Speakers
Managing Partner, Space Capital
Co-founder & CTO, Accion Systems
Founder & CEO, Rocket Lab
Chief Executive Officer, Terran Orbital
Professor, Virginia Tech
Operating Partner, DCVC
CFO, Astra
VP & GM, Commercial Civil Space, Lockheed Martin Space
Co-founder & CEO, LeoLabs
Director Business Development, Cross Sectors & Public Sector, Esri
General Manager, Robotics, Maxar Technologies
Director, Astronaut & Orbital Sales, Blue Origin
Vice President, Special Studies, Office of the Executive Vice President, The Aerospace Corporation
Managing Director, Techstars
Founder & CEO, Launcher
Partner, Bessemer Venture Partners
Hsu Lo Distinguished Professor of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Purdue University
President & CEO, The Aerospace Corporation
Associate Professor, Aerospace Engineering & Engineering Mechanics, The University of Texas at Austin
CEO, Phase Four
Co-founder & COO, Wyvern
Co-founder & President, Morpheus Space
Associate Administrator, Space Operations Mission Directorate, NASA
Chief Engineer & EVP Engineering, Astra
COO, Firefly Aerospace
Partner, Sequoia
CEO, Masten Space Systems
President, International & Space Stations, Voyager Space
Director, Commercial Systems Program Office, National Reconnaissance Office
Director, SpaceWERX
Director & COO, ispace
Co-Founder, Embedded Ventures
Partner and COO, Harpoon Ventures
Founder & CEO, Astroscale
Founder & COO, Xplore
EIR / Founder, BMNT / Defense Investor Network
CEO, SBIR Advisors Inc.
Co-founder & Partner, Assembly Ventures
Head of Partnerships, ABL Space Systems
President & COO, Redwire
Professor, University of California
Co-founder & CEO, SkyWatch
CFO, Rocket Lab
President, Earth Observation Solutions, Terran Orbital
Managing Director, Goldman Sachs
Materiel Leader, Blackjack/CASINO, SSC/DCIR
Chad Anderson is Founder and Managing Partner of Space Capital, a seed stage venture capital firm with $80 million under management. He also serves on several boards including the Space Catapult in the UK where he supports the national strategy to grow the space sector in the country. Anderson also volunteers as a board member of the Explorers Club, a non-profit that promotes the scientific exploration of land, sea, air, and space and is also a member of the User Advisory Committee for the International Space Station U.S. National Lab in Washington. Prior to his current roles, Anderson enjoyed a successful career at JP Morgan Chase where he managed a $50 billion real estate portfolio through the Great Recession. Anderson holds an MBA from the University of Oxford, with a focus on entrepreneurship and innovation.
Natalya Bailey is the CTO and co-founder of Accion Systems, a company providing in-space propulsion for spacecraft. Oregon native, Natalya moved to Cambridge to complete her doctorate in space propulsion at MIT with a focus on a novel ion engine technology. Prior to MIT, she researched a new chemical rocket technology during her MS at Duke University. She is a partner at XFactor Ventures, investing in female-founded companies, and is on the board of Youth CITIES, a non-profit that teaches entrepreneurship and STEM skills to diverse youth cohorts. In her free time she enjoys traveling with her husband and three children and completing Python katas on Codewars.
Peter Beck
Founder & CEO, Rocket LabPeter Beck is the founder, Chief Executive Officer, and Chief Engineer of Rocket Lab, a Nasdaq-listed leading launch and space systems company opening access to space to improve life on Earth. Rocket Lab’s capabilities span the space economy, including satellite design and manufacture, industry-leading spacecraft software and components, and reliable launch services. Under Mr. Beck’s leadership, Rocket Lab’s Electron launch vehicle has become the most successful small launch vehicle globally and Rocket Lab satellite subsystems have featured on more than 1,700 missions. Rocket Lab technology enables some of humanity’s most ambitious space missions, including complex interplanetary science missions, national security programs, and vast commercial constellations.
Since founding the company in 2006, Mr. Beck has grown Rocket Lab into a global organization of 1,800 people across the United States, Canada and New Zealand. Today, Rocket Lab’s launch vehicles, satellites and space systems are relied upon by a range of global mission partners including NASA, the United States Space Force, DARPA, the National Reconnaissance Office, and a broad range of commercial satellite and constellation operators.
