Brigadier General Steven Butow

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

Prior to joining DIU, Butow was the Vice Chief of the Joint Staff, California Military Department with responsibilities including cybersecurity, incident awareness and innovation. He is a former Commander of the 129th Rescue Wing at Moffett Federal Airfield, CA, where his responsibilities included organizing, training, equipping, and maintaining 970 combat-ready forces and $1 Billion dollars of MC-130P aircraft, HH-60G helicopters and special mission equipment supporting the U.S. Air Force's combat rescue and personnel recovery missions. He has additionally served as the Deputy Director of the Joint Search and Rescue Center for U.S. Central Command in 2005, and as Chief of Personnel Recovery for U.S. Air Forces Central in 2007 supporting Operations IRAQI and ENDURING FREEDOM. He has more than 3,500 flying hours in T-37, T-38, C-130, HC-130 and MC-130P aircraft. In his reserve capacity, Butow is a Brigadier General serving part time as a Special Assistant to the Director, Air National Guard in a federal (Title 10) status.

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

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

Captain Roger Anderson

Roger Anderson is a Fellow in the Air Force and Space Force Education with Industry Program at Dcode. Here he works as a Technology Engagement Manager where he helps companies with disruptive commercial technology solutions understand how to engage in the federal marketplace. He also develops and delivers innovation curricula meant to help government members understand how to practice design thinking and engage commercial solutions.

Previously, Roger served as the Space Force Accelerator Deputy Program Manager at the Air Force Research Lab for Space Vehicles at Kirtland Air Force Base, New Mexico. There he aligned start-up company innovation with the needs of the Space Force and matured start-up technology for integration into current and future systems. He also led the directorate’s professional development program exposing young acquisition professionals to innovative acquisitions early in their careers.
Roger has a B.S. from the University of Arizona and an M.S. from the Air Force Institute of Technology, both in Electrical Engineering.

Colonel (Ret'd) Jason B. Mello

As President of Firefly Space Transport Services (STS), Jason is responsible for leading business development and sales for all of Firefly’s customers – commercial, civil, and military. He is also responsible for all Federal Government relations. Prior to Firefly, Mello’s final assignment was a Colonel at the Air Force Office of Scientific Research (AFOSR), where he was the Chief Research and Technology Officer for Science and Engineering. In this role, he led a team of senior scientists directing an over $500 million per year portfolio researching and developing future technologies vital for both the Air Force and Space Force. Before this posting, Mello served as the Director of the National Intelligence Portfolio where he led the oversight team for the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition and Sustainment overseeing a $9 billion per year portfolio of intelligence community programs. He has led at multiple levels including leading the first Launch Acquisition Division at the National Reconnaissance Office and multiple other satellite and intelligence programs. He served at the White House and other special assignments vital to the National Security of the United States.

He holds Master of Science in Engineering from the University of Massachusetts, and Master of Arts in Organizational Management from The George Washington University.

Dr Nick Cramer

Dr. Nick Cramer is currently the project manager for the Distributed Spacecraft Autonomy project out of NASA Ames Research Center. He is part of the Intelligent Systems Division where he has researched intelligent structures, UAVs, robotics, and currently autonomous spacecraft swarms. Dr. Cramer received his PhD in Computer Engineering from the University of California at Santa Cruz with a specialty in Robotics and Control. He received his Bachelor degrees in Mechanical and Electrical Engineering from Kettering University. Dr. Cramer also teachs a UAV design course in the Aerospace department at San Jose State University.

Jason Utulo

  Major Jason ''J.U." Utolo is a Senior Combat Systems Officer. He has over 1,300 hours as a Rivet Joint Navigator. Throughout his Air Force career he acquired a background in operational, tests and evaluations, and ISR operations. For the past 6 years he has been assigned to competitive green door jobs and has deep experience in sensitive reconnaissance operations and operating in highly contested environments.

Lieutenant Colonel David Johnson

Lieutenant Colonel David E. Johnson is currently the Materiel Leader and Chief of the Prototypes and Flight Experiments Branch, part of the Air Force Research Labs Space Vehicles Directorate at Kirtland Air Force Base in Albuquerque, New Mexico. In this capacity Lt Col Johnson leads a team of 71 military, civilians, and contractors in managing next-generation Research and Development satellite programs through design, integration, test, and operations.

