robotic deep space exploration, communication satellite solutions, weather and remote sensing market segments.

In his previous role as Chief Financial Officer of Planetary Resources, Inc., Joe built the company’s finance team, and under his leadership, the company secured debt and equity financing from some of the world’s leading private and institutional investors before the company was acquired in 2018. Joe also co-founded and served as Chairman of the Board of Space Angels, the leading source of capital for space startups. Joe began his career at Boeing Satellite Systems developing commercial communications satellites as a systems engineer and project manager.

Joe served on the World Economic Forum’s Global Future Council on the Future of Space Technologies and is an active member of the forum’s Expert Network. In 2016, he was honored as one of Seattle’s 40 Under 40 by the Puget Sound Business Journal.

Joe graduated from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University with a Bachelor of Science in Engineering Physics and currently serves on the university’s Industry Advisory Council. He earned a Master of Science degree in Aerospace Engineering from the University of Southern California and an MBA from Harvard Business School.

Whitney Lohmeyer, Chief Technologist of the FCC’s Space Bureau, is passionate about enabling affordable Internet so that individuals can empower themselves, and communities can connect schools and healthcare centers. She is on leave from her role as faculty at Olin College and as a Research Affiliate at MIT. At Olin, she directs the Olin Satellite + Spectrum Technology & Policy (OSSTP) Group, managing undergraduates who collaboratively contribute to the field of satellite communications, and she also works closely with industry to advise on end-to-end system design, and spectrum strategy. Whitney was the first engineer hired at OneWeb, where she worked with Qualcomm on the communications architecture, and contributed to policy reform at the FCC and ITU. Since that time, she has advised more than thirty companies on technical, financial, and regulatory matters and has testified before Congress on space and spectrum related issues. Prior to joining the OneWeb team, she worked at Google, and spent time at Inmarsat and NASA. She is currently on the board of FASESA, a non-profit bringing space exploration to the African classroom, as well as the board of NC State’s MAE Department. Whitney received her Ph.D. and M.S. in AeroAstro from MIT in 2015 and 2013, respectively, and her B.S. in Aerospace Engineering from NC State University in 2011. 

Dr. Sandra H. “Sandy” Magnus is employed by MITRE acting in the capacity of a “temporary government employee” as the Chief Engineer for the Traffic Coordination System for Space in the Office of Space Commerce in the Department of Commerce. She is also affiliated with the Georgia Institute of Technology as part time of Professor of the Practice. Dr. Magnus retired from federal service as the Deputy Director of Engineering in the Office of the Secretary of Defense for the Undersecretary of Research and Engineering. In that role she served as the “Chief Engineer” for the DoD establishing engineering policy, propagating best practices, and working to connect the engineering community across the department. Prior to joining the DoD she served as the Executive Director of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA), the world’s largest technical society dedicated to the global aerospace profession. Selected to the NASA Astronaut Corps in April 1996, Dr. Magnus flew in space on the STS-112 shuttle mission in 2002, and on the final shuttle flight, STS-135, in 2011. In addition, she flew to the International Space Station on STS-126 in November 2008, served as flight engineer and science officer on Expedition 18, and returned home on STS-119 after four and a half months on board. Following her assignment on Station, she served at NASA Headquarters in the Exploration Systems Mission Directorate. Her last duty at NASA, after STS-135, was as the deputy chief of the Astronaut Office. Before joining NASA, Dr. Magnus worked for McDonnell Douglas Aircraft Company from 1986 to 1991, as a stealth engineer. While at McDonnell Douglas, she worked on internal research and development and on the Navy’s A-12 Attack Aircraft program, studying the effectiveness of radar signature reduction techniques.

Click here to watch Sandy’s interview on our series Navigating NewSpace. 

Jeffrey Manber is the Co-Founder and first employee of Nanoracks. He served as the CEO from 2009 until 2021 where he broke barriers for access to space, oversaw the growth of numerous commercial International Space Station programs, and oversaw the development of the first and only commercial Airlock on the space station. Most recently he has been appointed as President of International at Voyager Space. Jeffrey also continues to serve as Chairman of the Board for Nanoracks.

