Advisory Committee

Dr. Bill Ailor, affiliated with The Aerospace Corporation

Maj Gen James B. Armor, Jr. (Ret.), The Armor Group, LLC

Gérard Brachet, Aerospace Consultant and Managing Director of Sic Itur 

Richard Dalbello, Intelsat

Dr. Joan Johnson-Freese, United States Naval War College

Dr. Patricia Lewis, Monterey Institute of International Studies

Dr. John M. Logsdon, Professor Emeritus Political Science and International Affairs, The George Washington University

Phil Meek, Attorney, former U.S. Air Force Judge Advocate 

Dr. Art Morrissey, Consultant 

Dr. Cherilynn Morrow, Georgia State University

Dr. Stanley Riveles, Consultant

Marcia Smith, Space and Technology Policy Group, LLC

Dr. Kazuto Suzuki, Hokkaido University

Richard Tremayne-Smith, Consultant

Rachel Yates, Holland & Hart

Dr. Bill Ailor is the director of the Center for Orbital and Reentry Debris Studies at The Aerospace Corporation, located in El Segundo, California. He has worked in the reentry breakup area for over 30 years, and received a NASA Group Achievement Award in 1992 for his work helping to understand the reentry breakup characteristics of the Space Shuttle External Tank. He was chair of the Reentry Subpanel of the Interagency Nuclear Safety Review Panel (INSRP) for the Galileo, Ulysses, Cassini, and Mars Explorer missions (INSRP provides independent assessments to the White House on the safety of space missions containing radioactive materials) and was Reentry Subject Matter Expert for the Mars Exploration Rover and Pluto New Horizons missions.

Dr. Ailor testified to the Columbia Accident Investigation Board on what might be learned from recovered debris. He was general chairman of the 2004 and 2007 Planetary Defense Conferences: Protecting Earth from Asteroids and is co-chair of the 1st International Academy of Astronautics (IAA) Planetary Defense Conference held in April 2009. He heads the U.S. delegation on ISO’s Orbital Debris Coordinating Working Group, which leads the development of international standards to minimize the production of orbital debris, and he contributed to the development of the IAA Position Paper on Space Debris Mitigation and IAA Cosmic Study on Traffic Management Rules for Space Operations. Dr. Ailor has published several articles and professional papers on space traffic control, reentry breakup, planetary defense, and space debris.

Maj Gen James B. Armor, Jr. (Ret.) is founder and consultant with The Armor Group, LLC based in Virginia. He was Director, National Security Space Office, Office of the Under Secretary of the Air Force, Washington, D.C. until his retirement in 2008. He was responsible for integrating and coordinating defense and intelligence space activities to achieve unity of effort. He also advised the Office of the Secretary of Defense and the Office of the Director, National Intelligence, on matters affecting national security space capabilities.

General Armor was commissioned in 1973 through the Reserve Office Training Corps (ROTC) program at Lehigh University in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. He has served as a combat crew missile launch officer, a laser signal intelligence analyst, and a satellite launch system integrator. In addition, he trained as a Space Shuttle payload specialist, and was first to study information warfare while a research fellow at the National War College. At Headquarters U.S. Air Force he served in the Office of the Deputy Chief of Staff for Plans and Operations, and in the Office of the Secretary of the Air Force for Acquisition where he worked various special access programs. General Armor has held several program management positions, including Program Director of the Global Positioning System at the Space and Missile Systems Center, Los Angeles Air Force Base, California. The general also served as Vice Commander of the Warner Robins Air Logistics Center at Robins AFB, Georgia. Prior to assuming his current position, he was Director, Signals Intelligence Systems Acquisition and Operations at the National Reconnaissance Office.

Gérard Brachet is Managing Director of Sic Itur, an aerospace consulting firm he founded. He earned an engineering degree from the Ecole Nationale Superieure d'Aeronautique in 1967 and a MS in Aeronautics and Astronautics from the University of Washington in 1968. He began his professional career at the Centre National d'Etudes Spatiales (CNES) in France, and from 1972 to 1982 was successively Head of the Orbit Determination and Spacecraft Dynamics Department, the Scientific Programs Division and the Application Programs Division. From 1978 to 1992, Mr. Brachet was employed with SPOT Image, becoming Chairman and Chief Executive Officer in 1982. During this time, he was an advisor on space matters to the European Commission.