Lt Col Johnson is a 2006 graduate of Seattle Pacific University with Bachelor of Science degrees in Computer Science, Computer Engineering, and Electrical Engineering. He commissioned from Officer Training School in 2006 and went on to his first assignment at Patrick Air Force Base, Florida where he served as both a Systems Engineer and Chief of Maintenance. Lt Col Johnson went on to complete his Masters of Science in Electrical and Computer Engineering at the Georgia Institute of Technology through the Air Force Institute of Technology’s Civilian Institutions Program. Following completion of his Master’s degree, Lt Col Johnson spent four years at Fort George G. Meade, Maryland serving in various roles including Flight Commander, Assistant Director of Operations for the 29th Intelligence Squadron and Executive Officer for the 70th Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance Wing. In 2014, Lt Col Johnson transitioned to the Air Force Space and Missile Systems Center in Los Angeles, California. There, Lt Col Johnson served within the Military Satellite Communications (MILSATCOM) Systems Directorate as the Lead Project Engineer and then Program Manager for the $230M Protected SATCOM Key Management Architecture program. Following his time in Los Angeles, Lt Col Johnson attended Air Command and Staff College at Maxwell Air Force Base, Alabama. In his most recent assignment, Lt Col Johnson served at the Directorate of Space Programs, Assistant Secretary of the Air Force for Acquisition, Technology, and Logistics, Pentagon, VA. There, Lt Col Johnson served one year as a Global Positioning System Program Element Monitor followed by one year as the Directorate’s Executive Officer, managing the executive staff for the 2-star Director of Space Programs.
 

Lieutenant Colonel Ferdinando Dolce

Ferdinando Dolce is a Lt.Colonel of the Italian Air Force in service at the Secretariat-General of Defence/National Armaments Directorate as Head of Space Situational Awareness (SSA) and Space Innovation section.

He was Project Officer Space of European Defence Agency (EDA) from 2017 to 2020.

He is an Aerospace Engineer who attended the Italian Air Force Academy from 1996 to 2002. He worked at Flight Test Centre of Pratica di Mare (IT) from 2002 to 2016 concluding his command as Head of Aero-Space Engineering Group. During his mandate in the Aero-Space Engineering Group he was also Head of the Italian SST (Space Surveillance and Tracking) Operational Centre.

From October 2016 to June 2017 he attended the 19th Joint Service Staff College in Rome.

Ferdinando Dolce got a PhD concluded with a Master by research in Mechanical Engineering at University of Bath (UK) in 2008 and a Master’s Degree in Advanced Communication and Navigation Satellite Systems at University of Rome Tor Vergata (IT). He was qualified System Test Engineer in 2008, with a specialization in Modelling & Simulation of structures and materials (FEM). He was instructor for the Italian Flight Safety Inspectorate from 2005 to 2013 and he supported the Italian Secretariat-General of Defence from 2009 to 2016 as technical expert, chairman and lecturer of the NATO Science and Technology Organization – AVT Panel.

He published several technical papers for national and international journals and conferences.

Lieutenant Colonel Tim Trimailo

Lieutenant Colonel Tim Trimailo is the Materiel Leader, Commercially Augmented Space Inter-networked Operations (CASINO) program, Innovation and Prototyping Directorate, Space Development Corps, Space & Missile Systems Center (SMC), Los Angeles Air Force Base, CA. In this role, Lt. Col. Trimailo manages the Space Force investment in DARPA’s Blackjack program, which will demonstrate military utility of a proliferated Low Earth Orbit (LEO) satellite architecture. In parallel, he is developing foundational prototypes and concepts of operations for future operational constellations leveraging Blackjack lessons learned and industry investment in proliferated LEO technology. Since graduating from the United States Air Force Academy in 2005, Lt. Col. Trimailo has served in space acquisitions, operations, and staff assignments at the National Reconnaissance Office, Schriever Air Force Base, the Pentagon’s Air Force Legislative Liaison Office, and twice now at SMC. He and his wife, the former Lori Young of Wichita, KS, reside in Redondo Beach, CA, and have two kids.