Marc Bell is the CEO and Co-Founder of Terran Orbital, a leading vertically integrated provider of end-to-end satellite solutions. Terran Orbital combines satellite design, production, launch planning, mission operations, and in-orbit support to meet the needs of the most demanding military, civil, and commercial customers. In addition, Terran Orbital is developing the world’s largest, most advanced NextGen Earth Observation constellation to provide persistent, real-time earth imagery. Bell is an accomplished entrepreneur with a wide spanning career. In 2008, Bell took public a $250 million SPAC which acquired startup Armour Residential REIT (NYSE: ARR). Armour today holds over $5 billion worth of mortgage-backed securities in its portfolio. Prior to Armour, Bell began his career in 1989 as the Founder of Globix: The Global Internet Exchange. Globix was an Internet Infrastructure company with over 28,000 miles of fiber and over 1 million square feet of Data Center Space globally.
Dr. Jonathan Black is a Professor in the Kevin T. Crofton Department of Aerospace and Ocean Engineering at Virginia Tech (VT), the Director of the Aerospace and Ocean Systems Division (AOSD) within the VT National Security Institute (formerly Hume Center), and the Northrop Grumman Senior Faculty Fellow in C4ISR. Prior to joining VT, Dr. Black served as a faculty member in the Aeronautics and Astronautics department at the Air Force Institute of Technology (AFIT), Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, where he was the founding Director of the Center for Space Research and Assurance. As Center/Division Director, Dr. Black focuses the division’s efforts on the execution of cutting-edge space technology development and scientific space experiments; manages and executes an annual $4 million research portfolio; supervises a diverse group of 30 research faculty, program managers, laboratory and administrative staff, graduate students, and summer interns; briefs senior Department of Defense, Intelligence Community, and corporate leadership advising national strategy; and cultivates research and educational relationships inside and outside the university. He served as PI or Co-PI on six spaceflight experiments. Dr. Black works across academic departments and multiple research centers at the intersection of mission platforms and mission payloads. His research interests include space and atmospheric vehicle dynamics, linear and nonlinear control theory, autonomous vehicle design, structures, structural dynamics, advanced sensing technologies, space systems engineering, and novel orbit analysis for a wide variety of military and intelligence applications including large lightweight space structures, micro UAV development, and taskable satellites. Dr. Black is the Co-Director of the Virginia SmallSat Data Consortium (VSDC), which supports Commonwealth-wide data cube, real-time cloud computing, rural broadband, and AI/ML work. He is an Associate Fellow of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, and the past chair of the Spacecraft Structures Technical Committee.
Dr. Chris Boshuizen is an Operating Partner at DCVC (Data Collective) leading investment in space (Capella Space, Rocket Lab) and other deep tech companies. Chris was co-founder of Planet Labs, a DCVC company providing unprecedented daily, global mapping of our changing planet from space. As the company’s CTO for 5 years, he took the company from the drawing board to having launched more satellites into space than any other company in history, completely transforming the space industry along the way. Chris was previously a Space Mission Architect at NASA Ames Research Center. After working on a number of traditional spacecraft programs at NASA, Chris co-created Phonesat, a spacecraft built solely out of a regular smartphone. Chris received his Ph.D. in Physics (with honors) and a BSc. in Physics and Mathematics, both from the University of Sydney.
Kelyn is a 35-year finance veteran, with experience leading companies through successful IPOs. She was the first chief accounting officer and head of finance at Amazon.com. Kelyn is a member of The American Institute of Certified Public Accountants and holds a B.A in Political Science from Murray State University.
Lisa B. Callahan is Vice President and General Manager of Commercial Civil Space at Lockheed Martin Space and has one of the coolest jobs in and out of this world! In this role, she leads the team building Orion, the spacecraft which will return humans to the Moon and eventually take them to Mars and beyond. Her team also develops and operates robotic spacecraft that are exploring and unlocking secrets of the solar system including asteroids, Mars, the Moon and our planet, Earth. If you check the weather, your forecast likely includes inputs from the GOES weather satellites which Lisa also oversees. These satellites work to protect life and property by predicting storms and tornadic activity and increasing public safety warnings. Her team is connecting people across the globe with satellite communication systems benefitting all humanity.