Mr. Brachet returned to CNES in 1994 where he was successively the Director for Programs, Planning and Industrial Policy, and Scientific Director and Director General from July 1997 to December 2003. Since January 2004 he has been an independent aerospace consultant and served as a Chairman of the United Nations Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space (COPUOS) from 2006 to 2008.

From 1981 to 1989 Mr. Brachet was President of the Societe Française de Photogrammetrie et de Teledetection (French Society for Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing). In 1992 he received the Brock Gold Medal Award, a prize that is awarded every four years by the International Society for Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing. He is the only French person to have been distinguished in this way. In 1994, he received the Remote Sensing Society Award. He is a member of the International Academy of Astronautics and a corresponding member of the Academie Nationale de l'Air et de l'Espace (National Air and Space Academy). Mr. Brachet is an Officier de l'Ordre national du Mérite (1997) and a Chevalier de la légion d'honneur (1986).

Richard Dalbello is Vice President for Government Relations at Intelsat. He is responsible for leading Intelsat General's government relations and public policy efforts at the federal and state level and representing Intelsat General before numerous U.S. and international policy bodies.

With more than 20 years of experience, Mr. DalBello is well known in satellite communications and government circles. He served previously as president of the Satellite Broadcasting and Communications Association, and for more than three years as the president of the Satellite Industry Association, the voice of the U.S. commercial satellite industry on policy, regulatory and legislative matters. Earlier, Mr. DalBello was general counsel for Spotcast Communications Inc., and vice president of government affairs, North America, for ICO Global Communications, a provider of mobile satellite communications services. He also served for four years as the Assistant Director for Aeronautics and Space in the White House's Office of Science and Technology Policy.

Mr. DalBello earned a bachelor's degree in political science from the University of Illinois, a doctorate in jurisprudence from the University of San Francisco, and a master's in law from McGill University.

Dr. Joan Johnson-Freese has held the position of Chair, National Security Decision Making Department at the Naval War College in Newport, Rhode Island since August 2002. Previously, she was a Professor of National Security Studies at the Asia Pacific Center for Security Studies in Honolulu, Hawaii, and the Air War College, and Associate Professor of Political Science and Director of the Center for Space Policy & Law at the University of Central Florida.

Within the realm of international and national security studies, Dr. Johnson-Freese has focused her research and writing on space security issues, including technology transfer and export, missile defense, transparency, space and development, transformation, and globalization. Her book publications include: Heavenly Ambitions: Will America Dominate Space? from University of Pennsylvania Press, 2009; Space As A Strategic Asset (2007); The Chinese Space Program: A Mystery Within a Maze (1998); Space: The Dormant Frontier, Changing the Space Paradigm for the 21st Century (1997); The Prestige Trap: A Comparative Study of the US, European and Japanese Space Programs, with Roger Handberg (1994); Over the Pacific: Japanese Space Policy Into the 21st Century (1993); and Changing Patterns of International Cooperation in Space (1990).

Dr. Johnson-Freese has also published articles in such journals as Joint Forces Quarterly, Nature, Space Policy, Issues in Science & Technology and The Nonproliferation Review. She is a Fellow of the International Academy of Astronautics; a Visiting Fellow at the Watson Institute of International Affairs at Brown University; a member of the International Institute for Strategic Studies; on the Space Studies Board of the National Research Council; the Editorial Board of China Security; and has testified before Congress on multiple occasions regarding space security and China. She also teaches courses on Globalization & Terrorism and Space & Security at Harvard Summer School.

Dr. Patricia Lewis is the Deputy Director and Scientist-in-Residence at the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies at the Monterey Institute of International Studies. Prior to assuming this appointment in August 2008, Dr. Lewis served for ten years as the Director of the United Nations Institute for Disarmament Research (UNIDIR) in Geneva, Switzerland. She also previously was the Director of the Verification Research and Training Centre (VERTIC) in London, UK.

A dual national of Ireland and the United Kingdom, Dr. Lewis holds a BSc in Physics from the University of Manchester and a PhD in Nuclear Structure Physics from the University of Birmingham. Dr. Lewis has lectured in Physics at the University of Auckland in New Zealand, from where she also carried out research at the Australian National University in Canberra, and as a visiting lecturer at Imperial College London. She has also worked as a volunteer at the Rehabilitation Centres for Children, and at the Thakurpukur Cancer Centre in Kolkata, India.

Dr. Lewis has published and spoken widely on aspects of science, verification, arms control, disarmament and nonproliferation. She was the Elizabeth Poppleton Fellow at the Australian National University in 1992 and the UK Governmental Expert on the 1989-1990 United Nations Expert Study on Verification in All its Aspects. Dr. Lewis was a consultant the UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office and the UK Ministry of Defence on verifying the Conventional Forces in Europe Treaty. She was a reviewer for the Canberra Commission on the Elimination of Nuclear Weapons (1996), a Member of the Tokyo Forum for Nuclear Non-Proliferation and Disarmament (1998-1999) and a Commissioner (Ireland) on the Weapons of Mass Destruction Commission (2004-2006, commonly referred to as the Blix Commission). In her capacity as Director of UNIDIR, she was a member of the UN Secretary General's Advisory Board on Disarmament Matters (1997-2008).

Dr. John M. Logsdon is Professor Emeritus of Political Science and International Affairs, Space Policy Institute, Elliott School of International Affairs, The George Washington University. He previously held a one year fellowship at the National Air and Space Museum, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC as Charles A. Lindbergh Chair in Aerospace History. From 1987-2008, Logsdon was Director of GW's Space Policy Institute. He joined the GW faculty in 1970. He holds a B.S. in Physics from Xavier University (1960) and a Ph.D. in Political Science from New York University (1970). Dr. Logsdon’s research interests focus on the policy and historical aspects of U.S. and international space activities.

Dr. Logsdon is the author of The Decision to Go to the Moon: Project Apollo and the National Interest and is general editor of the eight-volume series Exploring the Unknown: Selected Documents in the History of the U.S. Civil Space Program. He has written numerous articles and reports on space policy and history. He is frequently consulted by the electronic and print media for his views on space issues.

Dr. Logsdon is a member of the NASA Advisory Council and of the Commercial Space Transportation Advisory Committee of the Department of Transportation. In 2003, he served as a member of the Columbia Accident Investigation Board. He is a recipient of the NASA Distinguished Public Service and Public Service Medals, the 2005 John F. Kennedy Award from the American Astronautical Society, and the 2006 Barry Goldwater Space Educator Award of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics. He is a Fellow of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics and the American Association for the Advancement of Science. He is a member of the International Academy of Astronautics.

Phil Meek has a general law practice in Austin, Texas, including space law and policy matters. Prior to moving to Austin in September 2008, Mr. Meek was an Associate General Counsel (International Affairs), Department of the Air Force, the Pentagon, for 13 years. His primary portfolio consisted of space law and policy, space arms control, information warfare, and the law of armed conflict. Before accepting his position with the Air Force General Counsel, Mr. Meek served as an Air Force Judge Advocate for 25 years, with senior JAG assignments including Director of International and Operations Law, HQ USAF, the Pentagon, and a "triple-hatted" position as Staff Judge Advocate for three commands concurrently, specifically, Air Force Space Command, United States Space Command, and North American Aerospace Defense Command, Peterson Air Force Base, Colorado. He retired with the rank of colonel.

Dr. Art Morrissey is an aerospace consultant. Previously, he was on the executive staff of Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp. as vice president of corporate business development. Mr. Morrissey was involved in the company's strategic market planning and analysis activities, as well as coordinate business development across the company's three strategic business areas - civil space, commercial space and defense. Dr. Morrissey joined Ball Aerospace from Lockheed Martin Corporation where he held a variety of business development and program management positions.

