The Commercial Spaceflight Federation (CSF) elected new officers and approved several new member companies at its bi-annual Executive Board of Directors meeting last week in Seattle, expanding its membership to 74 organizations.
Dr. Alan Stern of Southwest Research Institute was elected as the new Chairman of the CSF Board of Directors. Dr. Stern, who has been on the CSF board for 7 years and has played many roles in the commercial spaceflight industry, was recently named for the second time to Time magazine’s 100 most influential people in the World. In the past, Dr. Stern served as NASA’s Associate Administrator for science and participated as a Principal Investigator on 9 NASA missions, including the historic New Horizons mission to Pluto and the Kuiper Belt. Dr. Stern replaces outgoing chairman, Frank Dibello of Space Florida, who served two years as chairman. Read more of Dr. Stern’s bio here.
“The future is very bright for commercial spaceflight, and I am looking forward to helping advance that future in this new role.” said Dr. Alan Stern, Chairman of CSF.
Todd Lindner of Jacksonville Aviation Authority and Taber MacCallum of World View Enterprises were elected to serve as new officers on the Board. Tim Hughes of SpaceX, Sean Mahoney of Masten Space Systems, and Jay Gibson of XCOR were re-elected as officers of the Board.
New CSF associate members recently approved include EnerSys of Reading, PA, S.O. Witt & Associates of Ridgecrest, CA, and Vector Space Systems of Tucson, AZ.
EnerSys is the world’s largest manufacturer, marketer, and distributor of industrial batteries and related products. The EnerSys Advanced Systems division, which includes ABSL Space Products and Quallion, provides energy storage solutions to the aerospace industry. ABSL and Quallion design, manufacture, and test batteries that utilize both small and large format li-ion cells. Cells are manufactured in house or sourced via commercial providers for satellites, launch vehicles, and manned space applications. The business has provided batteries for applications such as the EMU Astronaut backpack battery, NASA science missions such as James Webb, and other military/classified applications.
S.O. Witt and Associates is leading the charge by specializing in private equity funding of advanced aerospace initiatives and clean renewable energy initiatives. With clients across the United States, S.O. Witt & Associates seeks to bring together various suppliers and OEMs to generate greater value to the total new space and renewable markets. Witt is the former CEO of Mojave Air & Space Port and an original CSF co-founder.
Vector Space Systems is a micro satellite space platform enterprise comprised of new-space industry veterans from SpaceX, Virgin Galactic, McDonnell Douglas and Sea Launch. Founded in 2016, Vector’s micro satellite launch vehicles enable space app developers to bypass the current rideshare payload launches and launch their satellite anytime and anywhere they want. As a result, entrepreneurs and startups are provided with affordable and reliable launch-enabling platforms and vehicles for access to space.
“While in Seattle we were able to witness, first-hand, a variety of amazing developments driven by the innovation of our member companies,” said Eric Stallmer, President of CSF. “As we continue to add to our membership base and with the addition of a new chairman of the board and new officers, we look forward to the year ahead as we expect many more exciting things to come.”
The Commercial Spaceflight Federation is the leading voice for the commercial spaceflight industry. Founded in 2006, CSF and its 70+ members are laying the foundation for a sustainable space economy and democratizing access to space for scientists, students, civilians, and businesses. CSF members are responsible for the creation of thousands of high-tech jobs driven by billions of dollars in investment. Through the promotion of technology innovation, CSF is guiding the expansion of Earth’s economic sphere, bolstering U.S. leadership in aerospace, and inspiring America’s next generation of engineers and explorers.
