Lt. Gen. Vinod Khandare (Retd.)
Space Policy
Lt Gen VG Khandare is a veteran of the Indian Armed Forces and has served for nearly four decades in the Army. He served in all kinds of challenging terrains in varied assignments and optimised human resources and technology to achieve success. He was the Director General of Defence Intelligence Agency which is a tri service organisation harnessing technical resources for intelligence generation and utilisation. In the Geo spatial domain he worked closely with the public and private sector within the country and with other countries too. He was the Military Adviser at the National Security Council Secretariat which is the support system for national apex level decisions.
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Currently he is the Principal Adviser to the Ministry of Defence in the Government of India. He is also a Distinguished Fellow at the United Services Institution of India, New Delhi and a Research Fellow Emeritus at Raksha Rajya University, Gandhinagar, Gujarat.
Dr. Narayan Prasad
Space Entrepreneurship
Dr. Narayan Prasad is Chief Operations Officer at Satsearch, the world’s largest marketplace for the space industry that streamlines procurement for team building space missions and suppliers. Satsearch has helped engineers to procure for over 200 missions passing on procurement opportunities worth over $500 million to suppliers in the space industry. He co-founded Spaceport SARABHAI, India’s first dedicated think tank catalyze the fledgling Indian space economy and give India an international voice where he serves as Director for Research and Operations. He has authored over 100 publications in various outlets and holds a PhD in Supply Chain Management. He is also an elected member of the International Institute of Space Law and host of the NewSpace India podcast.
Dr. Kurien Issaac
Scientific R&D
Prof K Kurien Issac is a senior professor of Aerospace Engineering at the Indian Institute of Space Science and Technology, Thiruvananthapuram. Before joining IIST in 2009, he was a professor of Mechanical Engineering at IIT Bombay. His research areas are Kinematics and Dynamics of Machines, Automatic Control, Robotics, and Optimal Design. Prof Kurien Issac has been involved in developing legged and tracked mobile robots. He has also worked on the mobility aspects of planetary rovers. At IIT Bombay, Prof Kurien Issac was the coordinator of the Machine Design Group. He was also the Associate Dean of R&D. In IIST, he was the Head of the Department and also the Dean of IPR and Continuing Education.
Dr. Nat Gopalaswamy
International Collaborations
Dr. Nat Gopalswamy is a staff scientist at the Heliophysics Division of NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Maryland. He holds the position of Astrophysicist in the Solar Physics Laboratory. Before joining NASA, he had held the positions of Research Professor at the Catholic University of America and Associate Research Scientist position at the University of Maryland, College Park. He was a Senior Resident Research Associate of the National Research Council at the Goddard Space Flight Center (1998-2000). He was briefly (1983-1985) the Resident Scientist of the Kodaikanal Observatory. Dr. Gopalswamy received his PhD from the Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore (1982) and did his post-doctoral training at the University of Maryland, College Park (1985). He was conferred with a Doctor Honoris Causa by the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences in 2019. Dr. Gopalswamy is an AGU Fellow.
Dr. Noordin Ahmed
Member, Space Policy
Dr. Noordin Ahmad has a professional career for than more than 35 years in work related to space applications, Geographic Information System (GIS) and R&D. He was attached to the National Space Agency of Malaysia (ANGKASA) in 2010 and became the Director General from 2013 to 2018. He obtained his Geomatics degree from University of Melbourne, Australia in 1984 and PhD in GPS Positioning from University of Newcastle, UK in 1988. He is also active in R&D works and has beenly an Adjunct Professor to several universities with more than 50 journal papers and has supervised more than 30 research graduates and has won several prestigious awards and competitions at international level. He is also actively involved in several technical committees on GNSS and GIS both locally and internationally.
Dr. Eddy Setiawan
Member, Space Policy
My Name is Eddy Setiawan and I am a telecommunication engineer/consultant by profession for about 29 years with more than 20 years of experience in space policy and satellite regulatory activities in Indonesia, APT and ITU. I currently member of Advisory Board of the Satellite Industry Association of India (SIA-India) and chairman of the Indonesia-ITU Concern Forum (www.iicf.or.id).