Prior to his aerospace industry experience, Dr. Morrissey worked in the public sector. He held senior positions in the White House, Office of Science and Technology Policy, the U.S. Department of State and the Central Intelligence Agency, where he was responsible for space, advanced technology and intelligence matters.

Dr. Morrissey holds a bachelor's degree and a doctorate in chemistry from Washington and Jefferson College and University of South Carolina respectively. He has served on numerous prestigious boards and panels, and is currently a member of the Council on Foreign Relations.

Dr. Cherilynn Morrow assumed a new position as the first education-focused professor of Physics & Astronomy at Georgia State University in Atlanta, Georgia in January 2008.

Dr. Morrow holds a PhD in Astrophysical, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences from the University of Colorado Boulder. She has a long-lived interest in aviation and space interspersed with research in solar physics and distinction as an innovator in science and math education.

While earning her BS in Physics from George Mason University, Dr. Morrow served as a government intern reporting on Soviet space activities and as cadet commander of her Civil Air Patrol squadron. During this time she also won a Dadaelian Society scholarship that allowed her to earn her private pilot’s license. As a graduate student in Boulder, CO she served as president of CU’s Space Interest Group and moderated a highly visible public debate on the Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI) between Dr. Richard Garwin of the Union of Concerned Scientists and (then USAF Captain) Pete Worden. In this same era, Dr. Morrow was selected to attend a Student Pugwash conference at Princeton University that was devoted to dialog about the military uses of space. Following a two-year post-doctoral appointment at Cambridge University, Cherilynn chose to return to her interests in space education. She served for two years as the Associate Director of the Colorado Space Grant College where she designed and implemented a novel, interdisciplinary course/seminar series on Space Experimentation that was delivered to several Colorado colleges and universities.

In the Fall of 1992, Dr. Morrow accepted a position as a Visiting Senior Scientist in the Office of Space Science at NASA Headquarters in Washington DC. At NASA she worked on a team that prepared the NASA Administrator’s first space policy speech for scientists, co-presented at the 2nd annual United Nations Workshop on Basic Space Science for Developing Countries, authored the first draft of a strategic plan for integrating education and public outreach into the mission of the Office of Space Science, provided several briefings to government executives for the Brookings Institute, and served as one of three NASA presenters at a meeting convened by Dr. Carl Sagan about how NASA could communicate more effectively with the public. Dr. Morrow was also privileged to provide a one-on-one, half-day training on the NASA Astrophysics program for educator-astronaut Barbara Morgan as well as numerous workshops/presentations on NASA space science for other K-12 educators.

Following her NASA appointment, Dr. Morrow worked at the Space Science Institute and the SETI Institute, providing more than a decade of service as a national leader, consultant, and workshop facilitator in support of integrating high-quality education and public outreach programs into scientific research environments. During this time, Dr. Morrow helped to launch the first education-focused sessions at professional society meetings such as the American Geophysical Union and COSPAR. She also became renowned for her extensive outreach to Navajo educators and her novel contributions to education and public outreach in astronomy (e.g. the Saturn Educator Guide, Kinesthetic Astronomy, AstroJazz, and a Planetary Society blog of the September 2007 launch of Kaguya – the Japanese mission to the Moon).

Dr. Stanley Riveles joined the Institute for Defense Analyses as a Consultant in November 2006 following a 30 year career in the Department of State, mainly in the field of arms control and national security.

From 1994-2000, as Commissioner to the Standing Consultative Commission (SCC), Dr. Riveles was the United States chief ABM Treaty negotiator. President Clinton appointed him in December 1994, and he was nominated for Rank of Ambassador. To update the ABM Treaty following the demise of the Soviet Union, Dr. Riveles successfully crafted agreements to bring Belarus, Kazakhstan, and Ukraine (in addition to Russia) into the Treaty as new parties. The agreements also permitted the U.S. to develop and deploy new anti-ballistic missile systems to counter new missile threats. These agreements were signed for the U.S. by Secretary of State Albright and Dr. Riveles in September 1997.

