Andrew joined Astroscale in January 2023 to lead the Business Development, Sales, and Marketing functions in the UK and Europe as the company expands to make in-orbit servicing and debris removal routine by 2030 and delivers on its vision for safe and sustainable development of space for the benefit of future generations.  He is a senior leader with over 20 years growing revenue across the satellite communications and space industries.  

He was previously VP EMEAAP Sales at ALL.SPACE, leading sales and business development for all commercial and global government segments.  Prior to that, he held senior positions at ST Engineering iDirect and Intelsat where he focused on providing critical communications infrastructure to the Aviation, Maritime, and Land Mobile segments.  Earlier in his career, he held various sales and marketing roles at NewSkies Satellites, and at an independent teleport in the USA called ESATEL Communications.  He also performed research and project development work at the Center for Strategic & International Studies (CSIS), the Embassy of Mexico in Washington, DC, and at NASA, which involved the provision of Internet service and remote sensing for environmental purposes.  

Andrew holds a BA in Economics from Washington University in St. Louis, and an MA in International Affairs from The George Washington University in Washington, DC. 

Artur (Art) Loureiro is the Director of the Space Defense Solutions (SDS) Portfolio for L3Harris Technologies Space Superiority Division. He is a former senior Army officer with extensive experience in Joint Multidomain Operations, on land, space; and Integrated Air & Missile Defense. As the Director for SDS, Loureiro is responsible for current program execution and business growth within the portfolio’s four enterprise areas: Space Domain Awareness, Strategic Warning & Defense, Space Systems Test & Training; and Assured Access to Space. Loureiro leads a team of highly motivated Program Managers, Engineers, and Strategic Growth Professionals. The SDS Portfolio supports multiple customers including the US Space Force, USSPACECOM, Department of the Air Force, Department of the Army, and T50 agencies. The SDS portfolio conducts both Operational Maintenance and Sustainment activities of ground-based radar and optical sensors and is involved in various development programs focused on ground-based strategic warning sensors and Live, virtual, and constructive environments supporting the warfighter. In addition to US based customers, SDS is active with US partner nations that include the UK and Australia. 

Prior to joining L3Harris, Loureiro was the Business Unit Lead for Boecore Inc. where he oversaw the company’s Space Operations Portfolio. He was responsible for overseeing several space and missile warning programs and managing a team of highly skilled engineers. He was Boecore’s Task Lead on the SENSOR program and led Harris Corps support to Multidomain Command and Control (MDC2) Experiment as part of SMCSYG support to the Department of the Air Force as well as the National Space Defense Center (NSDC). Prior to joining industry, Loureiro retired after 29 years in the US Army where he was commissioned an Infantry Officer and served in a variety of command and staff roles. Loureiro has served in all levels of command from platoon through Brigade and finished his active-duty service as an Army Strategist. He has also served in the US Embassy in Rome, Italy as a Foreign Area Officer specializing in West, Central, and Eastern European national security. His most recent military assignments were as the Chief of Plans for the United States Army Space and Missile Defense Command / Army Strategic Forces Command, Chief of Plans for the North American Aerospace Defense Command & US Northern Command; and Director of Strategy and Policy for the United States Army War College. Loureiro served in three combat tours as part of Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom. He was also involved in several operational deployments involving Counterdrug Operations, Disaster Response and Peacekeeping/Enforcement. Loureiro retired as Colonel in 2015. Loureiro has an MA degree in National Security Affairs from the Naval Postgraduate School and a BA in Political Science from the University of Connecticut. 

Avi Shabtai is the CEO of Ramon.Space, the leader in Space-resilient computing infrastructure. With extensive background in business and technology leadership from startups to publicly traded companies, his career spans various industries including wireless, data centers, networking, and space. Avi has pursued his passion for deep technology innovation via his leadership of several companies around the globe, including his most recent position as CEO of MultiPhy Inc., specializing in high-speed integrated circuits for the data center market. Prior to MultiPhy, he held several executive positions as VP and GM at Alvarion Technologies (ALVRQ), VP R&D at Tiaris, and Director of Engineering at Metalink (MTLK). Avi holds an MSc and BSc in Electrical Engineering from the Technion, Israel Institute of Technology and is an SMP graduate of the Technion Institute of Management. 

Brian Chandler, business area lead for Earth observation and satcom antenna systems at satcom provider Viasat, will give a presentation on innovations in antenna development at Connectivity Next 2023 on Nov. 13, at 1:45 p.m. (ET). 