As the only American to ever work officially for the Russian space program, his prior experience includes serving as Managing Director of Energia USA, the American arm of RSC Energia. In 1991, he carried over the first commercial contract between NASA and the Soviet Union to use Soyuz as an escape vehicle for Space Station Freedom.

He also co-developed the first fund dedicated to commercial space on Wall Street (Shearson Lehman) and has served as an adviser to numerous companies and governments. The author of three books, his second (Selling Peace) chronicles his time working with the Russian space program. In 2012, Jeffrey was awarded the NASA Exceptional Public Achievement Medal.

Barry Matsumori was previously the COO of Impulse Space and CEO of BridgeComm, Inc. Barry has extensive experience in the wireless and Space 2.0 sectors, including 13 years at Qualcomm where he served as the VP of Wireless Connectivity as well as product development roles. Previously, he led business development at SpaceX and Virgin Galactic.

Barry's experience with early stage technology companies include product development in satellite communications and space launch vehicles, and maturing operational processes leading to an IPO.  He has held positions at Space Systems Loral and General Dynamics.

Barry earned a bachelor’s degree in business from Arizona State University and a master’s degree in electrical engineering from the University of Arizona.

As Chief Operations Officer at Iridium, Suzi McBride leads all operations of the Iridium network, including the satellite constellation and associated ground gateways and terminals. This also encompasses all technology innovation on Iridium's network and manufacturing of subscriber equipment, new services, products and applications. Prior to rejoining Iridium, Suzi spent two-and-a-half years at OneWeb, where she served as COO and Senior Vice President. In that role, Suzi built up OneWeb's team of engineers and oversaw the system design, production and testing of the ground and space networks as well as user terminal development.

During her earlier tenure at Iridium, lasting over nine years, Suzi served as Vice President of Program Management and Launch Services, playing a key leadership role in developing the Iridium NEXT system, leading launch strategy, engineering and hosted payload programs. Suzi has more than 25 years of experience, including building and launching the original Iridium satellite constellation while at Motorola's Satellite Communications Group as a senior engineer in the 1990s.

Suzi received her MBA from the University of Tennessee in the Executive Aerospace and Defense program, and her dual undergraduate degrees are from Columbia University in Industrial Engineering and Claremont McKenna College in Management Engineering. Suzi also holds a master's degree in Program Management from George Washington University and is Project Management Institute certified.

Click here to watch Suzi’s interview on our series Navigating NewSpace.

Pam Melroy was sworn in as the NASA Deputy Administrator on June 21, 2021. In this role, Melroy performs the duties and exercises the powers delegated by the Administrator, assists the Administrator in making final agency decisions, and acts for the Administrator in his absence by performing all necessary functions to govern NASA operations. Melroy is also responsible for laying the agency's vision and representing NASA to the Executive Office of the President, Congress, heads of federal and other appropriate government agencies, international organizations, and external organizations and communities.

Melroy is a retired Air Force test pilot and former NASA astronaut and Space Shuttle commander. She served as Deputy Program manager for the Lockheed Martin Orion Space Exploration Initiatives program and as Director of Field Operations and acting Deputy Associate Administrator for Commercial Space Transportation at the Federal Aviation Administration. She went on to serve as Deputy Director, Tactical Technology Office at the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA). Melroy was also Director of Space Technology and Policy at Nova Systems in Australia.

Melroy flew the KC-10 aircraft for six years at Barksdale Air Force Base as a co-pilot, aircraft commander and instructor pilot. She is a veteran of Operation Just Cause and Operation Desert Shield/Desert Storm, with more than 200 combat and combat support hours. She also served as a test pilot for C-17 Combined Test Force. She has logged more than 6,000 hours flight time in more than 50 different aircraft.

Selected as an astronaut candidate by NASA in December 1994, Melroy flew three missions in space: as Space Shuttle pilot during STS-92 in 2000 and STS-112 in 2002, and as Space Shuttle Commander during STS-120 in 2007. All three missions were assembly missions to build the International Space Station. She is one of only two women to command the Space Shuttle. Melroy served on the Columbia Reconstruction Team and the Columbia Crew Survival Investigation Team. In her final position, she served as Branch Chief for the Orion branch of the Astronaut Office. She has logged more than 38 days in space. Melroy retired from the Air Force in 2007, and left NASA in August 2009.

