SpaceLink continues to grow a highly accomplished team to implement its business strategy for a game changing satellite relay service.
Following a previous announcement of its top executives, SpaceLink added seven more industry leaders to its team. They bring deep expertise in technical and business operations to drive forward the space relay service that provides secure, continuous, high-capacity service between LEO spacecraft and the ground.
The names of those joining the company will be familiar to many in the satellite and telecommunications industry…
Dr. Larry Alder joins the team as Senior Vice President of Products & Services following more than a decade at Google and more recently several years as Chief Operating Officer at OneWeb. Dr. Alder will be instrumental in developing and defining the SpaceLink service offerings. At Google, he focused on global internet access and he was a member of the board of directors of O3B Networks until it was acquired by SES in 2016. At OneWeb, he managed the engineering and operations organizations and he was co-chairman of the U.S. Department of Commerce Spectrum Management Advisory Committee from 2014-2018. He has a Ph.D. in Aerospace Engineering from Stanford University and a bachelor’s degree in Engineering from UCLA.
David Nemeth, who was previously at OneWeb, was named Senior Vice President of Systems Engineering. He is an expert at developing and modeling systems architectures for satellite communications. Before joining SpaceLink, he was Senior Director of System Modeling at OneWeb and he was Vice President of Ground Systems Architecture at iDirect, where he played an instrumental role in re-architecting the over-the-air interface and system design to better serve customer requirements. He has a Bachelor’s degree in physics from Cornell University and a Masters degree in physics from the University of California, Berkeley. He holds three patents related to secure communications, MEMS, and VSAT communications.
Craig Moll, who was the Founder and President of PATHFINDER Space Advisors, which helped emerging space companies enter new markets, is now SpaceLink’s Vice President of Commercial Business Development. He helps spacecraft operators maximize the use of their assets with the SpaceLink relay system. Before joining SpaceLink, he was Founder and President of PATHFINDER Space Advisors, LLC, . Previously he was Vice President of Sales and Marketing at Space Systems Loral and he was Managing Director of PanAmSat Europe. He began his career as a telecom policy specialist handling the satellite portfolio at the U.S. National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA). Mr. Moll holds a bachelor’s degree from Texas State University, a master’s degree from the University of Texas, Austin, and he studied French at the Université Paris – Sorbonne.
Lenny Low is the Vice President of Space Segment and he possesses eight patents and he is an expert in spacecraft platform architectures. He spent 27 years at Space Systems Loral (now Maxar Technologies), where he was Vice President of Business Development, responsible for business strategy and development of LEO, MEO and GEO platform solutions. Previously, he was Executive Director of the Spacecraft Platform Operations Directorate, where he managed an organization of 600 engineers and technicians. He also worked at both Lockheed and TRW. He has a BS in Mechanical Engineering from UC Berkeley, and an MS in Mechanical Engineering from Stanford.
Tom Leisgang is the Vice President of Ground Segment and he is a multi-disciplinary expert who brings unique perspectives and out-of-the-box solutions to satellite and space-related missions. Before joining SpaceLink, he was Technical Director for Ground Systems Mission Engineering and Operations at Space Systems Loral (now Maxar Technologies). He was Ground Segment Program Manager for the satellite segment of Australia’s national broadband network, and established satellite control infrastructure from greenfield to operational readiness. He began his career at Lockheed Martin where he managed the Bus Functional Test Facility that supported production of 70+ LEO satellite bus units.
David Pattillo is named as the Vice President of Spectrum Management and he will oversee SpaceLink’s spectrum and regulatory management and leads the company’s efforts with the ITU, FCC, and other regulatory bodies. Before joining SpaceLink, he worked with SpaceX to manage international and domestic coordination of that firm’s StarLink constellation of more than 4,000 NGSO satellites. He spent more than 20 years at DIRECTV where he was Director of the Space & Communications Group. He holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Electrical Engineering.
Doug Kotval, the new Vice President of Supplier Management, will provide strategic sourcing leadership and also manage supplier and partner relationships for the company. Prior to joining SpaceLink, he spent 24 years at Maxar Technologies and its predecessor company, Space Systems Loral. There he was Senior Manager, Strategic Sourcing for Space Infrastructure and Lead Supply Chain Manager for major R&D projects including digital payload processor development, phased array antenna technologies, and advanced photonics.
“SpaceLink has attracted some of the industry’s top professionals who are inspired by our business strategy and the opportunity to contribute to this game changing data relay service,” said David Bettinger, Chief Executive Officer at SpaceLink. “We’ve put together a dream team with the perfect blend of backgrounds and experience to drive our vision forward. Demand for fast access to data in near Earth orbit will continue to grow and SpaceLink will be ready with the capacity needed to serve next-generation systems.”
SpaceLink is a subsidiary of Electro Optic Systems of Australia (EOS) and benefits from financing, support, and advanced technology from its corporate parent, including optical communications. With significant spectrum rights in Medium Earth Orbit (MEO), the relay system will optimize access to imagery from Earth observation satellites and will provide continuous communications for human spaceflight. It will provide a secure connection for the defense and intelligence communities and fast data transfer for space agencies. SpaceLink continues to build its team and is recruiting engineering talent with a focus on satellite network, ground, and antenna systems.