Brian serves as Director of EO and Satcom Antennas at Viasat, a global communications company.  Joining Viasat as a systems engineer, Brian has held various leadership positions in both engineering and business development over his 15-year tenure. In his current role, he has business segment responsibility for all commercial and international gateway antenna markets.

Caleb Williams is an American data scientist and futurist who helps investors make smart strategic decisions when deploying capital into deep-tech investment opportunities. He has spent the past 10 years working in a variety of strategy, M&A, and finance roles across the space ecosystem, and currently serves as the Vice President of Platform & Solutions at Quilty Space. Prior to Quilty, Caleb was a Director at New Vista Capital and New Vista Acquisition Corp. and led consulting and due diligence teams at industry boutiques Nextfed and SpaceWorks.  
 
Caleb is a widely recognized expert in space economics and has authored papers on topics ranging from vertical integration activity in the small satellite sector, to reducing bias in expert estimates. His most recent work, Picking Winners: Identifying Features of High-performing Special Purpose Acquisition Companies Using Machine Learning was published in the Journal of Risk and Financial Management and his prior research has been featured in media outlets such as Forbes, Kiplinger, WIRED, and Aviation Week.

Calvin Pennamon, director of operational exploitation systems, payload and ground systems at defense contractor Northrop Grumman, will discuss bringing ground systems into the digital age at the Connectivity Next Summit 2023 on Monday, Nov. 13, at 3:15 p.m. (ET).

Calvin Pennamon is director of the Operational Exploitation Systems operating unit (OESOU) for the Payload and Ground Systems division, Space Systems sector, Northrop Grumman’s premier provider of space and launch systems serving national security, civil and commercial customers.  

In this role, he directs the overhead persistent infrared (OPIR) and data exploitation portfolio for ground operations in Boulder, Colorado within the Department of Defense and civilian government agencies. Previously, he managed the company’s mission payload engineering team for the Space Based Infrared System (SBIRS) constellation. 

Pennamon started his career in the U.S. Air Force, where he was an officer in the Space Command’s Defense Support Program (DSP) working on the constellation system using OPIR to provide information to the missile warning community.  

He earned bachelors’ degrees in biological science and chemistry from Clemson University and holds a bachelor’s degree in computer science and a master’s degree in systems engineering from Regis University. 

Northrop Grumman is a leading global aerospace and defense company. Our pioneering solutions equip our customers with the capabilities they need to connect and protect the world and push the boundaries of human exploration across the universe. Driven by a shared purpose to solve our customers’ toughest problems, our 95,000 employees define possible every day. 

Chris Rose, chief technology officer for antenna systems at satcom provider Viasat, will discuss digitalizing ground systems at Connectivity Next Summit 2023 on Monday, Nov. 13, at 3:15 p.m. (ET).

Mr. Rose has been working in the antennas and communications industry for 30 years. For the last 20 years, he has been employed by Viasat and has held various positions of leadership, including Systems Engineering Manager, Software Engineering Manager and General Engineering Manager.

Currently, Mr. Rose is the Chief Technology Officer for the Antenna Systems business area of Viasat in Duluth, Ga. His key technology areas are ISR ground-terminals, high-rate modem and signal processing, and advanced multi-beam, multi-sensor antenna systems using digital-beamforming.

Mr. Rose holds a BSEE from Ohio University and MSEE from Georgia Institute of Technology specializing in electromagnetics and digital signal processing.

Daniel Gizinski is the Chief Strategy Officer  at Comtech.  

In his current role, Daniel is focused on creating comprehensive strategies and developing innovative technologies that will help ensure the U.S. Department of Defense and coalition forces maintain a strategic advantage across today’s information dominant battlespace, and commercial organizations benefit from the rapidly proceeding rate of innovation in the market.  

As Chief Strategy Officer at Comtech, Daniel collaborates with teams across the enterprise to develop cutting-edge, integrated solutions that address the most challenging mission needs of today while anticipating capabilities that will be needed in the future.  

During his tenure with Comtech, Daniel has held multiple senior management and leadership positions including serving as the President of Comtech Satellite Network Technologies, Inc. and holding a position as Vice President of Product and Strategy for Comtech Systems, Inc. Prior to joining Comtech in 2019, Daniel held program management and leadership positions at General Electric, Sierra Nevada Corporation and L3Harris Technologies. 

Daniel holds a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering from the University of Virginia and a master’s degree from Duke University. 

Dara Panahy, leader of Milbank LLP’s Transportation and Space Group in Washington, D.C., will speak on a panel titled “M&A Trends in the Space Sector” at Connectivity Next 2023 on Nov. 14 at 9:35 am EST.