Dan Ceperley is the CEO and cofounder of LeoLabs. He, and the founding team, created LeoLabs to drive advances in space traffic safety, space situational awareness (SSA), and preservation of the space environment through actionable, real-time information. Collisions with debris are the number one risk to safe operations in space and new data sources are required to measure and reduce that risk. LeoLabs is the leading provider of commercial collision warning services and real-time Space Domain Awareness (SDA) for low Earth orbit (LEO). These services are powered by LeoLabs’ worldwide network of radars and its cloud-based software system. Prior to LeoLabs, he worked at SRI International, a not-for-profit research laboratory, where he was the Program Director for Space Debris Tracking, the Deputy Director of the Oceans and Space Systems Center, and the supervisor for the Allen Telescope Array (a radio astronomy facility in northern California). Dr. Ceperley led numerous SSA research and development efforts aimed at developing technologies for tracking the large constellations of low-cost satellites created by the recent wave of innovation in the space industry. Dan got his start in the space industry working on the design of the Terrestrial Planet Finder Coronagraph (TPF-C) as part of a research program supporting the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL). His work investigated the optical performance of advanced concepts for imaging Earth-like planets orbiting other stars. Dan is a Technical Advisor to Space for Humanity. This non-profit seeks to greatly increase the number of people who have experienced space flight, and thus promote the greater use of space. He was featured in Via Satellite’s 2018 Young People to Watch List. In addition to satellite tracking, Dr. Ceperley has technical expertise in synthetic aperture radar imaging, precision timing and navigation systems, electromagnetic modeling, and ultrasound imaging. He holds a PhD and MS in Electrical Engineering from U. C. Berkeley and a BS in Electrical Engineering from the University of Virginia.
Richard Cooke joined Esri in September 2018 as the Global Director of Remote Sensing and Imagery, the business team focused on helping customers apply the ArcGIS System to manage, analyze and share insights from their remote sensing and imagery data collected from satellites, aircraft, drones, IoT networks and terrestrial sensors. In 2020, he added responsibility for other Cross-Sector teams focused on developing markets for new technologies and products that cut across industries. Cooke has over 30 years of experience in the Computer Vision, Remote Sensing, Geospatial, and Location Intelligence fields. Prior to joining Esri, he served as the President and Chairman of Visual Information Solutions, developers of the ENVI remote sensing software product, from 2002 to 2017. After Visual Information Solutions was acquired by Harris in 2015, Cooke also took on the role of Vice President and General Manager of the Harris Geospatial Division.
Lucy Condakchian
General Manager, Robotics, Maxar TechnologiesLucy Condakchian is the general manager of robotics at Maxar. The company provides robotic systems for autonomous operations, as well as mechanisms and services for a range of missions including in-orbit satellite servicing, and exploration on the moon and Mars. Condakchian has worked at Maxar in increasingly responsible roles since 2002. With a degree in Aerospace Engineering from UCLA, Condakchian began her career as a mechanical design engineer working on the Instrument Deployment Device for the Jet Propulsion Laboratory’s (JPL’s) Mars Exploratory Rover. Condakchian advanced to become a project manager for advanced subsystems on several NASA and DARPA projects including several innovative and advanced robotic arms with multiple joints enabling highly dexterous movement. Condakchian has worked on six robotic arms used on the surface of Mars, including arms for NASA’s Spirit, Opportunity, Curiosity, and Perseverance rovers and InSight and Phoenix landers. Over the course of her career, Condakchian has grown Maxar’s robotics business and established its reputation as the top supplier of sophisticated robotic systems for autonomous operations in space. Under her leadership, Maxar is currently developing cutting-edge robotics for on-orbit satellite servicing and assembly for NASA’s OSAM-1 (formerly Restore-L) program.
Ariane Cornell
Director, Astronaut & Orbital Sales, Blue OriginAriane was formerly based in Vienna, Austria as the Executive Director of the Space Generation Advisory Council in Support of the United Nations Programme on Space Applications (SGAC). She headed SGAC’s delegations to international conferences and the United Nations, as well as ran the organization’s operations, business development, strategy, and policy output. Ariane supports the international aerospace community in other capacities and organizations. She has served on the boards of the Society of Satellite Professionals International (SSPI) and Women in Aerospace – Europe. Previously, Ariane worked in international management consulting, first with Accenture based in San Francisco as an analyst and then with Booz Allen Hamilton in Washington, DC as a senior consultant. Ariane earned an MBA from Harvard University and a Bachelor of Science degree with honors from Stanford University.
Dr. Debra L. Emmons
Vice President, Special Studies, Office of the Executive Vice President, The Aerospace CorporationDr. Debra L. Emmons is Vice President of Special Studies at The Aerospace Corporation, where she promotes the use of corporate and government resources through integrated planning and engineering. Previously, Emmons served as general manager of Aerospace’s Communication Technologies and Engineering Division, overseeing the division’s communications studies, analysis, and testing products to serve Aerospace’s customers. Harnessing more than 20 years of experience in systems engineering, technical and risk analysis, program management, and communications systems, Emmons was a principal contributor on several high-level assessments that have informed strategic decisionmaking within the government. She has received top awards from Aerospace and NASA for her achievements, considered integral to the establishment and growth of the NASA and civil space customer lines of business. Emmons earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees in electrical engineering from Cornell University; an MBA from Imperial College Management School; and a Ph.D. in systems engineering from George Washington University.
