Debra Facktor is the Head of U.S. Space Systems for Airbus U.S. Space & Defense, Inc. She leads the Airbus U.S. Space line of business, consisting of National Security Space and Space Exploration. Debra is also a member of the Airbus OneWeb Satellites board.

Prior to joining Airbus U.S., Debra was Vice President and General Manager of Strategic Operations for Ball Aerospace, leading the company’s Washington D.C. operations, strategic development, and marketing and communications.

Her extensive business experience includes serving as President and Owner of AirLaunch LLC, and as Vice President of Business Development and Strategic Planning for Kistler Aerospace Corporation.

Debra is actively engaged as an advisor and mentor in the aerospace community and is a fellow of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) and the American Astronautical Society (AAS). Additionally, she sits on the Advisory Committee for the Intelligence and National Security Alliance (INSA) and is an academician of the International Academy of Astronautics (IAA).

Debra received her bachelor’s and master’s degrees in aerospace engineering from the University of Michigan, and is an alumna of the International Space University summer session program in Strasbourg, France.

Brian Barritt is CTO at Aalyria where he supports the software infrastructure for orchestrating networks across land, sea, air, and space that they spun out from Google. Prior to joining Aalyria, he established a new industry consortium for 5G Non-Terrestrial Networks and supported open source connectivity at Meta. Brian was a Senior Staff Software Engineer at Google where he worked for 7 years as the founding engineer of the Temporospatial SDN infrastructure that powered several terrestrial, high-attitude, and satellite networks.

Brian has more than 15 years of experience in advanced wireless networks. Prior to his tenure at Google he led engineering programs at Cisco and space communications programs at NASA.

Brian holds BS, MS, and Ph.D. degrees in Computer Engineering and an MBA focused on the Management of Technology & Innovation.

Clint Crosier leads the AWS Aerospace and Satellite Solutions business, responsible for providing commercial and government customers with tailored, secure, and cost-effective cloud solutions for building satellites, conducting space and launch operations, and reimagining space exploration.

Prior to joining AWS, he spent 33 years in the US Air Force and US Space Force retiring as a Major General. During his career, he operated GPS, SatCom, and missile warning satellite constellations, launched Atlas and Titan rockets putting national security payloads in orbit for the National Reconnaissance Office and Air Force Space Command, deployed to the Middle East during Operation Enduring Freedom as USSCENTCOM’s Director of Space Forces, and led Requirements and Strategy Development for the entire US Air Force. He has commanded at the Squadron, Group, and Wing levels, and held leadership roles as a US Senate Staffer and in the office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Intelligence. Prior to retiring from military service, he was the lead planner and architect of the stand-up of the US Space Force, the first new military service in 72 years.

Stephanie Bednarek is the Vice President of Commercial Sales at SpaceX. She oversees the company’s global relationships with launch customers and satellite manufacturers. She manages a team of sales directors and account managers and is responsible for domestic and international commercial space launch business. Previously, Stephanie led commercial launch sales in the Americas and closed over $2B in new business. Stephanie also worked as the Government Affairs Manager, and was responsible for United States government executive branch, legislative, state, and federal agency affairs related to SpaceX’s civil space activities including strategy, policy development, and research.

Prior to starting at SpaceX in 2008, Stephanie held positions at the George Washington University Space Policy Institute, Space Foundation, Space Studies Board at the National Research Council, Aerospace Industries Association, and Orbital Sciences.

Stephanie is on the board of the of Space and Satellite Professionals International (SSPI) and a mentor for the Brooke Owens Fellowship Program. Previously, Stephanie served on the Board of the Mid-Atlantic Chapter of SSPI, American Astronautical Society, National Space Society, and the Economic Development Commission of Florida’s Space Coast. Her other volunteer positions include serving as the Public Policy Chair of the AIAA National Capital Section, the Vice President of Programs for Women in Aerospace, and the Commercial Space Chair of the Aerospace Industries Association.