Kevin O'Connell to Chair U.S. Advisory Board for NorthStar Earth & Space Systems
NorthStar Earth & Space Systems, Inc., the U.S. subsidiary of parent NorthStar Earth & Space, Inc. of Montreal, Canada, has named Kevin O'Connell, former Director, Office of Space Commerce at the U.S. Department of Commerce, as Chairman of the NorthStar U.S. company Advisory Board.
"NorthStar aims to improve the quantity and quality of information available to the U.S. government and the commercial space industry to enhance overall awareness of the space environment and safety of spaceflight."
Kevin O'Connell.
NorthStar established its American headquarters in McLean, Virginia in early 2019 to address U.S. government and industry stakeholder focus on space situational awareness, space domain awareness, and space traffic management. NorthStar's U.S. activities are intended to deliver decision quality information services, globally branded as Space Information & Intelligence (Si2), that leverage space-based object detection, proprietary algorithms, and fusion of third-party data. NorthStar's U.S. operations tailor solutions to meet the unique requirements facing all satellite operators in their quest for actionable information that contributes to space flight safety and sustainability.
The announcement was made by NorthStar's CEO and Founder Stewart Bain at the 2021 Euroconsult World Satellite Business Week event in Paris, France. "NorthStar is honoured to announce that Kevin O'Connell has joined NorthStar as the Chairman of the Advisory Board that supports our U.S. company", said Bain. "Kevin brings to NorthStar rich insight into U.S. government policy, plans, and requirements within the important context of American commercial space activities. We welcome his leadership and guidance to best serve the diverse requirements of the American space market," noted Bain.
While Director of the Office of Space Commerce, Kevin. O'Connell led U.S. Commerce Department efforts to implement a series of government Space Policy Directives, most notably the one which articulates the changing nature of responsibilities between military and civil authorities in the areas of space situational awareness and space traffic management.
"NorthStar is poised to leverage the many advantages of space-based satellite and debris detection and integrate with other valuable third-party data to deliver a suite of timely, relevant and predictive space safety information services," O'Connell said. He added, "NorthStar aims to improve the quantity and quality of information available to the U.S. government and the commercial space industry to enhance overall awareness of the space environment and safety of spaceflight."
Since establishing U.S. operations in 2019, NorthStar has demonstrated its suite of Si2 services in multiple venues including a series of U.S. Departments of Defense and Commerce co-sponsored Sprint Advanced Concept Training (SACT) Civil-Commercial exercises.
"Kevin's former role leading the Office of Space Commerce will help NorthStar craft highly informed solutions that address the unique requirements of U.S. military, intelligence community, civil space and industry stakeholders," said Denny Brisley, NorthStar's U.S. President and Chief Operating Officer. She added, "We welcome Kevin's exceptional insight and strategic guidance as we strive to meet and exceed customer expectations."
Kevin was our guest on The Ex Terra Podcast in April.
(Source: NorthStar Earth & Space news release)