Mr Andrew Ratcliffe

 Andrew Ratcliffe is Chief Engineer at the UK Space Agency (UKSA) leading the newly formed Office of the Chief Engineer (OCE). Within this role Andrew serves as principal advisor to the Deputy CEO and other senior officials across HMG on matters pertaining to the technical readiness and execution of UKSA programmes and projects. As part of this role, Andrew represents HMG as head of delegation at a number of international forums including the UN Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space Science and Technical Sub-Committee (UN COPUOS STSC) and Inter-Agency Debris Coordination Committee (IADC). Prior to joining the UKSA, Andrew worked for Airbus Defence and Space where he led a number of mission studies and technology development activities for the European Space Agency (ESA) including the development of a Harpoon for capturing space debris.

Mr Andy Vick

Andy Vick is leading a disruptive development program for space applications at RAL Space, UKRIs world-leading research, development and service facility at Harwell in Oxfordshire. He is the UK PI for Speqtre, a quantum communications mission with Singapore, and is supporting a follow on mission with the UK’s Quantum Communications Hub.

Previously Andy was based at the UK-ATC in Edinburgh where he developed instruments for the Astrophysics community and Geo-Physics research. In 2015 he commissioned a novel SWIR Spectrometer, GHOST, which flew multiple 25-hour, 18,000m flights on NASAs Global Hawks measuring greenhouse gasses.

Mr David Balson

David works on space security and resilience at High Earth Orbit (HEO) Robotics and is the Director of UK and EMEA operations for the company. At HEO he supports organisations and institutions exploit space-borne sensors to better understand adversary intentions and behaviours and quantify the ever-growing risks of space threats to our collective resilience on Earth. David is a former intelligence officer and leader in the British government and technology industry with two decades of experience working national and international security issues, and is an advisor to early-stage technology start-ups.

Mr Joshua Brost

Josh is the Vice President of Business Development at Relativity Space, leading all the company’s business development and customer mission management efforts. Disrupting 60 years of aerospace manufacturing, Relativity is a vertically integrated technology platform that fuses 3D printing, artificial intelligence, and autonomous robotics, to design, print and fly entirely 3D-printed rockets with 100x fewer parts in less than 60 days.

As an experienced aerospace business leader, Josh has a proven track record of shaping long-term strategies that deliver company revenue growth while also shaping how customers purchase existing services and novel capabilities. Under Josh's leadership, Relativity’s first rocket, Terran 1 has become the most pre-sold rocket in history, with multiple contracts from both private and government entities, including a U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) contract, a Venture Class Launch Services Demonstration 2 contract with NASA as well as on-demand satellite launch contracts with Iridium, Telesat, among others.

Prior to joining Relativity, Josh spent nine years at SpaceX where he was the Senior Director of Government Business Development, securing $3B+ in government and commercial contracts, including SpaceX’s first U.S. Air Force EELV launch services contract, an Other Transaction Authority agreement to develop a new boost stage engine, and the first operational Falcon Heavy mission. Josh also previously worked as a consultant at the Boston Consulting Group and as an aerospace engineer at Boeing. In addition to a Bachelor’s and a Master’s degree in Aerospace Engineering from Arizona State University and The University of Washington respectively, Josh earned a Master’s in Business Administration from Harvard Business School.

Mr Joshua Western

Josh co-founded Space Forge in 2018. Space Forge is an in-space manufacturing company, developing the world’s first fully returnable and relaunchable satellite to unlock the benefits of space for manufacturing and experimentation at scale. By producing next generation materials on orbit and returning to Earth, a stepchange in humanity’s progress is possible which leads to a clean industrial revolution.

Prior to co-founding Space Forge, Josh worked for Thales Alenia Space across commercial, marketing, and sales and was also seconded to the UK Space Agency where he worked on everything from Critical National Infrastructure to technology harmonisation with European Space Agency member states. He has so far met 10 astronauts.

Mr Will Whitehorn

Will Whitehorn was born in Edinburgh and graduated with an Honours degree from the University in Aberdeen before spending his early career as a Helicopter Search and Rescue Crewman in The North Sea (British Airways Helicopters 1982-1984).

He then joined Thomas Cook as a graduate trainee before joining Virgin Group. He joined the Virgin Group as Group Public Relations Manager in 1987. Over the next several years he was responsible for presenting Virgin’s joint venture strategy, spent several months working in Japan and began to move into a more general management role. Will worked on the strategy to expand the brand into new areas such as financial services and telecoms.

