Panels
Andrew Zolli
Chief Impact Officer, Planet Labs.
As Chief Impact Officer, Andrew oversees the sustainable development, humanitarian, ethics and human rights portfolio at Planet, a breakthrough geospatial imaging organization that has deployed the largest constellation of Earth-observing satellites in history. Together, these satellites image the entire surface of the Earth, every day, in high resolution. When analyzed with advanced AI techniques, this imagery has transformational value for addressing a host of global challenges, including monitoring peace and conflict, improving agriculture, delivering sustainable development, ensuring human rights, predicting food insecurity, assessing climate change, delivering disaster response, and improving conservation, among many others. Andrew is also the author of Resilience: Why Things Bounce Back, which has been published in more than a dozen countries worldwide
Space for sustainability panel
Minoo Rathnasabapathy
Research Engineer and Program Lead at the MIT Media Lab
Dr. Minoo Rathnasabapathy is a Research Engineer and Program Lead at the MIT Media Lab. Her work is centred at the intersection of advanced technologies and policy to drive impactful solutions. Her research focuses on data-driven climate intelligence and the long-term sustainability of the space environment, applying the principle of circular design that integrates Earth’s stewardship with the safe and responsible use and exploration of space. Dr. Rathnasabapathy's work has featured on CNN Business, BBC World News, and ABC News Australia.
Prior to joining MIT, Dr. Rathnasabapathy served as the Executive Director of the Space Generation Advisory Council, a global non-governmental organisation which acts in support of the United Nations Programme on Space Applications. She was responsible for leading the operations, business development, strategy, and policy output for SGAC, a network that represents over 15,000 individual members across 150 countries.
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Dr. Rathnasabapathy earned her PhD in Aerospace Engineering from RMIT University, researching the impact dynamics of novel materials used in aerospace structures. She has served as a Fellow of the World Economic Forum’s Platform on Space Technologies, Member of the Global Future Council on Space, and as Vice President of the International Astronautical Federation from 2018-2021.
Tim Mounsey
Director of Business Development
Lunar Outpost
Tim Mounsey is the Director of Business Development at Lunar Outpost, the industry leader in space robotics and lunar surface mobility. Tim oversees Go-to-Market strategies for Lunar Outpost’s commercial payload offerings. Collaborating across engineering and strategy teams, his department establishes mobility-as-a-service relationships with commercial space and technology companies that have a desire to deploy their offerings on the lunar surface. Before joining Lunar Outpost, Tim spent almost a decade in Private Equity where he was responsible for developing investment theses, sourcing investment opportunities, and executing portfolio M&A strategies.
CISLUNAR ECONOMY
Blair de Witt
CEO and Founder
Lunar Station Corp
Blair is an entrepreneurial technologist with a passion for solving complex problems using cutting-edge technologies. With a career spanning over three decades, Blair has worked with various organizations and technologies, including hardware, software, networking, and infrastructure solutions. His journey began with mainframe operations at IBM, followed by roles as a software engineer at NASA and various positions in enterprise-level high-performance infrastructures. Blair is the CEO and Founder of Lunar Station Corp, a key player in the Lunar economy. The company specializes in providing advanced geospatial analytics, sensor data infrastructure, and radiation exposure analyses. He is also an Angel Investor at Open Energy Market and a Board of Directors Member at Crescent Innovations Inc., a Massachusetts Bio-Tech company. Blair has held leadership roles in multiple organizations, including MiDrive Solutions, Message Systems, EMC, StrongView, and TIBCO Software, Inc. Blair holds an MBA from MIT Sloan School of Management and a Bachelor of Science in MIS from St. Thomas Aquinas College. Throughout his career, Blair has been committed to helping others and leading teams with integrity and tenacity.
Preston Dunlap
Founder and Managing Partner
Arkenstone Capital & Arkenstone Ventures
Preston Dunlap has over 20 years of executive leadership experience across technology, national security, and private investment. He is the founder of Arkenstone Ventures and Arkenstone Capital, serves on Boards and as Lead Preferred Director of Pixxel Space Technologies, and advises Fortune 100 companies, startups, private equity, venture capital firms, and RAND. He is also a Senior External Advisor at Bain & Company.
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He led the Department of Defense Nuclear Enterprise Review in collaboration with the Department of Energy and the National Nuclear Security Agency. Additionally, he spearheaded the Investment Committee strategy, analysis, and diligence for the Secretary of Defense, overseeing the allocation and deployment of over $750 billion annually across national security sectors, including infrastructure, services, space, cybersecurity, AI, communications, transportation, logistics, ships, aircraft, vehicles, and weapons.
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Mr. Dunlap initiated over $250 billion in new programs under four Secretaries of Defense, including the newly unveiled B-21 bomber, Hypersonic Prompt Strike, classified space and intelligence projects, and Joint All-Domain Command and Control programs. He also led initiatives with the Vice President of the United States and Cabinet on the future of commercial, civil, and national security space, transformed federal venture capital investments, and was the first Chief Technology Officer of the Space Force and Air Force, managing $75 billion in products. He has also contributed to the early stages of successful software and infrastructure companies.
His accolades include the Secretary of Defense Medal for Meritorious Civilian Service, the Secretary of the Air Force Medal for Meritorious Civilian Service, and the Secretary of Defense Medal for Exceptional Civilian Service.
CISLUNAR ECONOMY
Erika Wagner
US Business Development Leader
The Exploration Company
Dr. Erika Wagner serves as the Lead for US Business Development at The Exploration Company, one of the fastest growing space companies globally, building reusable space capsules and lunar landers. Previously, Dr. Wagner spent more than a decade at Blue Origin, where she helped drive the company’s go-to-market strategies in suborbital research, commercial space stations, and lunar technologies. Earlier, she worked with the X PRIZE Foundation as Senior Director of Exploration Prize Development and founding Executive Director of the X PRIZE Lab@MIT. She also served at MIT as Science Director and Executive Director of the Mars Gravity Biosatellite Program.
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In the community, Dr. Wagner has worked with The National Academies since 2014, including her current seat on the Steering Committee for A Science Strategy for the Human Exploration of Mars. Her Board service currently focuses on STEM/STEAM engagement and innovation with The Museum of Flight and Aurelia Institute. She is an also involved with the International Women’s Forum and Brooke Owens Fellowship.
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Dr. Wagner’s interdisciplinary academic background includes studies in Biomedical and Aerospace Engineering from Vanderbilt University, MIT, International Space University, and the Harvard/MIT Division of Health Sciences and Technology. Her research spanned both human and mammalian adaptation to microgravity, partial gravity, and centrifugation; as well as organizational innovation and prize theory. She has been named a Fellow of the American Society for Gravitational and Space Research (ASGSR) and the Explorers Club, and an Associate Fellow of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA).
