This announcement from NorthStar Earth & Space Inc. was released on May 13, 2025
Brendan Thorn, Director of Operations and Ignacio Cires, Director of Business Development for NorthStar Earth & Space S.a. r.l.
Luxembourg, May 13th, 2025 – NorthStar Earth & Space Europe S.à r.l. (“NorthStar”) continues to expand its commercial and governmental Space Situational Awareness (SSA) activities internationally through its European HQ in Luxembourg. Consistent with the evolution and growth of this enterprise, Brendan Thorn has been appointed Director of Operations while Ignacio Cires has been appointed Director of Business Development. Both individuals have years of experience with NorthStar bringing expertise, enthusiasm, and dedication to their new roles and responsibilities.
Internationally, satellite operators rely on SSA services to deliver timely information to accomplish their space missions. Increased space activity demands more frequent and precise tracking of resident space objects (RSO’s) to safely navigate and prevent collisions. NorthStar’s patented SSA platform delivers reliable information by combining multiple ground and space-based sensor inputs, processed and fused using high performance automated algorithms as part of a comprehensive analytic service.
NorthStar’s Luxembourg operations have developed a collision avoidance system as a module within the commercial SSA Platform. The system was developed in collaboration with the Luxembourg Space Agency and the European Space Agency (ESA) under the national LuxIMPULSE program. The system is part of NorthStar’s mission to enable precise navigation and effective management of space debris and other orbital threats. In addition, NorthStar Luxembourg actively supports the UK Ministry of Defence (MoD) as part of daily SSA operations within the US Space Force´s – Joint Commercial Operations (JCO) Meridian Cell, providing advanced multi-source data integration and processing capabilities to enhance the understanding of the space domain.
NorthStar’s Conjunction Analysis and Collision Avoidance system is operationally led by Brendan Thorn, while Ignacio Cires is focused on developing a commercial client base that values this innovative solution for enhancing the security and sustainability of mission critical space assets.
Brendan Thorn joined NorthStar Luxembourg in 2023 as the first product manager and dedicated technical hire. Brendan previously worked at Thales Alenia Space in Luxembourg, and Airbus Group between Toulouse and the San Francisco. Brendan holds a B.Sc. in Physics and Mathematics from the University of Victoria and a Master’s in electrical and computer engineering from McGill University. He began his career in data engineering and software development before moving into product and program management. Brendan will lead operations at NorthStar Europe, working closely with the software and astrodynamics teams to shape NorthStar’s state-of-the-art Space Traffic Management and dual-use services.
Ignacio Cires joined NorthStar in January 2021 and has been deeply involved in the organization’s expansion in Luxembourg since its launch. Before joining NorthStar, Ignacio worked at Deloitte, where he advised Siemens as a financial consultant. His background spans geopolitical strategy, competitive analysis, international relations, and the use of commercial capabilities to foster innovation across the defence and space sectors. Building on his broad experience and his active role in many of NorthStar’s commercial, civil, and defence strategic initiatives, Ignacio will now focus his skills on Business Development.
About NorthStar
NorthStar Earth & Space was founded in 2015 with headquarters in Montreal, Canada, a European headquarters in Luxembourg, and a dedicated US operation in McLean, Virginia, NorthStar addresses the ever-growing threat of space collisions as a major contribution to empower humanity to preserve our planet.
NorthStar is the first commercial space-based Space Situational Awareness service to detect and track near-Earth orbits using satellite images from space. NorthStar’s precise SSA services identify and anticipate the position of space objects to enhance spaceflight safety.
NorthStar is a past recipient of equity support from the Luxembourg Future Fund (LFF) and is currently working on a commercialization project under LuxImpulse to deliver advanced collision avoidance services to commercial satellite operators.
Contact
NorthStar Media Relations: media@northstar-data.com