Dr. Chaitanya Giri
Member, Space Policy
Dr. Chaitanya Giri is a Consultant for Space Policy & Space Diplomacy at the Research and Information System for Developing Countries (RIS), New Delhi, India, and an Affiliate Scientist at the Earth-Life Science Institute, Tokyo Institute of Technology, Japan. Chaitanya was earlier the Fellow for Space and Ocean Studies at Gateway House, Mumbai and prior to that worked as planetary scientist for a decade. He has been a visiting scientist at the Carnegie Institution for Science, US, the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, US, and Synchrotron SOLEIL, France. He has a doctorate in Chemistry with a specialisation in analytical astrochemistry from the Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research, Germany and the University of Nice-Sophia Antipolis, France. Chaitanya was a scientific crew member of the European Space Agency’s Rosetta mission to comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko and a co-investigator of the Cometary Sampling and Composition Experiment (COSAC) payload on Rosetta's Philae Lander. He is a recipient of several fellowships and awards, including the 2014 Dieter Rampacher Prize of the Max Planck Society, Germany and the 2016-2018 ELSI Origins Network Fellowship by the John Templeton Foundation, USA. He has consulted the National Security Council Secretariat at the Prime Minister's Office and was a nominated member of the International Cooperation Review of the Ministry of Science and Technology and the Ministry of Earth Sciences, Government of India. He speaks regularly on public forums and teaches at various domestic and international academic institutions. He is the author of the book "India in the Second Space Age of Interplanetary Connectivity" (Routledge, 2021), and has written several book chapters, policy reports and white papers, and articles in prestigious peer-reviewed journals.
Dr. Upasana Dasgupta
Member, Space Policy
Upasana has worked on various projects of McGill’s Institute of Air and Space Law as a Research Assistant, including the Project on Space Laws and Policies in South Asia, Air Line Emergency Restrictions Tracker (ALERT), Global Space Governance, the Manual on International Law Applicable to Military Uses of Outer Space (MILAMOS), and the Space Security Index. Upasana also acted as legal advisor to Indian delegation at International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) during the 38th ICAO Assembly. In the past, Upasana has also worked as associate at Argus Partners, Mumbai (Corporate team) and Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas where she was part of the capital markets team and was instrumental in drafting various offer documents. Upasana’s research interests include international space law, public international air law, public international law, international legal theory, and legal education. She has published in journals such as Annals of Air and Space Law, Asian Journal of International Law, Journal of Space Law (forthcoming), Proceedings of International Institute of Space Law, Quebec Journal of International Law to name a few. She has also published several book chapters in edited books by reputed publishers. She acts as a member of the International Astronautical Federation (IAF) Technical Committee on Space Traffic Management and International Academy of Astronautics (IAA) committee on Space Debris since 29 September, 2018.
Abhishek Malhotra
Member, Space Policy
Abhishek Malhotra, Founding Partner, TMT Law Practice (having offices in Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore, and Bhubaneswar), has two decades of experience in the primary areas of expertise, including intellectual property, commercial dispute resolution, technology, media and telecommunications. He has advised clients in minimizing legal risks and devising strategies for safeguarding against civil and criminal liability. Mr. Malhotra’s expertise in the media sector has resulted in a close alliance with production houses, broadcasters, and artists across the industry, and he is recognized as the “go to” professional for issues concerning copyright, with specific reference to broadcasting, music and sports. He has represented clients in precedent setting disputes in the realm of copyright law. Mr. Malhotra is a member of the Bar Council of Delhi and the State Bar of California, and also holds memberships of national and international professional associations.
Xavier Estico
Member, Space Policy
Mr. Xavier Estico, is the Director General of the Division of Science Technology and Innovation (DISTI) under the aegis of the Ministry of Investment, Entrepreneurship and Industry (MIEI). He was formerly the CEO of the National institute for Science, Technology and Innovation (NISTI), an institute that he created from a white paper in 2014. It had the mandate for the development and growth of Science, Technology and Innovation (STI) across all sectors and programs. His previous positions have been in different management positions at Air Seychelles with the last position as International Administrative Flight Operations Manager. His academic background extends from Pedagogy, Agronomical Sciences, Business Administration and Aeronautical Sciences. He is a Masters degree holder in all three disciplines, except for Pedagogy, in which he holds a Certificate in Education. The institutions that he attended were; the Seychelles Teacher Training College, Institute of Higher Agricultural Sciences, Havana, Cuba, University of Southampton, UK, and Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University-Worldwide, USA. He has lastly completed his Master’s degree program in Aeronautical Sciences at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University-Worldwide, USA. His Capstone Project (Dissertation), entitled: “The Impact of NextGen Capabilities and Technologies on Tampa International Airport”, Florida, USA was among the first baseline assessments of the Next Generation Technologies and Capabilities in US airspace management. He completed the program with distinction (4.0 GPA) and his work has been recommended for further studies. Mr. Estico is about to complete a Harvard Kennedy School Executive Education programs towards an Executive Certificate in Economic Development and has recently successfully completed a NASA Course in Satellite Observations for Analyzing Natural Hazards on Small Island Nations. He strongly believes that Seychelles has a geographical comparative advantage in Space and Satellite technologies. His conviction is founded in the fact that the United States used to run one of their most important Satellite Tracking facilities in Seychelles until it was decommissioned some years ago. With advancement is satellite technologies the near-equatorial location of Seychelles may be exploited as part of the economic diversification strategy to build economic resilience.