Dr. Fentzke is a space scientist by training and an experienced entrepreneur, mentor and investor. He is currently a Deeptech investor and managing director at Techstars. He was a co-founder and Board Director at OmniEarth and InSpace.
Founder & CEO at Launcher Founder at Mevo (acquired by Logitech in 2021) Founder at Livestream (acquired by Vimeo in 2017)
Tess Hatch hopes to travel to space. In the meantime, she is a venture investor at Bessemer Venture Partners who invests in frontier tech.
Kathleen C Howell
Hsu Lo Distinguished Professor of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Purdue UniversityProfessor Kathleen Connor Howell is the Hsu Lo Distinguished Professor of Aeronautics and Astronautics in the College of Engineering at Purdue University. Her research interests and expertise are in astrodynamics including mission planning and trajectory optimization, station-keeping and maneuver design, as well as low-thrust applications including small satellites and the development of interactive visual capabilities for complex mission scenarios. Professor Howell is a member of the National Academy of Engineering, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and the International Academy of Astronautics; she is also a Fellow of both AIAA (American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics) and AAS (American Astronautical Society). As an educator at Purdue, she teaches courses in fundamental dynamical analysis and a rage of astrodynamics topics. She is involved with various organizations within the international aerospace and astrodynamics community.
Steve Isakowitz is a recognized leader across the government, commercial, space and technology sectors, who has worked tirelessly throughout his career on behalf of the public good in space. He currently serves as President and CEO of The Aerospace Corporation, a leading architect for the nation’s space programs, where he heads up efforts to outpace threats to the country’s national security while nurturing innovative technologies to further a new era of space commercialization and exploration. With his guidance, Aerospace’s national workforce of more than 4,600 employees provides objective technical expertise and thought leadership to solve the hardest problems in space and assure mission success for space systems and space vehicles. Over the course of his more than 30-year career, Isakowitz has made impactful contributions across a number of prominent roles, including at Virgin Galactic, NASA, the U.S. Department of Energy, and the White House Office of Management and Budget.
Moriba Jah
Associate Professor, Aerospace Engineering & Engineering Mechanics, The University of Texas at AustinDr. Jah is an astrodynamicist and space environmentalist, leading a transdisciplinary research program in space safety, security, and sustainability. He’s a leading subject matter to industry and government, in and out of the United States, and is the Chief Scientific Advisor for Privateer. Jah leads NATO science and technology activities in space domain awareness, and testified to congress twice. Jah is a fellow of AFRL, AIAA, AAS, RAS, and TED. He’s a full member of the International Academy of Astronautics and is a co-editor of their peer-reviewed journal, Acta Astronautica. Jah has a monthly column in Aerospace America called Jahniverse, and hosts a bi-monthly webcast called Moriba’s Vox Populi through SpaceWatch.Global.
Beau Jarvis
CEO, Phase FourBeau Jarvis is the CEO of Phase Four and an Advisor to TrustPoint. Jarvis’ career trajectory over the past 20 years has spanned every major phase of the private aerospace industry’s recent transformation. From the sector’s early progress in producing more frequent, higher-quality Earth imagery data from space, to the miniaturization of satellites, to catalyzing advances in how to provide these new fleets of constellations with new levels of control and maneuverability, Jarvis has anticipated and led efforts at some of the industry’s most influential companies, including Planet, HawkEye 360, and Trimble Navigation.
As a co-founder of Wyvern, Callie Lissinna is on a mission to take hyperspectral images of Earth from space using satellites that cost 100X less than today’s technology. Her range of technical experience spans satellite design, sounding rockets, and space data. She managed the AlbertaSat student satellite project at the University of Alberta for 3 years, which included leading orbital operations of the first-ever made-in-Alberta satellite, Ex-Alta 1. Callie holds a BSc. Mechanical Engineering with a mathematics minor from the University of Alberta.
Istvan Lorincz is the president and co-founder of the Morpheus Space group. His broad industry and academic experience include in-space propulsion, experimental quantum physics, astrodynamics, cyber security, and business development.