His last assignment in the State Department was as Director of the Nuclear Risk Reduction Center that provides communications support for over 15 international arms control agreements and treaties. From 2001-2006, he worked for the Secretary of State’s Science and Technology Adviser, where he developed initiatives for international cooperation in counter-terrorism and critical infrastructure protection. During this time, he was detailed to the Department of Homeland Security Domestic Nuclear Detection Organization (DNDO). In 2000-2001, Dr. Riveles taught International Relations on the faculty of the National War College.

Since joining the Institute for Defense Analyses, Dr. Riveles has worked on projects dealing with stability on the African continent and Islamic fundamentalism. He is co-author of the IDA studies Sudan: Integration versus Fragmentation and Illicit Trade and Terrorism – Implications for National Security Priorities (both forthcoming). He has contributed to studies on AFRICOM’s relations with the states of Africa; stability in Kenya; and strategic communications policy in countering Salafi Jihadism.

Dr. Riveles has a long association with strategic policy and negotiations as an arms control official. During 1993, he was Executive Assistant to the Acting Director of the Arms Control and Disarmament Agency (ACDA). From 1987 until March 1995, he was a division chief in the Bureau of Strategic and Eurasian Affairs. During his tenure, he chaired the Interagency Committees that supported the successful INF and START Treaty negotiations.

Between 1982 and 1987, he was ACDA Member of the INF and START Delegations. He served on the INF delegation under Ambassadors Paul Nitze and Maynard Glitman and on START under Ambassadors Max Kampelman, Ron Lehman, and Richard Burt. Before entering government, Dr. Riveles taught international relations at Munich University and the University of Southern California. He was also an Adjunct Professor at George Mason University in Fairfax, Virginia.

He is a native of Plainfield, New Jersey. He has a Ph.D. from Columbia University in Political Science. His B.A. (Yale, Magna Cum Laude) and M.A. (Cambridge University, England) are in Slavic languages, Russian and Czech. He is married and has two children.

Marcia S. Smith became Director of the Space Studies Board (SSB) at the National Research Council (NRC) in March 2006, and additionally became Director of the NRC’s Aeronautics and Space Engineering Board (ASEB) in January 2007. The NRC is the operating arm of The National Academies, which is comprised of the National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Engineering, and the Institute of Medicine. The National Academies serve as advisors to the nation on science, engineering and medicine.

Previously, Ms. Smith was a specialist in aerospace and telecommunications policy at the Congressional Research Service (CRS), Library of Congress, Washington, D.C. CRS provides objective, non-partisan research and analysis exclusively for the Members and committees of the U.S. Congress. She specialized in issues concerning U.S. and foreign military and civilian space activities, as well as on telecommunications issues (including the Internet).

From 1985-1986, Ms. Smith took a leave of absence from CRS to serve as Executive Director of the U.S. National Commission on Space. The Commission, created by Congress and its members appointed by the President, developed long term (50 year) goals for the civilian space program under the chairmanship of (the late) former NASA Administrator Thomas Paine. The Commission published its results in the report Pioneering the Space Frontier.

Ms. Smith is the North American Editor for the quarterly journal Space Policy. She is a Fellow of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA), of the American Astronautical Society (AAS), and of the British Interplanetary Society (BIS). She is the recipient of the 2006 John F. Kennedy Astronautics Award from the American Astronautical Society and the 2003 Lifetime Achievement Award from Women in Aerospace (WIA) She was a founder of WIA, and is an Emeritus Member of that organization. She is a member of the International Institute of Space Law, the International Academy of Astronautics, the New York Academy of Sciences, the Washington Academy of Sciences, and Sigma Xi (the honorary scientific research society).

Dr. Kazuto Suzuki is Associate Professor of International Political Economy at Public Policy School of Hokkaido University in Japan. He graduated from the Department of International Relations, Ritsumeikan University, and received Ph.D. from Sussex European Institute, University of Sussex, England.