Dr. Steven Freeland
Panellist Space Policy
Steven Freeland is Emeritus Professor of International Law at Western Sydney University, where he was previously the Dean of the School of Law, and Professorial Fellow at Bond University. He also holds Visiting or Adjunct positions at various other Universities/Institutes in Copenhagen, Vienna, Toulouse, Hong Kong, Montreal, Kuala Lumpur, Vancouver, Mumbai and London. Prior to becoming an academic, he had a 20-year career as an international commercial lawyer and an investment banker. He is a government-appointed Member of the Australian Space Agency Advisory Board and has been an advisor to the Australian, New Zealand, Norwegian and several other Governments on issues relating to national space legislative frameworks and policy. He represents the Australian Government at Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space (UNCOPUOS) meetings and, in June 2021, was appointed by UNCOPUOS as Vice-Chair of a 5-year ‘Working Group on Legal Aspects of Space Resource Activities’. He has also been a Visiting Professional within the Appeals Chamber at the International Criminal Court, and a Special Advisor to the Danish Foreign Ministry in matters related to the International Criminal Court. He is a co-Principal of specialised space law firm Azimuth Advisory and is also a Director of the International Institute of Space Law, a Member of the Space Law Committee of the International Law Association and a past Member of the Space Law and War Crimes Committees of the International Bar Association. In addition to co-Editing the Annotated Leading Cases of International Criminal Tribunals book series, he also sits on the Editorial Board / Advisory Board of several internationally recognised academic journals.
Dr. Ranjana Kaul
Member, Space Policy
Dr. Ranjana Kaul is a Partner at Dua Associates, Law Offices, New Delhi, India. She specializes in international air and space law regimes. Dr Kaul advises space start-up companies on applicable national regulatory and policy frameworks related to commercial space activities, including aspects at the intersection of international space treaty regulations. Dr Kaul advises on framing national space activities laws, and on matters related to military use of outer space and space security. She has served as counsel for the Union of India at the High Court of Delhi and for the State of Maharashtra in the Supreme Court of India. Dr Kaul is Director, International Institute of Space Law Paris; and, Secretary General of Spaceport SARABHAI (S2), India’s first independent, non-government, think tank which is dedicated to “ space matters”. She is a frequent invited speaker at limited audiences. She speaks extensively at law schools in India and abroad. Dr Kaul is a Faculty at the London Institute of Space Policy and Law, UK. She is widely published internationally and nationally. Dr kaul holds an LLM from Institute of Air & Space Law, Mc Gill University, Montreal, Canada, PhD (constitutional studies) , Pune University and LLB from Delhi University
Toku Sakai
Space Entrepreneurship and Business
Toku Sakai is the COO of Pale Blue.
He has previously worked as a management consultant at Avascent and as an Analyst at the U.S. Department of Defense.
Pale Blue is a Japanese company that develops next-generation spacecraft propulsion systems that run entirely on water. Using its patented miniaturized ECR technology that is optimized to run on water, Pale Blue propulsion systems offer an unprecedented leap in performance along with all of the safe and affordable benefits of water.
Emeline
Paat-Dahlstrom
Space Entrepreneurship and Business
Space entrepreneur, global change maker, and aspiring exponential innovator. Emeline is Co-Founder and CEO of SpaceBase, a social enterprise focused on democratizing space for everyone by co-creating space ecosystems in developing and emerging countries, starting with New Zealand. Emeline is also on the Business Development team of Ceres Robotics Inc., and a Co-Founder of International Space Consultants, USA. She joined the inaugural cohort of the Edmund Hillary Fellowship program in New Zealand in 2017 and is an Institute of Space Commerce Fellow. She was the former Chief Impact Officer and Executive VP of Operations at Singularity University (SU). Emeline also served as Space track lead for SU’s Global Solutions Program for four years. She sits on the Board of Trustees for the 10th to the 9th Plus Foundation and is a member of the Associate Editorial Board for the New Space Journal.