Kathy Lueders
Associate Administrator, Space Operations Mission Directorate, NASAKathryn Lueders serves as the associate administrator (AA) of the Space Operations Mission Directorate (SOMD) at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). As SOMD AA, Lueders oversees the International Space Station (ISS), Space Communications and Navigation (SCaN), Launch Services (LSP), and commercial cargo and crew support with a primary focus on low-Earth orbit (LEO) destinations and building a LEO Commercial Economy (CSD). Prior to her selection for this role, Lueders served as the AA for NASA’s Human Exploration and Operations Mission Directorate (HEOMD) managing the agency’s full human spaceflight portfolio during her 15-month term. Since 2014, Lueders has directed NASA’s efforts to send astronauts to space on private spacecraft, which culminated in the successful launch of NASA’s SpaceX Demo-2 mission to the International Space Station, launching from Kennedy Space Center in Florida on May 30, 2020. Lueders has a Bachelor of Business Administration in Finance from the University of New Mexico and a Bachelor of Science and Master of Science in Industrial Engineering from New Mexico State University. Ms. Lueders received numerous NASA achievement, honor, and performance awards, including the NASA Superior Achievement Award, the Space Flight Awareness Award, the prestigious (2018) Distinguished Presidential Rank Award and Distinguished Service Medal.
Benjamin leads Astra’s engineering, manufacturing, and launch and test operations. He previously spent two decades designing and manufacturing hardware at Apple, where he most recently held the role of senior director of the Special Projects Group. Benjamin has a B.S. in Electrical & Computer Engineering from Carnegie Mellon University.
Lauren Lyons holds a bachelor’s degree in Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering and certificates in Robotics & Intelligent Systems and Engineering Biology from Princeton University, as well as a Master’s in Business and Government Policy from the Harvard Kennedy School of Government. Prior to joining Firefly, Lauren served as a Lead Systems Engineer in Blue Origin’s Advanced Concepts department where she led a team developing a novel spacecraft, and before that, led the Human Landing System National Team’s Requirements, Verification, Validation, and Certification team. Prior to Blue, Lauren spent several years at SpaceX where she worked in Reliability, Safety and Mission Assurance, and Chief Engineering for Crew Dragon, Cargo Dragon, and Falcon 9; there, her responsibilities included risk and change management, leading anomaly investigations, serving as the on-console mission safety official, and leading the NASA Certification Engineering effort for Crew Dragon’s first visit to the Space Station. She held additional roles as a Technical Product Lead on the Starlink program working on initial product development and go-to-market strategy, as well as roles in Mission Management where she supported more than seven Falcon 9 commercial and government spacecraft integration and launch campaigns. Before embarking upon her commercial space career, Lauren worked as a medical device R&D engineer at Medtronic where she holds multiple patents, taught leadership courses at Harvard University, and was a published science writer. A passionate advocate for engineering education, Lauren serves as an Executive Mentor for the Patti Grace Smith Foundation and co-hosted many seminal SpaceX milestone launch webcasts, including the Emmy Award-winning Demo-2 mission.
Shaun focuses on enterprise, fintech and frontier technology. He led Sequoia’s investments in AMP Robotics, DeSo, Gather, Knowde, Monad, Physna, SpaceX, and Vise. Prior to joining Sequoia in 2019, Shaun was a Partner at GV where he led their investments in Stripe, Opendoor, IonQ, Spinlaunch, Lambda School, and Dandelion Energy, among others. Previously, Shaun co-founded Expanse, a cybersecurity company that was acquired by Palo Alto Networks for over $800M, and Escape Dynamics, an alternative launch company. He also spent two years working at DARPA, through which he deployed to Afghanistan. Shaun earned a BS in Mathematics from the University of Southern California, an MS in Statistics from Stanford University, an MS in Control and Dynamical Systems from Caltech and a PhD in Physics from Caltech.
As CEO of Masten Space Systems, Sean Mahoney has been instrumental in building a sustainable, customer-funded business and establishing Masten as a rising star in the New Space movement. He joined Masten in 2010 as Director of Business Operations, served as COO from 2011 to 2012, and was named CEO in 2013. Mahoney brought more than 15 years of corporate leadership and technology experience to Masten. He founded and led a number of technology startups and raised multiple rounds of private funding. Mahoney received his MBA from Emory University’s Goizueta Business School and serves in a leadership capacity for a number of entrepreneurship and environmental non-profit organizations.