As leader of Milbank LLP’s Transportation and Space Group in Washington, D.C., Dara Panahy’s practice involves representation of satellite and space infrastructure operators, aerospace manufacturers, launch services providers, communications, earth observation and data services companies, banks, private equity firms, hedge funds and other investors in debt and equity offerings, project, structured and vendor financings, corporate matters, mergers & acquisitions, financial restructurings, and in negotiating commercial contracts. Dara also counsels clients on domestic and international regulatory and trade matters, including licensing of communications systems, economic sanctions, regulation of foreign direct investment, anti-bribery and corrupt practices, national security and export control laws and regulations and risk management. 

Dara is a regular speaker at space and communications conferences, a visiting lecturer at the International Space University and has published articles and delivered numerous presentations on finance, commercial and regulatory aspects of the aerospace and communications industries. 

Devon Papandrew leads new business efforts at Stoke Space, having joined Stoke with deep business experience across aerospace and software development. Previously VP of Business Operations at Spaceflight Inc., the worldwide leader in satellite rideshare launch services, Devon developed a series of innovative tools that connected business development, mission management and the engineering teams in a manner that enabled Spaceflight to build, sell and execute complicated rideshare missions. He holds a BS in Physics and Economics from Georgetown University where he played four years of Division I football. 

Ed Baron is a Senior Vice President leading Product Strategy for the Defense and Space Engineering Sector within Parsons’ Defense & Intelligence (D&I) market. The D&I sector’s 3,000 employees provide geospatial solutions, space capabilities, cybersecurity solutions, engineering services, rapid hardware prototyping, and electronic warfare capabilities to commercial, Department of Defense, and Intelligence Community customers. Ed is responsible for developing and driving strategy for all products in the portfolio and manages IR&D investment working across the program teams to develop and deliver capabilities to meet existing and new customer mission needs. Ed also leads business model development and execution of new business ventures partnering across all sectors to coordinate strategy and investments for space. 

Ed served 25 years in the Air Force retiring as a Colonel after an extensive career within space engineering, operations, procurement, and communications.  Key highlights included 16 years in the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) on multiple programs; three years in Air Force Space Command managing requirements, funding, and acquisition supporting the DARPA space portfolio, Space Superiority, Launch, and MILSATCOM; two command assignments as the NRO Communications Squadron Commander and then the 50th Mission Support Group; and three deployments to Afghanistan, CENTCOM Combined Air Operations Center (CAOC), and finishing his career as Chief of Staff, Joint Forces Special Operations Component Command – Iraq. 

JJ is Founder & Chief Executive Officer of Royal Media, Auto Finance News‘ parent company. He has a BS in Economics from Yeshiva University and a Master’s from the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism. He was also a fellow at the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s Graduate School of Banking. He lives in New York City with his wife, two daughters and son.

Laurence Russell is a Deputy Editor for Connectivity Business News. As a young industry veteran of five years, covering the satellite industry, space commerce, and connectivity technologies since 2018, Laurence has conducted countless interviews with the market's top executives, analysts, and engineers.

He began his career with Satellite Evolution Group, another space-based publication conducting in-depth feature reporting and interviews. He's also written for Wired, Inverse, and Kaspersky Secure Futures. Laurence holds a master of arts from the University of Southampton and works from the company's London office.

Madeline Durrett is a graduate of Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University. She holds a master's degree in Aeronautics with concentrations in Aeronautical Science and Space Studies. She completed undergraduate studies at Nicholls State University, earning a B.A. in English literature.

Mea Thompson is a visionary leader dedicated to bridging the digital divide and ensuring equitable access to education and opportunity for all. As the Co-Founder of unconnected.org, she is driving change in the lives of underserved communities around the world. She is also a dynamic leader in the tech industry, with a wealth of experience and expertise in connectivity with a focus on eSIM. Mea has been a driving force in the eSIM industry for years, helping to shape its direction and push the boundaries of what's possible. In recognition of her outstanding contributions, Mea was named a finalist for Telecom Woman of the Year 2023.

As CEO of BridgeComm, Michael Abad-Santos is leading the architecture of a global communications infrastructure for an increasingly data-driven future.

BridgeComm is the only company that offers point-to-multipoint communications utilizing optical wireless communications (OWC). Its highly-mobile, rapidly-deployable multi-point optical laser communications solution enables humans and machines to connect with unlimited flexibility wherever data resides.

