Kevin O’Connell (course kick-off) is a recognized expert on space commerce, the global space economy, international intelligence and U.S. national security matters. For almost four decades, he has focused on space commercialization and technological competitiveness and how to advance them in global markets. He has also focused on how these innovations impact U.S. and allied national security. His U.S. government assignments include the Department of Commerce (SES), The Department of Defense, The Department of State, The National Security Council, The Office of the Vice President, and The Office of the Director of Central Intelligence.

Scott Pace is the former Deputy Assistant to the President and Executive Secretary of the National Space Council. Dr. Pace, who worked at RAND and as a NASA associate administrator, currently runs the Space Policy Institute at George Washington University. He is well-known as one of the nation’s top space policy analysts and administrators.

Douglas Loverro (lecture 3) is a highly regarded national space thinker and leader who currently serves as President, Loverro Consulting, LLC. He has served in a variety of very senior government positions including at NASA where he led Human Exploration, in the DoD where he lead space policy, and in multiple DoD and NRO space program leadership roles over a more than 40-year career. Mr. Loverro holds a Master of Science in Physics from the University of New Mexico, a Master of Political Science from Auburn University, and an MBA from the University of West Florida in addition to his Bachelor of Science in Chemistry from the US Air Force Academy. He was a distinguished graduate from the Air Force’s Air Command and Staff College and Squadron Officer School and was the top graduate from DoD’s Industrial College of the Armed Forces. He is the recipient of multiple prestigious awards including the Secretary of Defense’s Medal for Outstanding Public Service, AIAA’s Durand Lecture for Public Service, the National Defense Industrial Association’s (NDIA) Bob Hope Distinguished Citizen Award, the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Federation of Galaxy Explorers, the Society of Satellite Professional Engineers Stellar Award, and the Armed Forces Communicants and Electronics Association’s (AFCEA) Benjamin Oliver Gold Medal for Engineering amongst many other civilian and military honors.

Peter Hays (lecture 3)  is a Senior Space Policy Analyst at U.S. Department of Defense. Peter has been helping develop and implement all major national security space policy and strategy initiatives since 2004 and serves as a senior advisor on policy, strategy, governance, and strategic messaging issues. Dr. Hays was presented the National Intelligence Professional Award by the Director of National Intelligence in 2014.

Pete Worden (lecture 4)  is the Chairman of the Breakthrough Prize Foundation and Executive Director of the foundation’s ‘Breakthrough Initiatives’. He holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Physics and Astronomy from the University of Michigan and a PhD in Astronomy for the University of Arizona. Prior to joining the Breakthrough Prize Foundation, Dr. Worden was Director of NASA’s Ames Research Center at Moffett Field, California, USA until his retirement on March 31, 2015. He has held several positions in the United States Air Force and was research professor of astronomy at the University of Arizona, Tucson, USA. He is a recognized expert on space and science issues – both civil and military, and has been a leader in building partnerships between governments and the private sector internationally.Dr. Worden has authored or co-authored more than 150 scientific papers in astrophysics space sciences, and strategic studies. He served as a scientific co-investigator for three NASA space science missions – most recently the Interface Region Imaging Spectrograph launched in 2013 to study the Sun. He received the NASA Outstanding Leadership Medal for the 1994 Clementine Mission to the moon. Dr. Worden was named the 2009 Federal Laboratory Consortium Laboratory Director of the Year and is the recipient of the 2010 Arthur C. Clarke Innovator’s Award.On July 20, 2015 at the Royal Society in London, UK, Yuri Milner and Stephen Hawking launched the Breakthrough Initiatives. At the press conference Pete Worden was introduced as the Chairman for the Breakthrough Prize Foundation. In this capacity he leads the Breakthrough Initiatives. On April 12, 2016 in the One World Observatory in New York, NY, Yuri Milner and Stephen Hawking announced the Breakthrough StarShot Initiative to develop and launch Earth’s first interstellar probe within a generation.  Pete Worden leads this Initiative as its Executive Director.

Dr. Mark Mozena (lecture 4) works for Planet in Washington, D.C. where he leads Planet’s government relations and policy efforts with Congress and U.S. Government Agencies. Before joining Planet, Mark worked for United Launch Alliance (ULA) where he handled the civil space portfolio and led government relations with NASA, NOAA, and the FAA. Prior to ULA, Mark worked for Representative Michael Honda (D-Silicon Valley, CA) in Washington, D.C. Mark initially joined the Congressman as an AAAS Congressional Science & Technology Policy Fellow before transitioning to permanent staff. As a Senior Policy Advisor, Mark managed the Commerce, Justice, and Science (CJS) Appropriations Subcommittee for Congressman Honda who served as the Subcommittee’s Ranking Member. Before working on Capitol Hill, Mark received his Ph.D. in Astrophysics from the University of California, Santa Cruz where his research focused on galaxy evolution. As the son of a US diplomat, Mark spent much of his childhood living in South Asia and southern Africa before going to Rice University in Houston, Texas for his bachelor’s degree. Following Rice, Mark taught high school physics with Teach For America in St. Louis, Missouri before moving to California for graduate school.