Prior to Voyager Space, Jeffrey was the Co-Founder and CEO of Nanoracks from 2009 through 2021. Today, Jeffrey remains Chairman of the Board at Nanoracks. Jeffrey steered the growth of Nanoracks from a garage space in Webster, Texas to the first commercial space station company with customers. Under Jeffrey’s leadership, Nanoracks was a pioneer, and now leader, in commercial low-Earth orbit utilization, and now in partnership with Voyager Space, intends to build the first-ever commercial space station. Under Jeffrey’s leadership at Nanoracks, the company flew over 1300 payloads from over 30 countries to the International Space Station, ranging from governmental agencies to universities and commercial organizations. In 2017, Jeff and his team brought the first-ever commercial Chinese experiment to the International Space Station. As the only American to ever work officially for the Russian space station 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 the Russian Soyuz as an escape vehicle for Space Station Freedom. Later, Jeffrey represented the Russian space organization when the basic contracts to realize the International Space Station were negotiated. As CEO of MirCorp, which leased the Russian space station Mir, he oversaw the first-ever commercially funded crew mission, of over 70 days, to the Mir space station. His experience developing the business base for Mir forged the path for Nanoracks’ success on the International Space Station and now on their own commercial platform. 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 and the Space Frontier Foundation’s 2017 Pioneer of New Space Award. In 2018, Jeffrey spoke before the National Space Council and U.S. Vice President on commercial trade with China on space services.
Pete Muend
Director, Commercial Systems Program Office, National Reconnaissance OfficeMr. Pete Muend is the Director of the National Reconnaissance Office’s Commercial Systems Program Office (CSPO) where he leads the NRO’s strategy for full integration of multiple commercial imagery sources. Prior to establishing CSPO, Mr. Muend served as the NRO’s director for the Commercial GEOINT Activity (CGA), a joint initiative between the NRO and the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA) established to position both agencies to take full advantage of existing and emerging commercial GEOINT capabilities. Prior to CGA, Mr. Muend was the Assistant Deputy Director of the National Intelligence for Acquisition where he was responsible for overseeing Major Systems Acquisitions across the Intelligence Community. Mr. Muend also served as the NRO Chief of Staff and in a number of other positions within the NRO and Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Intelligence.
Lt Col Walter "Rock" McMillan
Director, SpaceWERXLt Col Walter “Rock” McMillan is the Director of SpaceWERX. Lt Col McMillan entered the Air Force in 2003 through the University of Southern California ROTC program. He has served in a variety of program management and staff positions within Air Force Materiel Command, Pacific Air Forces, Air Force Space Command, and Office of the Assistant Secretary of the Air Force for Acquisition. He served as a Program Element Monitor for Military Satellite Communications programs and as Congressional Liaison Officer, House Division, Office of Legislative Liaison. Prior to returning to Los Angeles AFB, Lt Col McMillan attended the Air Officer Commanding Master’s Program in Colorado Springs, Colorado. He then became the Air Officer Commanding for Cadet Squadron 22 at the United States Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, Colorado.
Takahiro first became interested in space after reading a science magazine (Newton) when he was in high school. After graduating from the University of Tokyo with a degree in planetary science, he joined Accenture, where he was involved in consulting for supply chain management in the retail and manufacturing industries, before moving to Recruit, where he planned and launched a business within the New Business Development Office. In 2011, when he began volunteering his time to support the activities of Team HAKUTO, he developed a strong desire to build a completely new industry with enough social significance to be passed on to the next generations. Following that motivation, he fully committed himself to ispace in 2015. As Director and COO at ispace, he is responsible for all business operations, such as leading the development of new business schemes, customer acquisition, government relations and recruitment. In 2017, he also raised 10.35 billion yen ($97.6MM USD) in Series A funding, the largest ever raised in Japan.
Jordan Noone is the Co-Founder, CTO, and General Partner at Embedded Ventures, the skunkworks of deep tech venture capital. Launched with his Co-Founder Jenna Bryant. Jordan is Relativity’s Co-Founder and founding CTO – as of 2020, Relativity is the world’s second most valuable private space company. As Relativity’s CTO, Jordan focused on technical direction and engineering design, including: developing printing technology, launch vehicle design, propulsion design, software development, infrastructure development, and government affairs. Jordan also led many Relativity initiatives including: expansion of Relativity’s Stargate Factory into the rest of aerospace manufacturing, Relativity’s strategy for expanding printing technology off-planet; and the ability of Relativity’s factory flexibly scale to a wide range of rocket sizes. Jordan has had a lifelong interest in aerospace, including the design and build of spaceflight hardware at the age of 18 while at the University of Southern California, and becoming the first student and youngest individual in the world to get Federal Aviation Administration clearance to fly a rocket to space (150 kilometer altitude) while leading USC’s Rocket Propulsion Lab. In 2015 he started Relativity when 22 years old. He has been chosen for “30 Under 30” by Forbes, Business Insider, and Inc. Magazine. He received a BS in Aerospace Engineering, and dropped out of a BS in Biophysics, both from University of Southern California. Outside of Relativity, Jordan is active in promoting STEM education worldwide with the US Department of State.