She received a bachelor's degree in physics and astronomy from Wellesley College and a master's degree in earth and planetary sciences from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Rob Meyerson is the founder and CEO of Delalune Space, a consulting company focused on the aerospace, mobility, technology, and investment sectors. He is an angel investor, advisor, and director for companies including Hermeus, Axiom Space, Hadrian, ABL Space, Sceye, Starfish Space, and others.

Rob is the former President of Blue Origin, and grew the company from its founding into a more than 1500-person organization between 2003 and 2018. Under Rob’s leadership, Blue Origin developed the New Shepard system for suborbital human and research flights, the liquid rocket engine business, the New Glenn launch vehicle and the company vision for humanity in space; including the Blue Moon lunar lander, human spacecraft, habitats and in-space tugs. Prior to joining Blue, Rob was a Senior Manager at Kistler Aerospace, and he began his career as an aerodynamicist at NASA’s Johnson Space Center (JSC).

Rob earned a B.S. degree in aerospace engineering from the University of Michigan and a master’s degree in industrial engineering from the University of Houston. He is an AIAA Fellow, a Trustee of the Museum of Flight in Seattle and a member of the University of Michigan College of Engineering Leadership Advisory Board. For accomplishments at Blue Origin, Rob and his team were awarded the Robert J. Collier trophy from the National Aeronautic Association in 2016, and Rob was awarded the Space Flight Award by the American Astronautical Society in 2017.

Click here to watch Rob’s interview on our series Navigating NewSpace.

Chris Moran is Executive Director and General Manager of Lockheed Martin Ventures; the venture capital investment arm of Lockheed Martin Corporation. In this capacity, he is responsible for leading the Corporation’s investments in small technology companies which support Lockheed Martin’s strategic business objectives.

Prior to joining Lockheed Martin, Chris served in a variety of increasingly responsible positions at Applied Materials, Inc., Santa Clara, CA. He served most recently as the head of the Business Systems and Analytics group in the Applied Global Services Organization.  Previously, Chris was head of Corporate Strategy and General Manager of Applied Ventures LLC; the strategic investing arm of Applied Materials. Chris is a graduate of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology where he obtained both his Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in Mechanical Engineering.

Tom Mueller is a rocket engineer and rocket engine designer. He is considered one of the world's leading spacecraft propulsion experts and holds several United States patents for propulsion technology. Early in his career, he worked for TRW Inc., where he was responsible for liquid rocket engine development and was lead engineer during the development of the TR-106, a 650,000 lbf thrust hydrogen engine. His work caught the attention of Elon Musk, PayPal co-founder, and in 2002 Mueller joined Musk as a founding employee of SpaceX. As Vice President of Propulsion Engineering and subsequently CTO of Propulsion at SpaceX, Mueller led the team that developed the Merlin 1A and Kestrel engines for the Falcon 1, the first liquid fueled orbital rocket launched by a private company; the Merlin 1C, Merlin 1D and MVac engines for the early iterations of the Falcon 9 launch vehicle; as well as the Draco thrusters that provide the attitude control thrusters for the Dragon spacecraft, as well as the SuperDraco storable-propellant engines used to power the capsule launch escape system. Dragon was the first spacecraft launched by a private company to dock at the International Space Station. In 2021 he started his own company, Impulse Space.

Dr. Dava Newman is the director of the MIT Media Lab and the Apollo Program Professor of Astronautics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and a Harvard–MIT Health, Sciences, and Technology faculty member in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Previously, Dava was deputy administrator of NASA, the agency’s second-highest ranking position. Prior to that, she was director of the MIT Technology and Policy Program.

While serving as NASA deputy administrator from May 2015 to January 2017, Dava was responsible for articulating the agency's vision, providing leadership and policy direction, and along with the administrator, representing NASA to the executive office of the president, congress, heads of federal government agencies, international space agencies, and industry. As deputy administrator, she provided leadership and oversight for all NASA partnerships. Dava made significant impact on NASA’s human exploration efforts, specifically developing and articulating the Human Journey to Mars plan, highlighting scientific missions, advocating for transformative aeronautics capabilities, developing and implementing a strategic innovation framework, and advocating for diversity and inclusion for NASA and the nation’s STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) initiatives.