Henry R. Hertzfeld (lecture 5)  is a Research Professor of Space Policy and International Affairs at the Elliott School of International Affairs, George Washington University and an Adjunct Professor of Law at GW. He also served as Director of the Space Policy Institute from 2017-2021. Dr. Hertzfeld is an expert in the legal, economic, and policy issues of space and advanced technological development and has served as a Senior Economist and Policy Analyst at both NASA and the National Science Foundation. He is the author of many articles on both legal and economic issues concerning space and technology and teaches courses in Space Law and Space Economics.

Laura Montgomery (lecture 5) is the proprietor of Ground Based Space Matters, LLC, where she specializes in regulatory space law, with an emphasis on commercial space transportation and the Outer Space Treaties.  She has testified to both the House and Senate space committees, and was an adjunct professor of space law at Catholic University’s Columbus School of Law.  Ms. Montgomery spent over two decades with the Federal Aviation Administration. During her tenure there, she served as the manager of the Space Law Branch in the FAA’s Office of the Chief Counsel.

Christopher Johnson is the Director of Legal Affairs and Space Law at the Secure World Foundation, and an Adjunct Professor of Law at the Georgetown University Law Center, where he co-teaches the Space Law Seminar. Mr. Johnson is also a Field Editor at the Journal of Space Safety Engineering, on the Board of Editors of the journal Air and Space Law, and serves on the US Board of Directors of the Space Generation Advisory Council. He is also an external PhD candidate at Leiden University’s International Institute of Air and Space Law, writing a monograph on the international legal order for the Moon. Mr. Johnson has written widely on space law and policy issues, and represents the Secure World Foundation at the United Nations Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space (COPUOS).

Namrata Goswami (lecture 6) is an independent scholar on space policy and Great Power Politics. She is a Faculty Associate at the Thunderbird School of Global Management, Arizona State University for their Executive Masters in Global Management, Space Policy, Leadership and Finance degree. She is a consultant for Space Fund Intelligence and a guest lecturer at the seminar on “India Today: Economics, Politics, Innovation & Sustainability”, Emory University. She was subject matter expert in international affairs with Futures Laboratory, Alabama. She worked as Research Fellow at MP-Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses, New Delhi; a visiting Fellow at Peace Research Institute, Oslo, Norway; La Trobe University, Melbourne, Australia; University of Heidelberg, Germany; Jennings-Randolph Senior Fellow, United States Institute of Peace; and was a Fulbright Senior Fellowship Awardee. She was awarded the Minerva grant by Office of the U.S. Secretary of Defense to study great power competition in outer space. In April 2019, Dr. Goswami testified before the U.S-China Economic and Security Review Commission on China’s space program. Her co-authored book, Scramble for the Skies: The Great Power Competition to Control the Resources of Outer Space was published 2020 by Lexington Press; Rowman and Littlefield. Her book on The Naga Ethnic Movement for a Separate Homeland was published in 2020 by Oxford University Press.  She has published widely to include in The Diplomat, the Economic Times, The Washington Post, Ad Astra, Asia Policy, Live Encounters Magazine, Cairo Review. She was invited in November 2019 to share about her life and her work at a Tedx event held at the Rosa Parks Museum, Montgomery, Alabama. She is currently working on two academic book projects, one on China’s Grand Strategy and Notions of Territoriality and the other on Spacepower Theory and Practice: Case Studies of U.S. China, India, Russia and Japan.

Victoria Samson (lecture 6) Victoria Samson is the Chief Director, Space Security and Stability for Secure World Foundation and has over twenty-five years of experience in military space and security issues. Before joining SWF, Ms. Samson served as a Senior Analyst for the Center for Defense Information (CDI); was the Senior Policy Associate at the Coalition to Reduce Nuclear Dangers, a consortium of arms control groups in the Washington, D.C. area; and was a researcher at Riverside Research Institute, where she worked on war-gaming scenarios for the Missile Defense Agency’s Directorate of Intelligence. Ms. Samson holds a Bachelor of Arts (B.A.) degree in political science with a specialization in international relations from UCLA and a Master of Arts (M.A.) in international relations from the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies.