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Better Satellite World: Making Space for New Space

The risk of start up in an industry as complex as commercial space and satellite is made even more intense by the challenges that are part of our business. Yet all around the world, people are looking at the opportunities, the new space of space and making the leap. These are our innovators, and this podcast series will bring them to you. You'll have a chance to meet but a handful of the many companies who are continuing to shape the economy, the future and, of course, to make a Better Satellite World.

Episode 1: Kranthi Chand, Head of Strategy & Special Projects at Dhruva Space

Kranthi Chand is the Head of Strategy & Special Projects at Dhruva Space, a position he has held for over 2 years. In his position at Dhruva Space, Kranthi is responsible for market research and strategic planning for corporate development, including bid management for government tender opportunities. He builds relationships with strategic government and defence clientele in India and overseas for the company and has established global partnerships in the ground station networks, remote sensing and in-space transportation areas. Before joining Dhruva Space, Kranthi founding his own company Aquamonk in 2018 and still serves as CEO today. He also founded the Heritage Hyderabad Initiative in 2020. Outside of his new space career, Kranthi works in strategy and collaboration for Pro Sport Development. He is a graduate of Ecole de Management de Lyon, East China Normal University and Jawaharlal Nehru Technological University with a Bachelor of Technology and two Masters of Science degrees.

Dhruva Space is India’s first private space-tech company, dedicated to creating exceptional small satellite systems to help space exploration technology meet human imagination and innovation. The company’s areas of focus include satellite platforms, launch solutions and ground services. Dhruva Space currently has over 10 upcoming missions and 9 pending patents and recently launched a successful test of a deployer as part of ISRO’s PSLV C54 mission.

This Podcast Series is Underwritten by

With Thanks to Our Corporate Partners

Episodes 2 and 3: Alex Fielding, Co-Founder and CEO of Privateer

Alex Fielding is the co-founder and CEO of Privateer. Privateer is a data and intelligence platform empowering the future of space sustainability. As CEO and chairman of Privateer, Alex is responsible for supporting the leadership, vision and execution of Privateer. With decades of experience in innovation and growth in the tech sector, he is poised to lead the team in its launch of the first highly accurate space traffic map that aggregates multi-source data on Earth orbiting space objects, as a means to power the new space economy and make space exploration safe and sustainable.

Alex started his career as an engineer at Cisco Systems and Apple, where he worked on multiple generations of MacOS, PowerBook, and network servers and was part of the first iMac team. After departing Apple, he joined Exodus Communications under the leadership of Ellen Hancock, a former Apple CTO who served as Exodus’ CEO. Alex went on to co-found GPS company Wheels of Zeus with Apple’s co-founder Steve Wozniak in 2001 (sold in 2006), marking the beginning of a fruitful friendship and partnership that brings us Privateer today.

Alex has also worked as CTO at Power Assure and then Vice President at Vigilent before starting Ripcord while a contractor at NASA. Alex served as CEO at Ripcord from 2014-21 and remains on the Board of Directors. Alex is also on the Board of Directors of The Institute for the Study of Knowledge Management in Education (ISKME). He is on the mentor board of Orange Fab and is an adviser to Astra Space. He is an active contributor to the IETF. He is a founding member of Singularity University at NASA Ames Research Center and co-author on several patent applications.

Episode 4: Lisa Kuo, Vice President of Strategic Sales at Ramon.Space

Lisa Kuo is currently the VP of Strategic Sales for Ramon.Space, a leader in Space-resilient computing infrastructure with an impressive in-orbit success track record to date. As part of her current role in a dynamically growing new market of space computing infrastructure, she is channeling her energy and creativity into building an ecosystem to enable further utilization of computing resources in space.

Her extensive background in various spectrum of the space industry – anywhere from troubleshooting a satellite, evaluating cutting-edge propulsion technologies, designing a future military communication architecture, to helping customers implement a success-oriented business model, makes her an ideal panel moderator and speaker with a serious track record to boot.

Prior to joining Ramon.Space, Lisa held senior roles at Panasonic Avionics Corp., The Aerospace Corp, The Boeing Company and Northrop Grumman. She also holds two masters degrees, Electrical Engineering / Mechanical Engineering from University of Southern California and University of California, Irvine.

Ramon.Space is the leader in space-resilient computing infrastructure. Powered by its unique AI/ML processors, Ramon.Space’s software-empowered systems enable the realization of Earth-like computing capabilities in space. The company’s proven technology has already been deployed in space and used in many satellites spanning over 50 space missions across the Solar System. Ramon.Space has offices in the United States and Israel.

Episode 5: Chris Stott, Founder, Chair and CEO of Lonestar Data Holdings, Inc.

Chris Stott is the Founder, Chair and CEO of Lonestar Data Holdings Inc., the Lunar information, technology and communications company. Chris is also the Founder and Non-Executive Chair of ManSat, the world’s largest commercial provider of satellite spectrum.

Chris serves as the Chair Emeritus, alongside the late Sir Arthur C. Clarke, of the Space and Satellite Professionals International (SSPI), the largest professional association in the global space and satellite industry, which also named him Satellite Industry Mentor of the Year for 2015.

Chris’s passion for the economics and commerce of space has led him to co-found both the Institute of Space Commerce in the United States and the International Institute of Space Commerce on the Isle of Man in the British Isles. He has served on faculty at the International Space University (ISU) since 2003 and is a former co-chair of the university’s school of business and management. Chris is also a guest lecturer in space law and regulation at MIT Media Labs, the Harvard Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics and the School of Law at the University of Houston.

