Kevin M. O’Connell

Kevin M. O’Connell is a recognized expert on space commerce, the global space economy, and US national security. 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 US and allied national security.

Mr. O’Connell serves as the Chairman, US Board, NorthStar Earth and Space within his role as the CEO of Space Economy Rising, a firm that provides advisory services to high-tech companies and stakeholders in the space economy. Mr. O’Connell previously served as the Director of the Office of Space Commerce, US Department of Commerce (2018-2021) as the principal advocate for the US commercial space industry within the US government. He has testified before Congress on eight occasions about US space policy and regulatory issues, US space competitiveness and the growth of space commerce. He was also awarded the Vice President’s Dedicated Service Award for his support to the National Space Council.

Mr. O’Connell is a regular author and commentator on developments within the space economy.

Kevin Pomfret

Mr. Pomfret is a partner at the Williams Mullen Law firm and is based in the Washington, DC area. He is recognized as a leading authority on the legal and policy issues that impact the collection, use, storage and distribution of geospatial information, such as government and commercial contracts, privacy and data protection, data quality and liability and regulatory matters. He also advises a number of companies in the space and geospatial sectors on mergers and acquisitions, raising funds from private equity and venture capitalists, joint ventures and other corporate transactions. In addition, he regularly counsels businesses on software and data licenses and privacy and complying with data protection laws.

Mr. Pomfret is also the founder and Executive Director of the Centre for Spatial Law and Policy, a not-for-profit organization with a mission to educate the geospatial community on geospatial law.

He has presented at Congressional hearings and United Nations’ committee meetings and is member of the UN-GGIM Working Group on Policy and Legal Frameworks for Geospatial Information Management. Mr. Pomfret has written extensively on the legal and policy issues associated with geospatial information and authored the UN-GGIM Compendium on the Licensing of Geospatial Information.

Kevin has been recognized by Who’s Who Legal as an outstanding lawyer in the transport – international space and satellites market, one of only 47 attorneys selected for this honor. He is listed in The Best Lawyers in America© (2021-2024), and Geospatial World named Kevin Geospatial Ambassador of the Year at its annual Geospatial World Forum in 2022.

He is also an adjunct professor on Geospatial Law and Ethics at Johns Hopkins University and regularly conducts training and workshops across the globe on legal and policy issues associated with geospatial information management. His book Geospatial Law, Policy and Ethics: Where Geospatial Technology is Taking the Law was published in August, 2024.

Mr. Pomfret began his career as a satellite imagery analyst with the National Photographic Interpretation Center. In that capacity he helped to develop imagery collection strategies and identify requirements for future collection systems.

Dr. Ruth Stilwell

Dr. Ruth Stilwell is the Executive Director of Aerospace Policy Solutions LLC, adjunct professor at Norwich University and served as Senior Nonresident Scholar at the Space Policy Institute of George Washington University. She is one of the leading authorities on integrated space and aviation policy and governance. Her current work focuses on the policy and regulatory frameworks for Space Traffic Management, the integration of commercial space launch in civil airspace, and the development of cooperative traffic management for aviation and space operation in airspace above 60,000 ft. Among her publications, she is a contributing author in reference books including Global Space Governance: An International Study (2017) and An Introduction to the Spaceport Industry: Runways to Space (2020).

Stewart Bain

Stewart Bain is an innovator, entrepreneur, aerospace engineer, and the driving force in the development of NorthStar, the world’s first comprehensive Earth & Space Information services platform that will pioneer space-based SSA (Space Situational Awareness).

Stewart has been spearheading the commercialization of disruptive aeronautical and space technologies for over three decades. He was part of the original engineering design team for RadarSat 1 & 2, created the optical systems centre of excellence in Canada that delivered breakthrough fully-autonomous star tracker systems for spacecraft attitude control as well as precision optical intersatellite link technologies. Stewart led an international team of scientists from USA and Japan that developed high temperature asymmetric phenylethynyl terminated imide (PETI) oligomer composite material that won a NASA R&D 100 award.

Stewart’s current energies are devoted to realizing NorthStar as an enterprise to provide concrete solutions for some of our planet’s most pressing challenges with tools that will enable a safer and more sustainable environment in Space and on Earth for generations to come.

Stewart holds an MBA from Queen’s University and a Master of Engineering from Carleton University. He is a classical trained actor from the National Theatre in London and founder of the Ottawa Shakespeare Festival in 1992.