From 1995 onwards, Will became part of a team developing the Virgin branded venture capital model for global expansion. In 1997 he became a Director of Virgin Rail Group and in 2000, he was appointed Brand Development and Corporate Affairs Director for Virgin. In 2004 he became President of Virgin Galactic. In 2007 he took on that role in an executive part time capacity and became special advisor to Sir Richard Branson. He was also a trustee of the Virgin Unite social entrepreneurship and environmental not for profit foundation. He left Virgin at the start of 2011 but remains a consultant to Virgin Galactic.

In addition to his Virgin involvement, Will was appointed non-executive Chair of Next Fifteen Communications Group PLC, the global technology PR consultancy in January 2004 (he retired from that role in April 2011).

In 2009 he was appointed to the Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC) and in 2011 was appointed Chair of its Economic Impact Committee.

He is a member of the first Minister of Scotland’s “GlobalScot” business-mentoring network.

Will also chaired the UK Industry Taskforce on Peak Oil and Energy Security (ITPOES) from 2007 – 2011 and remains a member of the taskforce.

In 2010 he joined the Board of the Scottish Exhibition + Conference Centre (SECC) in Glasgow and in 2014 he was appointed Chair. In 2017, the Company changed its name to Scottish Event Campus Limited and manages the SEC Armadillo, SEC Centre and SSE Hydro.

Will was appointed non-executive Chair of the Loewy Group in 2010 and extended that to a part-time role in 2011. He extended his role at Loewy following its acquisition by Writtle Holdings by joining the new Writtle company advisory board and taking on the Chair of the new group’s PR subsidiary, Speed Communications. Speed was sold to AIM listed Mission Marketing PLC in 2014 and as a result Will subsequently resigned as Chair.

In 2011 Will joined the Board of Stagecoach Group PLC, the global transport group and was Deputy Chair until 2020.

He has also held the role of the Chair of Transport Systems Catapult Ltd, a technology and innovation centre set up by the Technology Strategy Board of the British Government but resigned that after his three-year term was completed to avoid conflict with his enhanced Stagecoach role.

From 2014 - 2020, Will was the non-executive Chair of The Scottish Gallery in Edinburgh.

In 2014, he joined Purplebricks Group PLC, a 24/7 online estate agency business in which he was a founder shareholder/director in 2012. In 2018 following the sale of a significant minority stake to Axel Springer Group, Will volunteered to resign from the Board of Purplebricks Group PLC but remains a shareholder.

In 2016, he became Chair of Clyde Space Ltd, the UK’s leading independent space satellite manufacturer. After chairing Clyde Space for a number of years he has helped organise its sale to ÅAC Microtec this year and was invited to join the Board of the Swedish holding company and is currently a Director of the newly named ÅAC Clyde Space AB.

In April 2017, Will was appointed as senior non-executive Director at GVC Holdings PLC, A FTSE 250 gaming and software company. Will had a significant impact on improving the governance of GVC and was involved in diversifying the Board. In 2018 the Company acquired Ladbrokes Coral, joined the FTSE 100 and took a strategic decision to expand further into the United States. Prior to the announcement of a joint venture with MGM in the USA, Will volunteered to resign to coincide with the appointment of a US Board Director.

In October 2017, Will joined the UK Government Scottish Business Task Force. A new body set up to help advise the UK government on industrial and economic policy in Scotland.

In July 2018, Will joined the Board of Good Energy PLC as Deputy Chair and in September 2018 he joined the Board of the Royal Air Force as a Non-Executive Director with rank equivalent of Air Vice-Marshall.

In September 2019, Will joined UKspace as President of the trade association which represents the UK space industry. In June 2021, Will joined Seraphim Space Investment Trust Fund PLC as Chair of the world’s first listed space technology investment fund.

In January 2020, Will became Chair of Craneware PLC, an Edinburgh based company which is engaged in the development, licensing and ongoing support of computer software for the United States healthcare industry.

In August 2021, Will becomes Chancellor of Edinburgh Napier University.

In addition to his business commitments, Will is a Fellow of the Royal Aeronautical Society, The Marketing Society and Vice President of The Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport and fundraises for various charities.

He holds the Royal Aeronautical Society's prestigious Geoffrey Pardoe Space Award for services to the space industry.

He describes his hobbies as everything that moves and he is a keen scuba diver, skier, shot, classic car restorer and hill walker.
 