Dava is an expert in research with a focus on aerospace biomedical engineering, discovering how humans can perform more effectively in environments of weightlessness and reduced gravity. She is a leader in advanced spacesuit design, astronaut performance, leadership development, innovation, and space policy. Dava’s experiments have flown onboard the space shuttle; the Mir space station; and the International Space Station. Her patented BioSuit™ spacesuit for planetary exploration implements form-fitting technology featuring elastic polymers and advanced materials for direct-skin mechanical counterpressure to offer enhanced mobility and a lightweight suit, compared to conventional gas-pressured spacesuits.

Dava earned her bachelor’s degree in aerospace engineering from the University of Notre Dame, masters’ degrees in aeronautics and astronautics and technology and policy from MIT, and a Ph.D. in aerospace biomedical engineering from MIT.

Eren Ozmen is Chairwoman and President of Sierra Nevada Corporation (SNC), the global aerospace and national security leader based in Sparks, Nevada. As owners of SNC since 1994, Eren and her husband, Fatih Ozmen, who is SNC’s CEO, are the driving force behind SNC’s remarkable journey from small high-tech startup to multi-billion-dollar global leader in space, aviation, national security and defense.

Entrepreneurial and humanitarian, Eren embodies an inspiring American Dream story. She came to the U.S. to earn her MBA from the University of Nevada, Reno (UNR). In 1994, the Ozmens acquired SNC when the company had just 20 employees and grew it to become the top woman-owned U.S. Government A&D contractor and among The World’s Top 10 Most Innovative Companies in Space.

Eren is actively involved in all key aspects of SNC’s business management to ensure the company has a solid foundation for continued growth and success. Under her leadership, Eren has steered SNC to expand in new and promising directions, including 20 strategic acquisitions, and being the only aerospace and defense firm selected as a US Best Managed Company.

Through the Ozmen Foundation, Eren and Fatih support a variety of causes including STEM initiatives and medical research to cure cancer. The Ozmens also founded the Ozmen Center for Entrepreneurship and the Ozmen Institute for Global Studies at UNR. Eren received an honorary doctorate from the University in 2016.

Dr. Scott Pace is the Director of the Space Policy Institute and Professor of the Practice of International Affairs at the George Washington University's Elliott School of International Affairs. He is also a member of the faculty of the Trachtenberg School of Public Policy and Public Administration.

Scott rejoined the faculty of the Elliott School of International Affairs in 2021 after serving as Deputy Assistant to the President and Executive Secretary of the National Space Council from 2017-2020. He previously served as the Associate Administrator for Program Analysis and Evaluation at NASA from 2005-2008 and Deputy Chief of Staff for the NASA Administrator from 2002-2003. Prior to NASA, he was the Assistant Director for Space and Aeronautics in the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy. From 1993-2000, he worked for the RAND Corporation's Science and Technology Policy Institute, and from 1990-1993, he served in the Office of the Deputy Secretary of the Department of Commerce.

He received a Bachelor of Science degree in Physics from Harvey Mudd College; Masters degrees in Aeronautics & Astronautics and Technology & Policy from MIT; and a Doctorate in Policy Analysis from the RAND Graduate School.

Dr. Garrett Reisman is currently a Professor of Astronautical Engineering at USC and a Senior Advisor at SpaceX. He was selected by NASA as a mission specialist Astronaut in 1998. His first mission was aboard the Space Shuttle Endeavour, in 2008, which dropped him off for a 95 day mission aboard the International Space Station after which he returned to Earth aboard the Space Shuttle Discovery. His second mission was aboard the Space Shuttle Atlantis, in 2010, and returned Garrett to the Space Station.

During these missions, Garrett performed 3 spacewalks, operated the Space Station Robot Arm and was a flight engineer aboard the Space Shuttle. After leaving NASA in 2011, Garrett joined SpaceX where he worked for Elon Musk and prepared SpaceX for human spaceflight as the Director of Space Operations.

