Lori W. Gordon
Lori W. Gordon is a senior project engineer and technology strategist at The Aerospace Corporation specializing in cyber and physical infrastructure protection. In the course of her career she has led efforts to coordinate national strategies and initiatives to enhance the resilience of U.S. critical infrastructure, mitigate national security and civil space enterprise risk, and accelerate technology innovation in complex systems. She has advised U.S. and international standards development organizations and academic curriculum boards on autonomous systems, cybersecurity, and the next generation workforce. Gordon has a master’s in public administration from the University of Massachusetts and a bachelor’s in geography from the University of Maryland. She is a Partner with The Aerospace Corporation’s Center for Space Policy and Strategy and is a Visiting Fellow at the National Security Institute.
Ian Canning
Ian Canning joined OneWeb Technologies as Chief Operating Officer in January 2012.
Mr. Canning has more than 30 years’ experience in the global satellite communications and telecommunications industries. In this position, he is responsible for the dayto- day operations of the Company along with leading the development of the innovative solutions OneWeb Technologies brings to market.
Prior to joining OneWeb Technologies, Mr. Canning held many senior management positions for Stratos Global Corp., the leading global provider of advanced mobile and fixed-site remote communications solutions. He was responsible for Stratos’ global product and marketing portfolio, generating more than $700 million from advanced remote communications solutions, including the Stratos Advantage range of value-added services.
Positions held during his tenure at Stratos included Vice President, Global Product Marketing (2010-11), Vice President, Marketing and Product Management (2007-10), Stratos’ Managing Director, EMEA and Vice President, Sales (2004-07), and Director, EMEA and Asia (1999-2001).
In addition, Mr. Canning’s experience includes posts with other leading players in the commercial satellite communications industry. From 2001-03, Mr. Canning served as Director, Business Development EMEA and later as Director, Sales EMEA for Iridium Communications Inc. From 1995-99, Mr. Canning served as Manager, Partnership Program for Inmarsat. From 1983-99, he held senior sales positions with a variety of electronics and telecommunications companies, including Nortel Networks, Motorola Codex, and Racal Datacom.
Mr. Canning earned an MBA from London’s Greenwich School of Management.
John Gedmark
John Gedmark is CEO and Co-Founder of Astranis. Astranis builds and operates small, low-cost telecommunications satellites with the mission to bring the world online. The company has raised over $350 million to date, and has a team of over 250 based out of their San Francisco headquarters.
John co-founded and served as Executive Director of the Commercial Spaceflight Federation, the industry association for commercial space companies such as SpaceX, Blue Origin, and Virgin Galactic. As Executive Director, John reported to a CEO-level board of directors and led the commercial space industry’s efforts to privatize flights of NASA’s astronauts to low Earth orbit — in February 2010 President Obama announced the historic decision to use commercial space transportation, a landmark change worth more than $10 billion to the commercial space industry. Prior to that, John served as the Director of Rocket Flight Operations for the X Prize Foundation, responsible for operations of rocket launches in front of a crowd of 20,000 people, including the first-ever public flight of a Vertical Take-off Vertical Landing (VTVL) rocket. John holds a Bachelor of Science degree from Purdue University and a Master of Science degree from Stanford University, both in Aerospace Engineering, with a focus on rocket propulsion.
Richard Hadsall
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Richard Hadsall is one of that rare breed of technologists who is also a successful company founder and leader. Crescomm Transmission Services, launched in 1976, was his first venture, which evolved in 1981 into Maritime Telecommunications Network or MTN. Five years later, Richard developed a technology that would forever transform communications at sea: the motion-stabilized VSAT antenna, which could maintain its lock on a spacecraft 22,000 miles away while a ship pitched and rolled underneath it. Under his technology leadership, MTN pioneered a unique business model, in which the company became the communications partner of its government and cruise line customers, and introduced a series of passenger and crew services that generated revenue shared by the cruise line and MTN. Success with cruise lines allowed the company to expand into other maritime markets including ferries, private yachts, oil & gas vessels and commercial ships. This ultimately led to its acquisition, in 2015, by EMC. Though he is known as the “father of maritime VSAT,” stabilizing an antenna was only one of Richard’s many technology “firsts.” He pioneered the use of C- and Ku-band broadband at sea for delivering voice, Internet and video. His work enabled the first live broadcast from a nuclear submarine for ABC’s “Good Morning America,” and a live uplink from a moving Amtrak train for the program’s week-long “Whistle Stop” coverage of the 2008 Presidential election. In 2011, he became one of the few satellite engineers to receive an Emmy Award for retrofitting a Ford F350 pickup into the “Bloom-Mobile,” a satellite-based mobile communications platform that allowed the late NBC reporter David Bloom to broadcast live coverage of the War in Iraq while moving across the Iraqi desert at speeds up to 50 mph. When asked about his long and entrepreneurial career in the industry, Richard said, “Having the opportunity to pioneer the merging of satellite and communications technology more than three decades ago has led to very a satisfying and productive career. |
Walter Moffitt
Walter Moffitt is Chief Architect of Inmarsat Government Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Inmarsat Group Holdings Limited, and the world’s leading provider of global mobile satellite communications to the United States Government.
Mr. Moffitt provides the Joint Force user perspective to Inmarsat Government helping to define the way ahead for satellite communications going forward. He is responsible to ensure the future satellite architecture that Inmarsat Government is creating is in line with government user needs.
Prior to this role, Mr. Moffit served in the United State Air Force as a tactical radio and satellite communications maintenance technician and operator for the Joint Communications Unit for 13 years. Mr. Moffitt finished government service as a career civil servant supporting the Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC) as the senior development chief responsible for RF communications development and innovation for tactical line-of-site radios, data links, and satellite communications systems and architectures over a period of 22 years.
Mr. Moffit holds a Bachelor of Science degree from Methodist College.
Melanie Preisser
Melanie Preisser is Vice President of National Systems for York Space Systems in Washington, D.C. Her responsibilities focus on building relationships and positive interactions with agencies and key officials in the U.S. Government and among U.S. and international customers and partners. Ms. Preisser has been a crucial figure in building York’s national defense business unit — scaled from a purely commercial segment capability and now executing on numerous defense and civil missions for the Space Force, the Space Development Agency, and lunar endeavors. Melanie and her team are committed to changing the way industry thinks about space and to making space more accessible, affordable, and faster.
Ms. Preisser brings over 25 years of diverse corporate and government experience in strategy and business development, acquisitions, systems engineering, satellite operations, and test and evaluation of space-based and airborne systems. She began her career as an acquisitions officer and project engineer for the United States Air Force and retired from the Air Force in 2014. In 2021, Ms. Preisser was selected as one of the “Top 30 Space Execs to Watch” by the WashingtonExec Magazine.
Prior to joining York, Ms. Preisser was Vice President of Government Relations for Stratolaunch Systems Corporation. She previously served with the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition, Technology and Logistics at the Pentagon in Washington, D.C., where she was responsible for acquisition oversight and coordination of major strategic, space and intelligence programs.
Ms. Preisser holds a bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering and master’s degrees in Systems Engineering and Business Administration.