In his spare time, Chris is a multi-award winning producer, writer and documentary filmmaker. A naturalized Manx American, Chris lives in Florida with this wife and son and their dogs. He enjoys shooting (pistol, rifle, skeet, and trap), SCUBA and Free Diving and flying helicopters. He drinks way too much coffee and rarely watches TV. When he needs to sleep, he reads his own bio. Learn more about Chris.

Episode 6: Per Norén, CEO of Ovzon

Per Norén is the Chief Executive Officer at Ovzon, a position he has held for nearly 1.5 years. Before joining Ovzon, Per served in a variety of roles over 4 years at Global Eagle, where he led all customer, industry, market and product and commercial activities. He was named President of Global Eagle in November 2018 and served in that role for 2.5 years. Prior to his time with Global Eagle, Per worked in Information Services, Air Traffic Management and Environmental Strategy at Boeing before becoming Vice President of Digital Solutions and then finally Vice President & Chief Customer Officer for Digital Aviation. He is also a proven entrepreneur, having founding and led Carmen Systems as CEO for nearly a decade. Per has served on several industry boards throughout his career, including Carmen Consulting, Vikom, CybercomGroup, Icomera, Admeta and Chalmers University of Technology.

Ovzon is a mission critical, proven and fast growing mobility and connectivity provider that is revolutionizing mobile broadband via satellite, SATCOM-as-a-Service, providing global coverage with the highest bandwidth through the smallest terminals. Ovzon’s delivers industry leading SATCOM-as-a-Service based on; advanced proprietary satellite technology and software enabled communication platform coupled with unique ultra-small mobile satellite terminals enable mobile users to connect anywhere and transfer large amounts of data. Ovzon’s integrated SATCOM-as-a-Services meets the growing demand of global connectivity for customers with high-performance requirements including Government, Defence, Emergency & Rescue Services, Public Safety, Media, Maritime, Aviation, NGOs. and Commercial organizations.

Episode 7: Carol Craig, Founder and CEO of Craig Technologies and Sidus Space

A self-described accidental entrepreneur and Unconventional CEO™, Carol Craig is Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Craig Technologies and Sidus Space, headquartered in Cape Canaveral, FL. Growing Craig Technologies from one person in 1999 to over 400 associates today with steadily increasing revenues, Craig leads nationwide operations with employees in over 20 different states.

Craig Technologies, a subsidiary of Sidus Space, was listed as one of Florida’s Best Companies to Work For in 2011 and 2013 by Florida Trend magazine. As CEO, Carol oversees corporate operations to ensure quality service-delivery for her commercial and government customers, offering multi-disciplinary engineering and integration, software development, training and courseware development, information technology, modeling and simulation, logistics, and launch support.

In January of 2013, she opened the 161,000 sq ft Craig Technologies Aerospace and Defense Manufacturing Center which currently offers high-tolerance precision manufacturing, specialty production, design engineering, and test and evaluation services in support of customers such as the Department of Defense, NASA, Boeing, SpaceX, Space Systems Loral, Skybox, Sierra Nevada Corporation and Conoco Phillips to name just a few.

Craig’s military experience includes active duty as a P-3C Orion Naval Flight Officer. She holds a BA in Computer Science from Knox College, a BS in Computer Science Engineering from the University of Illinois, and an MS in Electrical and Computer Engineering from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst. Ms. Craig is pursuing a PhD in Systems Engineering at Florida Tech in Melbourne, FL.

In 2015, Carol was selected as the Small Business Administration’s Small Business Person of the Year for the State of Florida and South Florida District, and was recognized as the national first runner-up finalist in Washington, DC. The National Defense Industrial Association (NDIA) recognized Carol with the Kathleen P. Sridhar Small Business Executive of the Year Award in 2013, and she received the prestigious 2013 HENAAC Entrepreneur of the Year Award by the Great Minds in STEM.

Carol serves as a member of the US Commerce Secretary’s Manufacturing Council, is the Enterprise Florida Executive Committee Military Business Unit Liaison, and is a board member with the National Space Club Florida Committee, Manufacturers Association of Florida, Florida Chamber of Commerce, and Florida High-Tech Corridor Council. She also serves on the boards of directors for Nemours Children’s Hospital in Orlando, and the Maxwell C. King Center for the Performing Arts in Melbourne, FL.

Episode 8: Abhishek Malhotra, Managing Partner at TMT Law Practice

Abhishek Malhotra is the Founding Partner of TMT Law Practice. He graduated from National Law School India University, Bangalore and went on to earn an LL.M. degree from the Franklin Pierce School of Law, USA. He is admitted to the State Bar of California and Delhi. Abhishek has nearly two decades of experience, with strong expertise in Intellectual Property, Technology, Media and Telecoms, as well as Commercial Disputes. He has advised Clients in minimizing legal risks and devising strategies for safeguarding against criminal and civil liability. Abhishek also advises several think-tanks and associations in the field of Technology, Media & Telecommunications. He has counseled the Government of India on issues of copyright, data privacy and satellite communications and is also a guest lecturer at the Indian Institute of Information Technology. Abhishek has spoken at the National Judicial Academy, Bhopal on Enforcement of Trademark Rights – Civil and Criminal Remedies, Indo-America Chambers of Commerce conference on Doing Business in India from an IP perspective and Indo-America Chambers of Commerce conference on Leveraging Intellectual Property Rights for Business.