The Beyond Earth Institute (BE) has named Greg Autry Vice President of Economic Vibrancy. BE also announces the addition of Courtney Stadd and Stephan Reckie as its latest Advisors. Autry, Stadd and Reckie bring considerable skill and experience to the BE team and Advisors.
Beyond Earth Institute President and Co-Founder Steve Wolfe said, “As Beyond Earth builds its ability to influence policy, it is important that we attract the best minds to inform our activities. Not only do Greg, Courtney and Stephan have keen sense of how to navigate the policy landscape, their deep connections throughout the space community will be invaluable.”
In accepting this new role, Autry said, “Beyond Earth is an A-Team of space policy professionals focused squarely on the critical challenge of our age, the extension of human civilization into the solar system. This is an organization of doers that thoroughly understand the technology, economics and the political context of space. They will not be diverted by the parochial interests that have plagued our progress in space development.” Last year Autry had been nominated to the position of NASA’s Chief Financial Officer but the Senate did not vote on his nomination.
On his new role as Advisor to the Beyond Earth Institute, Stadd said, “It’s an honor …. This is exactly the right time for us to be a catalyst for developing pragmatic policies for humanity to methodically extend our civilization into outer space. In this regard, I am guided by the late visionary Dr. Gerard K. O’Neill whose insights regarding large human space settlements inspired so many of my generation: ‘More important than the material issue … the new lands waiting to be built in space will give new freedom to search for better governments, social systems, and ways of life.’”
Dr. Greg Autry is Chair of the Safety Working Group on the Commercial Space Transportation Advisory Committee (COMSTAC) at FAA. He has researched and taught technology entrepreneurship at UC Irvine, USC and ISU/Florida Tech. Dr. Autry served on the 2016 NASA Agency Review Team and as White House Liaison at NASA. He was nominated for NASA CFO in 2020 (though the U.S. Senate did not vote to confirm). He publishes in peer reviewed journals and major outlets including Foreign Policy, Forbes and Space News. He holds a BA from California Polytechnic University at Pomona and an MBA and PhD from UCI.
Courtney Stadd is Founder/President, Capitol Alliance Solutions, LLC, a Washington, DC based management consulting firm whose clients include a wide range of pioneering commercial space actors. For nearly 40 years, Stadd’s career path has been a mix of senior government leadership and corporate executive jobs – primarily focused on encouraging the removal of policy and regulatory barriers to the emergence of a competitive American-led commercial space marketplace. He has held multiple senior positions at the US Department of Commerce, the US Department of Transportation, the White House and worked directly for three NASA Administrators, including as Chief of Staff/White House Liaison. As Senior Director, White House National Space Council, he helped draft numerous Presidential directives encouraging a competitive commercial space industry, including commercial space guidelines which have governed executive agency use of commercial space products and services for over 30 years. He is a member of the Washington Space Business Roundtable Board of Directors and Chair, Programs, 2020-2021. He was also appointed Vice Chair, Aerospace Industries Association Civil Space Committee in 2021. He is a long-time adviser to the UN NGO, Space Week Association. Mr. Stadd was selected to participate in NASA’s Oral History series.
Stephan Reckie is the Executive Director of Global Entrepreneurship Network (GEN) Space, a universal network of ecosystems for Astropreneurs. He is the co-founder of Angelus Funding, a trust-based global angel network actively investing in innovative and meaningful opportunities. Stephan is a member of the EBAN Space Executive Committee and the Global Business Angels Network. He is a co-founding partner at Edge of Space, a company enabling STEM access to space. As the CEO of Transform Poverty Global, he is focused on aligning entrepreneurs to address global poverty along with climate change. Stephan serves on the board of directors of numerous impactful companies, including Spring Health India, University Corporation for Atmospheric Research (UCAR) and has personally made 39 investments since 2012. He is an adjunct professor at the Daniels College of Business at the University of Denver. Stephan holds Bachelors and Masters of Science degrees in Electrical About the Beyond Earth Institute
Engineering from Tufts University. He is a second-generation Armenian Russian and a true native New Yorker, fluent in 5 languages.
The Beyond Earth Institute is a 501(c)(3) U.S. non-profit organization (application pending). It is at the heart of all related initiatives that impact the success of the space movement with respect to human expansion beyond Earth. Beyond Earth’s focus is on technology readiness, worldwide public support, and related public policy enactment, including recommendations for policy initiatives. Beyond Earth conducts primary and secondary research, then consolidates and publicizes reports to be delivered and presented widely throughout the space policy community both in the U.S. and internationally.