He has worked for the University of Tsukuba from 2000 to 2008, and moved to Hokkaido University Public Policy School. His research is focused on European integration and transformation of national policies with a perspective on security, technology and economy. He has conducted research from international political economy perspective in space policy, together with export control policy, science and technology policy and policies on market regulation. He has published a number of articles and books, both in Japanese and English, including Policy Logics and Institutions of European Space Collaboration; "Administrative Reforms and Policy Logics of Japanese Space Policy", Space Policy (Vol. 22 no. 1, 2005); "Transforming Japan's Space Policy-making", Space Policy (Vol. 23, no. 2, 2007); "Space policy of the European Union", The Path and Vector of European Integration; Space: Japan’s New Security Agenda; "Basic Law for Space Activities: A New Space Policy for Japan for the 21st Century", Yearbook on Space Policy 2006/2007; "Japanese Steps toward Regional and Global Confidence Building", Collective Security in Space: Asian Perspectives; and "Space and Security: Japanese Perspective", Penser les Ailes Françaises (No.16, 2008).

As an expert of space policy, he has been working as an advisor for the Space Development Committee of Liberal Democratic Party of Japan and the Society of Japanese Aerospace Companies, and Senior Policy Researcher for the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA). He also has been closely involved in the development of Japanese space decision-making process including the establishment of the Basic Law for Space Activities of 2008 and Mid-term Plan for Space Activities of 2009.

Richard Tremayne-Smith was the former head of Space Environment and International Relations at the British National Space Centre (BNSC). Through the 1990s to date, Mr. Tremayne-Smith has worked on a wide range of space related areas that included space transportation and propulsion, manned spaceflight, small satellites (MOSAIC Programme), international relations and United Nations issues, as well as the space environment with emphasis on orbital debris, near Earth objects (NEOs) and space surveillance issues. He has provided technical support to the UK licensing process; initiated review of the implementation of the UK Outer Space Act and took it forward with due account for provisions of the outer space treaties and principles.

During the 1970s and 1980s, Mr. Tremayne-Smith worked on scientific computer systems and research leading to European projects on advanced architectures; the scope of work included parallel, artificial intelligence (AI) and knowledge based systems.

Mr. Tremayne-Smith was an apprentice at the Royal Aircraft Establishment, Farnborough from the mid-1960s. Assignments included work in Avionics Department (MRCA) and Space Department on the UK X3 or Prospero satellite that was later launched on Black Arrow.

Rachel Yates has practiced law at Holland & Hart since she graduated cum laude from Boston University School of Law in 1990. Ms. Yates recently served for five years as the Administrative Partner of the firm's Denver Tech Center Office. At Holland & Hart, her litigation practice is divided into three areas: commercial litigation, oil and gas, and space law.

Ms. Yates represents major and mid-sized companies with business interests in the Rocky Mountain region and throughout the world. As a litigator, she has defended a range of cases, from small lawsuits to mass tort and class actions.

In service to the firm's space industry clients, Ms. Yates has advised them on government contracting and risk avoidance issues. She actively participates in the Colorado Space Coalition. In that capacity, she has testified to the Colorado congressional delegation on export controls, drafted working documents analyzing the impacts on industry, and proposed legislatives solutions. In addition, Ms. Yates has worked closely with her client, the Colorado Springs-based Space Foundation, to present practical and real-world advice at the International Space Symposium, in Toulouse, France, and the National Space Symposium held annually in Colorado Springs, Colorado. She developed the first legal workshop presented during the symposium to ensure that the space industry learns about cutting-edge developments in the law and the opportunities for risk avoidance.

Ms. Yates received her Certificate of Completion from the International Space University (ISU) Summer Session Program 2003, held in Strasbourg, France. In addition to coursework in space policy and law, this program involved an intensive interdisciplinary curriculum covering the principal space-related fields, including spacecraft design and engineering, satellite applications, orbital mechanics, life sciences, physical sciences, and business management. During the program, she co-authored TRACKS to Space: Technology Research and Cooperative Knowledge Sharing, a report on innovative space technologies commissioned by the European Space Agency.