Chris O'Connor
Partner and COO, Harpoon VenturesChris is a Partner and Chief Operating Officer at Harpoon, an early stage venture capital firm focused on enterprise and dual-use technology. Chris is responsible for all operational aspects of running the firm. He works closely with the investing team on key strategic decisions and investments. Chris also advises portfolio companies on go-to-market strategy development and execution. Before joining Harpoon, Chris served as a US Air Force officer developing emerging aerospace technology. He then worked with numerous government agencies to create pathways for engaging startups. Chris received his BS in Systems Engineering from the United States Air Force Academy and MBA from UCLA.
Nobu Okada is founder and CEO of Astroscale.
Lisa Rich is a successful investor, strategist, communicator and operator. She is founder and Managing Partner of Hemisphere Ventures (https://www.hemisphere.com/), an early stage venture capital firm focused on frontier tech and Top VC in the space sector. Hemisphere’s portfolio includes +30 space companies, i.e. Axiom Space, Umbra Lab, PlanetIQ and Made In Space (acquired by Redwire). Ms. Rich is founder and Chief Operating Officer of Xplore (https://www.xplore.com), the first commercial space company to offer Space as a Service(R) from payload hosting to instrument tasking via its platforms – the highly-capable ESPA-class Xcraft(R) and next-gen space drone, the LightCraft(TM)
Heather J. Richman
EIR / Founder, BMNT / Defense Investor NetworkAs the Entrepreneur in Residence at BMNT, Heather works alongside the US Department of Defense and the Intelligence Community to create ecosystems of innovators and investors to engage in national security-focused problem solving on all levels. Based in Palo Alto, CA, she is the founder of the Defense Investor Network which fuses the private capital investment ecosystem and the national security enterprise to promote agile innovation and transition while reducing the threat of foreign direct investment (FDI). Previously, Heather spent time on Capitol Hill where she led Appropriations, Budget, and Tax for U.S. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (NY), handled government relations for Stanford University, and was part of the founding team of Elemental Excelerator, the $36M Navy initiative that has leveraged $2B in private capital and paved the way for energy innovation in the military.
Sam Riehn
CEO, SBIR Advisors Inc.Sam is a USAF veteran and the CEO of SBIR Advisors Inc. A consulting firm who has helped tech startups win over $100M in Dept of Defense contracts in the last 12 months.
Jessica Robinson
Co-founder & Partner, Assembly VenturesJessica Robinson is a mobility investor, entrepreneur, and educator. As Co-Founder and Partner of Assembly Ventures, she invests in and strategically supports the entrepreneurs and mobility companies moving the Western world. She joined Assembly Ventures from her prior role establishing the Michigan Mobility Institute, an organization she co-founded to accelerate the development of talent for the mobility industry. Jessica previously led the development of next-generation mobility efforts at Ford Smart Mobility where she was the Director of City Solutions, a team which enabled go-to-market strategies for the company’s entire mobility portfolio. As an early leader in the new mobility industry, she held operating roles at Zipcar, the world’s largest car sharing organization, where she held roles in growth, operations, and marketing across North America. Her background in technology and innovation also includes prior work at Techstars launching corporate startup accelerators with industry-leading partners like Target and Virgin Media. In recognition of her public-private work, Jessica has been named a Next City Vanguard, a competitive distinction for top young urban innovators, and a delegate to the Harvard Business School Young American Leaders Program, an initiative that brings together cross-sector leaders to drive new strategies for shared American prosperity. Jessica graduated with highest honors from the University of Massachusetts with a BA in anthropology and brings an unexpected perspective to the challenges that fall at the intersection of mobility and technology.
