The Satellite Market, 2021 and Beyond

Katherine is the Chief Executive Officer for the ManSat Group. ManSat is the world’s largest commercial provider of satellite spectrum and offers bespoke consultancy services in spectrum regulatory matters.

Before joining ManSat, Katherine worked with U.S. defense contractors to bring commercial satellite and terrestrial communication technologies to austere environments in support of military, diplomatic, first responder, and commercial initiatives.

Katherine serves on the Board of Directors for Space & Satellite Professionals International (SSPI) and mentors entrepreneurs through Techstars Starburst Space Accelerator.
Katherine is a graduate of the International Space University’s Executive Space program and holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Commerce from the University of Virginia.

Carissa Christensen is the Chief Executive Officer and founder of Bryce. She previously co-founded defense company The Tauri Group, acquired by LMI in 2019, and quantum computing software company QxBranch, acquired by Rigetti Computing in 2019. She is an active investor who serves on several early stage boards.

Ms. Christensen is an internationally recognized expert on R&D processes, technology forecasting, and the space industry. She is currently a member of the National Research Council Space Technology Industry-Government-University Roundtable, which advises NASA. She has served on the World Economic Forum Global Future Council since 2018. She is a Senior Advisor to the annual US Air Force Schriever Wargame. She serves on the Advisory Council of the Aerospace Corporation’s Center for Space Policy and Strategy.

She guest lectures at universities internationally, has testified before Congress on space markets, and speaks regularly at events, including the White House Frontiers Conference, and the Harvard Business School Dialogue. She publishes extensively and is often cited in publications including The New York Times, The Washington Post, Wired, Fortune, and Le Temps. She has also appeared in space documentaries by The Financial Times and Bloomberg.

Ms. Christensen is a graduate of Harvard University’s Kennedy School, where she specialized in science and technology policy. She attended the London School of Economics and was a Douglass Scholar at Rutgers University. She is a Fellow of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics.

Mr. Gelerman is a visionary engineer, innovator and businessman with over 40 years of experience.  In 1988, Mr. Gelerman founded Advantech Wireless Inc., serving as President and CEO for the last 30 years.  Steering the company from start-up to becoming a dominant global player in the satellite ground communication business, both in radio frequency and networking.  Through organic growth and acquisition, the company became one of the largest exporters in Quebec.

In 2018, after the acquisition of the radio frequency business by Baylin, Mr. Gelerman carries on forward with the Satellite Networking business, keeping in tradition and with continued strengths as a best-in-class industry leader, leading the pace of innovation with one of the most advanced VSAT satellite network platforms.

Prior to founding the company, Mr. Gelerman held various management and design engineering positions at Nortel Networks, in the Transmission Networks Division, where he led teams that developed several multibillion dollar microwave terrestrial radio systems.

Mr. Gelerman holds a Master’s of Science degree in Electrical Engineering (MSEE), specializing in Wireless Communications and Broadcasting.

Ward Hanson analyzes the economics and marketing of new technology.    Other areas of interest include the role of competition, policy issues involving the evolving role of interactivity, optimal product line pricing, and the emergence of the commercial space industry.  As a pioneer in studying the commercialization and impact of the Internet, he has published research articles, a leading text, and created online courses on Internet marketing. He has served as an expert witness in areas of patent validity, e-commerce, Internet advertising, and industry analysis. He has recently published a number of articles on the economics of new space and serves on the editorial board of the New Space journal.

Dr. Hanson has taught at Stanford since 1995, first at the Stanford Graduate School of Business, then at the Department of Economics and the Public Policy program as part of the Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research (SIEPR). Previous faculty positions include Purdue University and the University of Chicago.  He has a Ph.D. in Economics from Stanford University.

Jeff is a specialist leader at Deloitte Consulting LLP with more than 18 years of private and public sector experience focused on finance, enterprise architecture transformation, technology commercialization, and market strategy. Currently, he is a leader in Deloitte’s Government & Public Sector Space Industry practice where he provides subject matter expertise on commercial space technology trends, industry strategies, and launch systems economics.

Before joining Deloitte, Jeff served as the director of venture strategy and research for the Space Frontier Foundation where he was also a board member. His previous experience as an advisor in $600M+ of venture capital raises for early stage technology companies, commercializing government technologies, and deep insight into the commercial space market allows him to bring a unique perspective to government and commercial clients. Jeff has contributed expertise and analysis on the space industry to Reuters, Forbes, NBC News, Discovery News, The Wharton School, the Open Group, and the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA).

Mr. Rizwan Parvez is currently Senior Director at Maxar Technologies, focused on Market Strategy and Business Development for Maxar’s U.S. Government Civil Space & Commercial pursuits.  He joined Maxar after serving as Chief Technology Officer & founding Vice President of Engineering for BridgeComm (formerly known as BridgeSat), a start-up focused on commercializing free-space optical communications across space, airborne and terrestrial applications.  Previous to that, he has held positions analyzing commercial low-Earth & emerging markets and has led engineering teams across various disciplines supporting the design, integration, testing, launch and operations of GEO communication satellites.  Rizwan was a founding Board Member of the Silicon Valley Chapter of the Society of Space and Satellites Professionals International (SSPI), which was established to facilitate the bridging between ‘New Space’ and ‘established Space’.  Rizwan holds a degree from Duke University in Electrical Engineering.