Click here to watch Garrett’s interview on our series Navigating NewSpace.

Lee Rosen is CEO of ThinkOrbital, a developer of large, scalable, cost-efficient space structures. Previously, he was SpaceX’s Vice President of Customer Operations and Integration. In his previous SpaceX position, he was Vice President of Mission & Launch Operations responsible for running SpaceX’s launch sites and mission management. He was also Launch Site Director at SpaceX’s SLC-4E, Vandenberg Air Force Base, CA where his team transformed the pad from TitanIV to Falcon 9/Falcon Heavy configuration.

Lee is a retired US Air Force Colonel with more than 28 years of industry and military experience in space systems engineering, acquisition, operations, maintenance and mission assurance. After serving 23 years, Rosen retired with the rank of Colonel in May 2011 as the Commander of the 45th Launch Group, Cape Canaveral. He also served as the Commander of the 4th Space Launch Squadron at Vandenberg, where he was responsible for modifying SLC-6 for Delta IV and SLC-3E for Atlas V. Lee has experience in senior executive leadership positions, including classified programs. He has managed active budgets of over $7 billion in assets and has delivered critical space capabilities to warfighters and customers worldwide.

Col Rosen grew up in the Boston area and graduated from the US Air Force Academy in 1988. Throughout his career he served in a variety of positions in Strategic Air Command, Air Force Material Command, the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) and Air Force Space Command. He holds 4 master’s degrees and is a Distinguished Graduate of the Industrial College of the Armed Forces. Lee is proud husband/dad, avid runner, cyclist, surfer, ukulele player and brewer.

As a venture capitalist for more nearly three decades, Ray Rothrock has assisted entrepreneurs in achieving their dreams and produced outstanding financial returns for his limited partners. He has personally discovered, created and guided more than 50 companies in the Venrock portfolio through their early stages of formation and emerging growth.  Today he is Partner Emeritus, Venrock.

Ray was the chair of the National Venture Capital Association for the 2012-2013 term and has been listed twice on the Forbes Midas List. His areas of investment expertise and interests span the globe, and include energy, information technology infrastructure and cyber security. Today Ray is the CEO of RedSeal, Inc. a cyber security company in the Silicon Valley.  In addition to his company activities, Ray currently serves on a number of private company boards, is a board member of Check Point Software (NASD: CHKP), is a Member of the MIT Corporation, and is a trustee of UTIMCO, the $40B public endowment for University of Texas and Texas A&M University. He previously served as Trustee of the Texas A&M Foundation and chaired the investment committee of its $1 billion endowment, Woodside Priory School, and TheatreWorks.  Ray earned his B.S. in Nuclear Engineering from Texas A&M University, an S.M. in Nuclear Engineering from Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and an MBA with Distinction from Harvard Business School.  He’s the bassist in the rock band, “Up and to the Right” in the Bay Area.

Dr. Anita Sengupta is the Founder and CEO of Hydroplane Ltd., a green energy technology company developing hydrogen fuel cell powerplant technology for aerospace, aviation, marine, and ground transport applications. She is also a research associate professor of Astronautical Engineering at the University of Southern California with a research emphasis on Entry Descent and Landing (EDL) technology and system design.

Previously, Dr. Sengupta was Senior Vice President of Systems Engineering at Virgin Hyperloop One, a technology company working on the development of an in vacuum magnetic levitation transportation system. Prior to Virgin she was a senior member of the technical staff at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory developing spacecraft and propulsion technologies that have enabled the exploration of Mars, Asteroids, and deep space for over a decade. Her doctoral research focused the developing the ion engine technology that powered the Dawn spacecraft to reach Vesta and Ceres in the main asteroid belt. She was then responsible for the supersonic parachute system that was integral to the landing of the Curiosity Rover on Mars in 2012. She most recently led the development of the Cold Atom Laboratory, a laser-cooling quantum physics facility which launched to the International Space Station in 2018. Prior to joining NASA she worked for Boeing Space and Communications as a propulsion engineer on the development of the Delta IV launch vehicle, X37 reusable space vehicle, and XM radio communications satellite.