Mac Kanazawa
Space Entrepreneurship and Business
Mac Kanazawa is ex-Director and COO at Space BD, a Japan-based space startup who is providing satellite launch service, the International Space Station (ISS) utilization service, as well as various other services in the space industry. Mac joined Space BD at its foundation phase in 2017, and was in charge of business development and international marketing. Since 2018, Space BD has been selected as the official commercial partner of JAXA through some JAXA's private-transferring initiatives, and to promote utilization of the ISS "Kibo" Japanese module as well as rideshare service with Japanese H-IIA and H3 launch vehicles. Space BD is now the market leader in satellite launch service and ISS utilization, and diversifying its business to space education. Mac left Space BD in July 2022, and is currently supporting some space projects and mentoring some start-ups leaders as the independent consultant.
Lynette Tan
Space Entrepreneurship and Business
Lynette is the Chief Executive of the Singapore Space and Technology Limited (SSTL). With 20 years of management and business development experience, Lynette identifies new opportunities and develops effective ways for government, companies, and individuals to partake in the growing space industry. She is managing partner of the Space-Based Accelerator based out of Singapore, an exclusive programme with the Singapore government that assists early stage, deep tech, space start-ups.
Lynette is also Founder of Space Faculty, a spin-off of SSTL that creates a dedicated learning and development pathway for companies and individuals. It draws on the collective experience of experts across different fields with over a decade of experience in the deep tech and space sectors. Its programmes are created to drive experimentation, learning and leadership among early learners, youths, adults and industry professionals. Lynette believes that while space is the starting point, it will lead into all the related branches of deep tech – from IoT, Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning to predictive analytics, robotics and blockchain technology.
Aazzah Aziz
Space Entrepreneurship and Business
If you are in Brunei and want to talk about space technology, applications and adventures, Aazzah is the person to call. The deputy head of Network Integrity Assurance Technology (NiAT) has had her fingers in many proverbial pies to get NiAT to where it is now: Brunei’s only one-stop satellite company providing telecommunications services for offshore and rural as well as delivering geospatial data and information solutions. She is passionate and committed in building and sustaining a strong foundation of 100% Bruneian colleagues, being one of the first 2 during its inception in 2010 to more than 30 in 2022. She’s a strong advocate of execution of technology and mentoring youth in alternative and innovative technologies to build a sustainable future for the community. She enjoys inspiring the next generation of scientists and engineers through her participation as speaker and audience at various conferences and webinars. When she’s not at work, she can be found at the family pharmaceutical business, spending time outdoors, with sporadic bits of gardening, yoga and spring cleaning. Aazzah is an avid engineer who loves immersing herself in situations that require taking things apart and putting them back together again to gain incremental yet sure efficiencies. Her resourcefulness has resulted in many accolades over the years, the most recent being the launch of Brunei’s first VSATHub in 2021upgrading the Telisai Satellite Earth Station to a VSAT Hub status. These recognitions signify how far she has come in establishing space technologies and applications in Brunei, creating significant impact to the ecosystem in human capacity and economic benefits. An ongoing project that she’s most excited about is the assembly, integration and launch of Brunei’s first nanosatellite,PERISAI-01,andto finally propagate the nation’s space activities. She hopes that the inaugural satellite project, which will capture and deliver data and insight about our environment, will serve as a catalyst for STEM-related research and development efforts, and the creation of tech-savvy local start-ups to build more capable PERISAI satellites and actively participate in a thriving, more diverse digital economy for Brunei Darussalam.
#BRUNEIcreatespace
Michael Mealling
Space Entrepreneurship and Business
Michael Mealling is a General Partner and COO at Starbridge Venture Capital, a space sector finance firm currently developing a series of venture capital funds. Michael is also a board member of the Space Frontier Foundation and the Alliance for Space Development. His transition to the space sector began as CFO of Masten Space Systems in 2004 and then into venture capital in 2014 as CTO with Atlanta-based Seraph Group. Michael regularly advises firms and governments concerning market and policy conditions necessary for the expansion of human civilization into the Solar System and beyond.
Norilmi Amilia Ismail
Space Entrepreneurship and Business
Norilmi Amilia Ismail is a dedicated academic in the School of Aerospace Engineering, Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM) and a founder for SpaceIn Sdn Bhd, a spinoff company of University Sains Malaysia. She was one of the Emerging Space Leader Grant recipients by International Astronautical Federation in 2014. She co-founded the Malaysia Space Initiative (MiSI), an NGO for space enthusiasts in Malaysia and become the first President of MiSI.
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Her journey as an entrepreneur started in 2020 where she founded SpaceIn, a company to provide affordable space access. SpaceIn is the first company that commercialize the High Altitude Balloon service in Malaysia for space photography and near space experiment and currently they are developing a picosatellite for IoT application. SpaceIn also involves in space education industry where the CanSat Kit for Education is their most highlighted products which won a few innovation awards.
Her goal is to help Malaysia to return back to the space race and give opportunities to the young generation to be involved in the space industry.