Jennifer L. Ross is Head of Partnerships at ABL Space Systems and has more than 20 years of engineering and financial experience in the Manufacturing, Defense and Space industries. Prior to joining ABL, Ross held management and executive positions in the areas of material science and manufacturing, process engineering, and financial analysis. Most recently, she served as a principal engineer in Launch and Enterprise Operations at The Aerospace Corporation, analyzing the space industrial base and helping space startups conduct business with the U.S. Space Force. Ross transitioned from engineering to management consulting and finance in 2007. She spent five years as vice president of a public finance management and municipal bond firm. She later joined a hedge fund as an equity short seller/research analyst, analyzing corporate financials of publicly traded companies and predicting the probability of financial failure for those businesses.
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.
Ricardo G. Sanfelice is Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of California at Santa Cruz, CA, USA. He received his M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in 2004 and 2007, respectively, from the University of California, Santa Barbara. During 2007 and 2008, he was a Postdoctoral Associate at the Laboratory for Information and Decision Systems at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and visited the Centre Automatique et Systemes at the Ecole de Mines de Paris for four months. Prof. Sanfelice is the recipient of the 2013 SIAM Control and Systems Theory Prize, the National Science Foundation CAREER award, the Air Force Young Investigator Research Award, the 2010 IEEE Control Systems Magazine Outstanding Paper Award, the 2012 STAR Higher Education Award for his contributions to STEM education, and the 2020 ACM Test-of-Time Award from the HSCC. He is Associate Editor for Automatica and has served as Chair of the Hybrid Systems Technical Committee from the IEEE Control Systems Society. He is Director of the Cyber-Physical Systems Research Center at UCSC. His research interests are in modeling, stability, robust control, observer design, and simulation of nonlinear and hybrid systems with applications to robotics, power systems, aerospace, and biology.
James is a Co-Founder and the CEO of SkyWatch. Powered by a strong belief that our explorations of space are fundamental to building a better planet, he’s dedicated his entire career to growing the commercial space economy. His efforts range from educating our youngest students on the wonders of space to hosting space-focused hackathons for our oldest students, to spending many countless hours advising the next generation of space entrepreneurs on how they can reach the moon, literally and figuratively.
Mr. Spice has served as Rocket Lab’s Chief Financial Officer since May 2018, and has served as the Secretary and Treasurer since May 2021. From January 2011 until May 2018, he was Vice President and Chief Financial Officer at MaxLinear, Inc., a provider of radio frequency, analog and mixed-signal integrated circuits for the connected home, wired and wireless infrastructure, and industrial and multimarket applications. From October 2009 to November 2010, Mr. Spice was the Chief Financial Officer of Symwave Corporation, a venture backed fabless semiconductor company until its sale to Standard Microsystems Corporation (SMSC). From July 2000 until September 2009, Mr. Spice held a variety of financial and operational executive roles at Broadcom Corporation, a creator of semiconductor solutions for wired and wireless communications. From June 1996 until July 2000, Mr. Spice worked as a finance manager for Intel, a microchips manufacturer. Mr. Spice has a Bachelor of Business Administration from the Brigham Young university and an MBA from The University of Texas at Austin.
Roger Teague, Maj. General, USAF (Ret.)
President, Earth Observation Solutions, Terran OrbitalRoger Teague is the President of Earth Observation Solutions at Terran Orbital, a leading vertically integrated provider of end-to-end satellite solutions. He served previously as Vice President, Space, Intelligence, and Missile Defense for The Boeing Company. In 2017, he completed 31 years of distinguished service in the United States Air Force, retiring in the rank of Major General. During his career, Teague led several crucial U.S. space programs, including service as Director, Space Programs, Assistant Secretary for Acquisition during his last duty assignment. Currently, Teague serves as National Director for the Air Force Association and as a Trustee for United Through Reading.
Jason is a Managing Director in the Technology, Media and Telecom (TMT) Group in the Investment Banking Division. He joined Goldman Sachs as an analyst in 2008 and was named managing director in 2017. Before joining the firm, Jason was an investor at TriOaks Capital Management in New York. Jason earned a BS in Economics with a minor in Political Science from Duke University.
Tim Trimailo
Materiel Leader, Blackjack/CASINO, SSC/DCIRLieutenant Colonel Tim Trimailo is the Materiel Leader, Commercially Augmented Space Inter-networked Operations (CASINO) program at Space Systems Command (SSC), Los Angeles AFB, CA. In this role, he manages the Space Force investment in DARPA’s Blackjack program, which will demonstrate military utility of proliferated Low Earth Orbit (LEO) satellite architectures. In parallel, he is developing foundational prototypes and concepts of operations for future operational capabilities leveraging commercial investment in proliferated LEO technology. He has served in a variety of space operations, acquisitions, and staff assignments at Schriever AFB, the NRO, SSC, and the Pentagon.
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