A 20-plus year telecommunications and satellite industry veteran, Michael joined BridgeComm in 2019 as senior vice president of business development and strategy. He has held a range of previous executive roles including chief commercial officer at TrustComm, and senior vice president, Americas, at LeoSat Enterprises, where he helped secure pre-series A investments of $20 million, two strategic investment partners and more than $2B in pre-launch contracts for commercial services. Prior to that, Michael also spent more than a decade at Inmarsat, holding several senior executive roles in its U.S. and Global government divisions.

Mike Kaplan is a leader in the space arena, with an impressive track record of building diverse teams that achieve powerful results. He is a visionary thought leader with extensive experience in government and commercial industries, previously holding senior leadership positions at NASA, Boeing, Raytheon Technologies, Ball Aerospace, Space Systems Loral, and Belcan.  

Mike has led teams in the development of new space technologies, including highly complex payloads, spacecraft subsystems, spacecraft buses, planetary landers, and robotic satellite servicers. He’s also contributed his expertise to entire missions from LEO to deep space in the civil, commercial, and national security arenas. Recently, his focus has been on proliferated LEO constellations to revolutionize weather prediction. 

Mike earned a bachelor’s in Aerospace and Mechanical Sciences/Engineering Physics at Princeton University and a master’s in Electrophysics at The George Washington University.

Michael Lavis is a Program Manager for Lockheed Martin’s Space Security Strategy and Business Development Organization focusing on future Space Security architectures developing next generation space security operational effects and capabilities in Space Resilience, Space Command and Control (C2), Space Domain Awareness, and Space Control. Mr. Lavis is responsible for all Internal Research and Development (IRAD) for LM Space Security. Prior to joining Lockheed Martin Space Security, Mr. Lavis worked multiple programs of national importance as an Electronics Engineering Manager delivering world class electronics and spacecraft harnesses. Mr. Lavis has been at Lockheed Martin over 25 years in Sunnyvale, CA and Littleton, CO. Mr. Lavis holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Safety Sciences from Indiana University of Pennsylvania and a Master of Science Degree in Systems Engineering from The George Washington University.

Noel Rimalovski is a Managing Director at GH Partners, an independent New York-based investment banking firm, and brings a deep background in M&A and corporate finance to clients in the Aerospace, Telecoms and Technology sectors.  

In Mr. Rimalovski’s 20-year career, he has provided advisory services to clients including, sales and acquisitions of companies, restructurings, capital raisings, valuations and fairness opinions to domestic and international clients.  

Prior to joining GH Partners, Mr. Rimalovski was Senior Vice President at Macquarie Capital (USA), 2007-08, and before then the Director in the Mergers & Acquisition Group of Dresdner Kleinwort Wasserstein, and its predecessor Wasserstein Perella. 

Mr. Rimalovski earned his MBA in Finance from Columbia Business School, where he made the Beta Gamma Sigma Honor Society and received the Wall Street Journal Achievement Award for Finance. He also holds a BA, Quantitative Economics, from Tufts University. 

Paul Gaske serves as Chief Operating Officer of EchoStar with responsibility for all revenue-generating activities across the organization worldwide. Previously, Mr. Gaske led the North America division at Hughes, including HughesNet®, the company’s flagship satellite internet service for consumers and small businesses; enterprise managed services; government and military systems division and the company’s manufacturing business. Mr. Gaske joined Hughes in 1977 as a digital design engineer and has held a variety of engineering, marketing, and business management positions. Beginning in 1996, Mr. Gaske led the launch and subsequent growth of the Hughes satellite Internet service to its success today as the largest satellite Internet network in the world with more than 1.5 million subscribers across two continents. Mr. Gaske earned a Bachelor Degree in Electrical Engineering from the University of Maryland and a Master Degree in Computer Science from Johns Hopkins University. A member of Eta Kappa Nu, Tau Beta Phi and the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineering (IEEE), Mr. Gaske holds numerous patents in satellite communications and broadband networking. He was named the University of Maryland Clark School of Engineering “Distinguished Engineering Alumnus” in 2012. Mr. Gaske was inducted into the Space & Satellite Professionals International Hall of Fame in 2020 and named an Inspiring Leader by Inspiring Workplaces in 2021. 