Mrs Charlene Jacka

 Charlene B. Jacka is a Physicist assigned to the Air Force Research Laboratory as a Program Manager for Hybrid Architecture Demonstrations at Kirtland Air Force Base, New Mexico.  Since arriving at Kirtland AFB, she has served in a variety of positions, including lead Test Engineer for the Commercially Hosted Infrared Payload, lead Systems Engineer for the Satellite for High Accuracy Radar Calibration Mission, Branch Chief Engineer for the Small Satellite Portfolio. Charlene serves as the Project Arrangement Lead for Micro-Satellite Military Utility, which involves the Departments and Ministries of Defense of Australia, Canada, Germany, Italy, Great Britain, Netherlands, Norway, and New Zealand. In her current assignment, Charlene works with a variety of commercial space and allied partners to conduct research and development aimed at developing a blueprint for a multinational heterogeneous space enterprise, to provide military users with reliable access to a broad spectrum of information in opportunistic environments.

Mrs Robin Yeman

As the CTO of Catalyst Campus for Technology & Innovation, Robin collaborates closely with the Catalyst Campus ecosystem to match the latest technologies and processes to mission needs. She works closely with technology providers and mission needs customers to optimize delivery of products and services from research and development directly into the hands of the warfighter, turning mission needs into successful mission outcomes.

Robin is passionate about continuous learning and currently working towards her PHD in Systems Engineering at Colorado State University. Her dissertation research is identifying the best practices for delivering complex safety critical system of systems utilizing Agile and DevSecOps. She has published multiple papers in Industrial DevSecOps through IT Revolution where she outlines how to expand DevSecOps outside of software into management, hardware and firmware. In pursuit of continuous improvement within the defense domain she Co-leads NDIA ADAPT (Agile Development for Agencies, Programs and Teams), Supports Incose Agile Systems Engineering, and SEI’s Agile Working Group.

Robin’s expertise spans over twenty-five years of experience in systems engineering, software development, and IT with the focus on Agile software development across multiple domains. She has spent almost 3 decades leading technology at Lockheed Martin across all domains building a variety of systems from Submarines to Satellites. She led the corporate software factory instantiation providing a common approach across all lines of business ensuring an enterprise approach to delivering all types of software intensive systems. Robins most recent role at Lockheed Martin was Technical Senior Fellow which is considered Lockheed Martin’s top technical talent comprised of less than .05% of the workforce.

She is a DevOps ambassador at the DevOps Institute and has been actively leading Agile programs execution at scale both domestically and internationally for the last eighteen years with multiple certifications, including Scaled Agile Framework Fellow, Certified Scrum Practitioner, CSM, CSPO, PSM, PMP, PMI-ACP, INCOSE Certified Systems Engineer, and Kanban Masterclass.

Robin received her bachelor’s degree from Syracuse University in Management Information Systems, her master’s degree from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Software Engineering and currently is pursuing a Ph.D. in Systems Engineering at Colorado State University.

Ms Juli Lawless

Juli Lawless is the Director of Business Development for National Defense for Redwire.

Since starting with the company in 2019, Lawless is responsible for leveraging company expertise in pervasive structures and deployables, additive and in-space manufacturing, advanced sensors, and digital engineering to enable new business development initiatives in support of U.S. Defense and Intelligence missions.

Prior to her current role, Lawless worked across various components of the US Department of Defense and Intelligence communities. Over a decade of experience providing technical, programmatic and systems engineering support to DARPA TTO, DIA, DoD, and DHS contribute to her unique expertise in disruptive technologies and the rapidly changing environment of National Security Space.

Lawless earned her Bachelor of Science in Aerospace Engineering, Astronomy, and Physical Science as well as her Master of Business Administration from the University of Maryland. Juli Lawless leads Redwire National Defense initiatives from Washington, D.C.
 

Phoenix Torrijos

  Lieutenant Colonel Phoenix Torrijos is an intelligence professional who has also served as a Foreign Area Officer. She served in two space assignments: first at SMC/IN providing intelligence support to MILSATCOM, and at AFSPC/A2 supporting cyber and space acquisitions, followed by duty as an executive officer to the Vice Commander. Lt Col Torrijos has also had two assignments in China, first as an Olmsted Scholar and recently was the Air Liason Officer to Hong Kong and Macau.