Dr. Sengupta received her BS in aerospace engineering from Boston University and MS and PhD in Aerospace Engineering from the University of Southern California. In her spare time she is a Captain in the Civil Air Patrol US Air Force Auxiliary, instrument rated pilot, motorcyclist, snow boarder, mountain biker, and sci-fi enthusiast.

Click here to watch Anita’s interview on our series Navigating NewSpace.

Mark N. Sirangelo is currently the Entrepreneur Scholar in Residence at the University of Colorado. Mark also serves on the U.S. Department of Defense’s Defense Innovation Board providing future innovation advice to the Secretary of Defense. Previously he completed an assignment as Special Assistant to the NASA Administrator. He was the head of Sierra Nevada Corporation’s Space Systems, one of the country’s top space technology companies which has participated in over 300 space missions. Mark was formerly the Chairman & CEO of SpaceDev, Inc., prior to its merging with SNC and has spent his career building and leading aeronautics, space and technology companies.

He has served as the Chief Innovation Officer of the State of Colorado and as the Chairman of the Colorado Innovation Network (COIN) and currently is the State of Colorado’s appointee to the Colorado Energy Research Collaboratory. He is the founder and Chairman of eSpace, the Center for Space Entrepreneurship and a founder and Chairman Emeritus of the Commercial Spaceflight Federation.

Corporate and personal awards include NASA/Space Foundation’s Technology Hall of Fame, the Defense Industry’s Fast Track 50, Deloitte’s Fast Track 500, a finalist in Ernst &Young’s Entrepreneur of the Year and Inc. Magazine’s top 200 companies. Mark is an American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics Associate Fellow, and holds Doctorate, MBA and Bachelor of Science degrees. He has also been scientifically published, served as an officer in the US Military and is a licensed pilot.anit

Dr. Alan Stern is a planetary scientist, former head of all NASA science missions, author, speaker, and a co-founder of World View, a near space ballooning company. He has been on 30 NASA, ESA, and commercial space mission teams, 15 of which he played a principal investigator (PI) role, including the nearly $1B New Horizons that was the first mission to explore Pluto and the Kuiper Belt; New Horizons conducted the farthest exploration in the history of humankind.

In 2023 he flew to space on a suborbital research mission aboard Virgin Galactic. Alan is a member of the US National Science Board, the former board chairman of the Commercial Spaceflight Federation industry association, and has published over 400 peer reviewed scientific papers and four books. He is an instrument rated commercial pilot and flight instructor, and has conducted scientific research at both the south pole and on the arctic circle, as well as aboard various high performance aircraft including F/A-18 Hornets, F-104 Starfighters, Zero-G KC-135s, and WB-57 Canberras. He is a fellow of the American Geophysical Union (AGU), the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), the Royal Astronomical Society (RAS), and The Explorer’s Club. In both 2007 and 2016 he was named to the Time 100.

In 2017, Melanie Stricklan combined her military experience and love of space to co-found Slingshot Aerospace, a global space tech company pioneering data-driven solutions for space missions, risk mitigation, and enhanced situational awareness. Under her leadership, the company launched a suite of products for commercial, civil and defense applications including Slingshot Beacon, the industry’s first space collision avoidance coordination platform. As the company’s visionary and CEO, Melanie led Slingshot Aerospace on a mission to accelerate space sustainability and create a safer, more connected world.

Before founding Slingshot, she served in the US Air Force for 21 years where she logged over 1500 flight hours onboard ground surveillance aircraft, commanded over 200 experimental spacecraft missions, and led the development of space control technologies for the Department of Defense.

Recognized for her leadership in the space industry, Vice President Kamala Harris selected Stricklan to serve as a member of the National Space Council’s Users Advisory Group and U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg named her to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA)’s Commercial Space Transportation Advisory Committee.

Stricklan’s most recent awards include the 2023 Executive of the Year from Via Satellite, the 2023 Outstanding Achievement Award from Women in Aerospace, and the CEO of the Year for 2023 by the Los Angeles Business Journal. She is a prominent speaker on space sustainability, entrepreneurship, and STEM, known for inspiring and engaging audiences in these vital areas, committed to preparing the next generation of space professionals and explorers.

