Speaker

Mr. Thomas is CEO of EnduroSat, Inc, a satellite design and manufacturing company based in Denver, Colorado. Formerly, as CTO and Sector EVP at Sierra Space he oversaw $1.5B in new space programs, founded its defense business unit, and oversaw technology related to the Dream Chaser orbital spaceplane. Prior to Sierra Space he was the President of Amazon Leo Government Solutions, responsible for leading government engagement globally and the associated project teams across Amazon. Prior to that, Mr. Thomas led Project Blackjack and PitBoss teams for DARPA’s Tactical Technology Office that demonstrated military utility of proliferated LEO satellites, including autonomous operations and direct tactical communication links from space assets to warfighters. In the early 2010’s, Mr. Thomas was Senior Director of Dragon Production at SpaceX, where he led the teams that built the first commercial spacecraft to resupply the International Space Station and developed it into a reusable, cost effective spacecraft. His team also manufactured the Falcon 9 landing legs which enable reuse of the Falcon first stage. He has held positions at Motorola on the original Iridium satellite integration and launch team, worked on Space Shuttle and Spacelab design teams, supported NASA Shuttle missions to the Russian Mir station, led the DARPA MiTEX mechanical design team, the GSSAP space segment team, performed supersonic design and analysis for Scaled Composites supporting their win of the X-Prize with SpaceShipOne, and has held multiple program management positions at Northrup Grumman’s (previously Orbital) advanced projects groups developing and operating classified spacecraft. Education: • B.S., Aeronautical and Astronautical Engineering, Purdue University • M.S., Aerospace Engineering, University of Texas at Austin