éka Winslow, a space physicist and Research Professor at the University of New Hampshire (UNH), has extensive expertise in NASA space missions, having contributed to multiple ventures, including those to Mercury (MESSENGER), the Moon (LRO), L1 (IMAP), and solar observations (STEREO). Most recently, she was the Deputy Director for the IMAP-Lo instrument for NASA’s flagship mission, IMAP, facilitating the design, build, and test of the instrument, working with a large team of engineers and scientists across five different institutions in the US and Europe. She successfully built up and managed the AI&T and instrument operations teams, delivering the concept of operations and calibration of key subsystems while increasing the speed of build and test efforts by transforming process management. Notably, she co-led day-to-day operations for the team during the many challenges posed by the Covid-19 pandemic while fostering enhanced collaboration within the geographically dispersed group. Simultaneously, through the acquisition of awards and grants from NASA and NSF, Réka established a space weather research group at UNH. With 14 years of research experience in space weather-related field and an extensive record of published articles, Réka is well-prepared to provide invaluable insights into satellite longevity. She holds a PhD in Geophysics/Space Physics and a BSc in Honors Physics and Astronomy from the University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada.

Robert Bell serves as the Executive Director of the World Teleport Association (WTA), where he is responsible for the programs, finances and operations of the organization. WTA promotes the commercial interests of teleport operators and excellence in their operations, technology and business practices. As a subject matter expert, Robert writes frequently for industry journals including Via Satellite, SatNews and Satellite Executive Briefing. He has appeared in segments of ABC World News and The Discovery Channel; and has led business development missions in the US and Asia. He is a frequent speaker and moderator at industry conferences including SATELLITE and Satellite Innovation. He manages WTA’s research activities and edits its reports, including Service Automation and Orchestration for Teleport Operators, The Virtual Teleport, Teleports and the 5G Opportunity, Cloud Services for Teleport Operators, LEO/MEO Constellations and the Teleport and New Antennas, New Opportunities.

Sriram is the director of product management for Skylo Technologies, the world’s most ubiquitous non-terrestrial network (NTN). With a blend of engineering leadership and product development expertise, Sriram has extensive experience in the telecommunications and media industries. His leadership spans across both enterprise and consumer verticals, making impactful strides in mobility, satellite (Non-Terrestrial Networks - NTN), and broadband connectivity solutions.

Sriram's journey includes hands-on DevOps experience, deeply rooted in public and private cloud deployments, and application Lifecycle Management with best-of-breed tools. A visionary in IoT platforms, he’s sculpted products from the ground up – overseeing device, connectivity, service management, and IoT orchestration.

His knowledge touches various verticals, including Smart X, automotive, and agg tech, showcasing his adaptability and commitment to innovation. Furthermore, Sriram's architectural prowess has been instrumental in both wireline and wireless technologies, contributing extensively to OSS/BSS architecture, solutions from Inventory, provisioning to Surveillance systems.

Sriram earned his Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering from the University of Madras. He then went on to receive his Masters of Science in Electrical Engineering from the University of Florida. He has also earned his MBA with a focus on Business Strategy and Finance from the Cornell Johnson Graduate School of Management. 

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

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

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

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

Timothy A. Rosener is Radio Frequency (RF) Chief Engineer of the Operational Exploitation Systems operating unit (OESOU) for the Payload and Ground Systems division, Space Systems sector, Northrop Grumman’s premier provider of space and launch systems serving national security, civil and commercial customers.  

In this role, he leads the RF Lab in Boulder, Colorado to develop, test and integrate space and ground components at Northrop Grumman. The RF Lab supports all the programs in Boulder and Azusa, California. 

Rosener started his career at Lockheed Martin, working multiple communication systems examples are space-based software radio, and the lead for a space modulation/demodulation payload. Tim moved to Northrop Grumman for the opportunity to develop new technology components for ground and space. 

He earned bachelors’ degrees in geophysical engineering from Colorado School of Mines in Golden, Colorado and a master’s degree in telecommunication from University of Colorado in Boulder. 

Northrop Grumman is a leading global aerospace and defense company. Our pioneering solutions equip our customers with the capabilities they need to connect and protect the world and push the boundaries of human exploration across the universe. Driven by a shared purpose of solving our customers’ toughest problems, our 95,000 employees define possible every day.

In 2004, after a decade in Nokia’s Home Communications business, overseeing Product Management and the development of the world’s first hybrid DTH / internet terminal, Tobias managed the spin-out of what today is Forsway Scandinavia AB. Forsway has now deployed the hybrid satellite / terrestrial technology with the world’s most cost-effective remote terminals in more than 30 emerging and established markets on five continents. The solution provides connectivity and content distribution. Apart from developing close contacts with service providers, satellite operators and System Integrators globally, Forsway and Tobias have undertaken several development projects financed by ESA and the Swedish Government.