Melanie holds a BS in Aeronautics from Embry Riddle Aeronautical University and an MS in Space Operations Management with an emphasis in Space Systems Engineering from Webster University.

Kathy Sullivan is an oceanographer and a former NASA astronaut. A crew member on three Space Shuttle missions, she was the first American woman to walk in space on October 11, 1984. On June 7, 2020, she became the first woman to dive to the Challenger Deep in the Mariana Trench, the deepest part of the Earth's oceans.  She was Under Secretary of Commerce for Oceans and Atmosphere and Administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration from 2014 to 2017. Following completion of her service at NOAA, she was designated as the 2017 Charles A. Lindbergh Chair of Aerospace History at the Smithsonian Institution’s National Air and Space Museum, and has also served as a Senior Fellow at the Potomac Institute for Policy Studies. She currently serves on the President’s Council of Advisers on Science and Technology.  She was awarded a Bachelor of Science degree in Earth Sciences from the University of California, Santa Cruz, and a Ph.D. in Geology from Dalhousie University. While at Dalhousie, she participated in several oceanographic expeditions that studied the floors of the Atlantic and Pacific oceans.

Dave Thompson co-founded Orbital Sciences Corporation – which evolved to Orbital ATK – and served as the company’s chairman, president, and chief executive officer. Under Dave’s 36-year leadership, the company carried out more than 1,000 rocket launches and satellite missions. During that time, the company also grew from a start-up to a NYSE-listed public company with an enterprise value in excess of $9 billion.

Prior to co-founding Orbital, Dave served as special assistant to the president of Hughes Aircraft Company’s Missile Systems Group and was a project manager and engineer at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center. As a college student, he worked on the first Mars lander missions at CalTech’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory and on space shuttle projects at NASA’s Langley Research Center and Johnson Space Center.

He holds a bachelor’s degree in aeronautics and astronautics from Massachusetts Institute of Technology, a master’s degree in aeronautics from California Institute of Technology, and a MBA from Harvard Business School.

Mandy founded GXO, Inc. in 2021 to accelerate the pace of change across the space industry. The goal is supporting new commercial space ventures quickly navigate the start up environment to start delivering capabilities and missions that matter for commercial and government customers.

She was selected to serve on the National Space Council’s Users Advisory Group when it was re-instituted in 2018, where she helps to streamline coordination and cooperation across the U.S.’ space enterprise.

Mandy is formerly President & CEO of VOX Space. Mandy originally joined Virgin Orbit, VOX Space’s parent company, in 2015. As Senior Director of Business Development and Mission Management, she supported business development on the LauncherOne program for both government and commercial customers, and served as mission manager for customers including OneWeb and NASA, in addition to spearheading the creation and registration of VOX Space.

Prior to joining Virgin Orbit, Mandy was with General Dynamics Mission Systems’ Space and Intelligence Systems Directorate, where she was responsible for the space control and space protection investment portfolios and analog-to-digital transitions for a variety of SIGINT payload families. She successfully initiated development programs for the next-generation space-based GPS receiver and managed the internal investment of GPS payload development efforts. Prior to joining General Dynamics, she was a developmental engineer and program manager in the Air Force and a Director with Kinsey Technical Services. 

Mandy has a BS in Mechanical Engineering and an MS in Aeronautics and Astronautics, both from MIT.

Dr. Randy Villahermosa is currently at Amazon working on Project Kuiper, an ambitious space venture to provide worldwide communications through a large number of unique low earth orbiting satellites. Just prior, he was Vice President of Product and Space Systems at SpinLaunch. Previously, he was executive director of Innovation at The Aerospace Corporation, where he was responsible for leading innovation programs, culture transformation initiatives, and the corporation’s research and development portfolio. Villahermosa’s responsibilities spanned a broad range of science, technology, and innovation areas related to space systems, remote sensing, data analytics, and autonomous systems.

Prior to Aerospace Corporation, Villahermosa supported the development of multiple satellite systems for a wide variety of mission areas including missile defense sensors for the Air Force and the Missile Defense Agency, advanced technology satellites for the intelligence community, and space situational awareness satellite systems for the Air Force. He is also an expert in space materials and contamination control, and holds multiple patents in related technologies.

Villahermosa received his Bachelor of Arts in chemistry from Occidental College, and his doctorate in physical inorganic chemistry from the California Institute of Technology.

Dr. Alan Weston is an aerospace expert and CEO of LTA. He was previously the Director of Programs at NASA Ames Research Center. Before working at NASA, Alan was a technical adviser on small satellites at the Space Vehicles Directorate, Air Force Research Laboratory. In this role he provided scientific support to Air Force Space Command, the Department of Defense and the National Reconnaissance Office. He has made nationally recognized contributions in space technology and has comprehensive experience in space systems, responsible for design, integration, test, launch & operations of 22 spacecraft. He completed his undergraduate studies at Oxford University in 1978, and he subsequently began working for the Air Force in 1983 after completing his doctoral thesis at Virginia Polytechnic Institute in Blacksburg, Virginia.

George Whitesides served as CEO of Virgin Galactic for ten years, from its early days through successful spaceflight and public listing on the NYSE.  The company seeks to transform access to space with an innovative spacecraft design and incredible experiences.

Prior to Virgin Galactic, George served as Chief of Staff for NASA. Upon departure from the American space agency, he received the Distinguished Service Medal, the highest award the agency confers. He is a member of Caltech’s Space Innovation Council and Princeton University’s Advisory Council for Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering. George has testified on American space policy before the United States Senate, the United States House of Representatives, and the President’s Commission on Implementation of United States Space Exploration Policy.

An honors graduate of Princeton University’s Woodrow Wilson School, George later earned a master’s degree in geographic information systems and remote sensing from the University of Cambridge, and a Fulbright Scholarship to Tunisia. George is a licensed private pilot and certified parabolic flight coach. He is a partner at Convective Capital, a firetech focused venture fund, and a candidate for Congress in California's 27th district. 

Stuart O. Witt is founder and owner of S.O. Witt & Associates LLC consulting, established in January 2016. Previously, he directed the expansion efforts at Mojave Air & Space Port as General Manager and CEO from 2002 until January 2016.

Stu is a 1974 graduate of California State University Northridge, Naval Aviation Schools Command 1976, Naval Fighter Weapons School (TOPGUN) 1980, and 1996 Graduate of the University of Maryland’s Center for Creative Leadership. His military career took him to sea on USS JFK as a carrier based F-14 Tomcat pilot, and as an FA-18A project pilot at the Naval Air Warfare Center, China Lake, California. Between 1985 and 1993 he served as an Engineering Test Pilot on the B-1B, F-16C and F-23 with Westinghouse Electric Corp. From 1993-2002 he served as Executive Vice President of CTA Inc., where he directed engineering projects from Lower Manhattan to Oahu.

He is Chairman Emeritus of the Commercial Spaceflight Federation, where he was a founding executive member. He is also Chairman Emeritus of the Kern Community College Board of Trustees.

Paul Wooster is Principal Mars Development Engineer at SpaceX, where he is a lead in the technical development of deep space architecture and vehicles, including precursor activities and human-scale systems. He previously served as SpaceX’s Manager of Spacecraft Guidance, Navigation, and Control, overseeing the integrated system design, fault tolerance, and vehicle performance associated with Dragon missions to the International Space Station. While at SpaceX, Wooster has led the development of a diverse set of capabilities, including space-to-space communications, relative navigation, and proximity operations with the ISS. He earned both his B.S. and M.S. in aerospace engineering at MIT. He currently serves on the National Academies’ Space Studies Board.

Dr. S. “Pete” Worden, (Brig Gen, USAF, Ret, PhD) is Chairman of the Breakthrough Prize Foundation and Executive Director of the foundation’s ‘Breakthrough Initiatives’. He holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Physics and Astronomy from the University of Michigan and a PhD in Astronomy from the University of Arizona. After several US Air Force positions and a research professorship in astronomy at the University of Arizona, Dr. Worden was Director of NASA’s Ames Research Center until retiring on March 31, 2015. From 2017 to the present, Brigadier General Worden is an Advisor to the Luxembourg Space Agency and was appointed as a Knight-Commander of the Order of Merit of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg in 2018 for his space services.