RISKS, REALITIES AND REGULATIONS SHAPING THE SMALLSAT MARKET

Janna joined Astroscale U.S. in May 2024 as Senior Vice President of Policy and General Counsel to provide strategic policy and legal direction to support the company’s growth and compliance with evolving regulations. She also serves as Secretary of the Astroscale U.S. Board of Directors.

Prior to joining Astroscale, she was a senior attorney and technology strategist with BAE Systems, Inc., focused on legal and policy matters in national defense, intelligence, and commercial space. She has unique, cross-sector expertise in advising programs and technology development for U.S. government and commercial initiatives, including launch services, satellite integration, on-orbit communications and sensing, microelectronics, and cybersecurity.

Janna began her career in private legal practice, where she served as counsel to U.S. and international clients in the aerospace and defense, commercial space, and telecommunications industries. She then worked for Facebook, where she helped frame industry partnerships to catalyze the delivery of space- based and high-altitude global connectivity solutions. From there, she facilitated innovation and strategic collaborations for Northrop Grumman’s Missions Systems Sector before joining BAE Systems.

Janna is a volunteer with the Space Foundation, served on the Defense Innovation Board’s Space Advisory Committee, and is a registered patent attorney. She is also a member of the International Institute of Space Lawyers and the AIA Intellectual Property Committee. Passionate about strategic space policy, Janna frequently speaks publicly about the rapidly evolving laws and policies affecting defense and commercial space. She is committed to increasing diversity in the space industry, and she is a strong advocate for new space professionals.

Robert R. Cleave has over 35 years’ experience in the space industry as an engineer, program manager and executive leader with profit & loss responsibilities. He has worked nearly every mission area, from rovers on Mars to remote sensing and communication satellites. Robert has also worked every segment of the value chain, spanning spacecraft and payloads, launch vehicles and ground systems. He managed over $2B in business at Lockheed Martin, was President and Chairman of Lockheed Martin Commercial Launch Services business unit, and successfully delivered secure networking solutions to the US Government, and the Governments of Spain and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. He managed investment portfolios and led multiple strategic investments into several emerging companies in the space ecosystem.

Robert continuously seeks to create use cases where space-based solutions are leveraged to improve life on earth. In the mid-1990s, he invented a satellite-enabled machine-to-machine solution which remains in use today, and later was the founder of XTAR, LLC, the worlds’ first satellite operator to exclusively offer communication services at the coveted X frequency band.

More recently, Cleave has focused on ground-based technologies, and co-founded NewSpace Networks Inc., a software company building technologies to improve networking efficiency leveraging virtualization and edge computing. Robert is also a co-founder of Secure PNT Inc., a company building digital satellite antenna technologies for noise suppression and signal enhancement.

He is a member of the founding team, a technical advisor and Executive Committee member to the Neo Space Group in Saudi Arabia; a strategic advisor to ABL Space; a strategic advisor to a satellite operator in South-East Asia; and a Subject Matter Expert to multiple corporations and national labs.

Robert has published over 25 technical and business papers and an active speaker at multiple conferences, including a TED event. He has originated or co-authored seven patents related to space and received multiple awards throughout his career. Robert earned an Aerospace Engineering degree at Arizona State University and a Systems Engineering Certificate from the University of Southern California. He is an angel investor in multiple non-space businesses and is a leading investor in a non-profit that he hopes will eventually leverage satellite technology for tracking and eliminating plastic waste in our oceans.

As Head of Aerospace at Cambridge Consultants, Stewart leads the company’s collaboration within the sector. Central to Stewart’s role is helping companies achieve complex technology breakthroughs that unlock transformative business value. This has included a world-first Push-to-Talk satellite service and an innovative beyond visual line-of-sight UAV solution using low power satellite technology.

S. Sita Sonty (Sita) is a Partner and Managing Director in the AlixPartners AD&A Americas group. She served as a career Foreign Service Officer with the U.S. State Department, CEO of a space company, Partner at BCG, and Executive at SpaceX and Raytheon.

Prior to AlixPartners, Sita served as the CEO of Space Tango. Before that, she was the global lead for Commercial Space at BCG, where she was also a BCG Federal Core member. Earlier in her career, Sita has also held roles in Sierra Nevada Corporation, SpaceX, Raytheon, and served in senior roles at the Department of State.

She graduated with distinction from Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies; studied at Jussieu in Paris (1998) and the Centre des Etudes Maghrebines en Tunisie (CEMAT) (2001); and graduated magna cum laude from Amherst College in Political Science and Economics.

Her native tongue is Telugu; she also speaks Hindi, French, Arabic, Croatian, and Urdu.  Sita serves as Executive Board Member for Women in Aerospace, The Johns Hopkins University President’s Alumni Council, and the Washington Leadership Program.

Strategically positioned in the firm’s Washington, D.C. office, Drew Svor serves as a member of the firm’s Telecom, Space & Satellite, CFIUS and AI Teams, as well as the D.C. office’s recruiting co-chair.

Areas of Practice

Advisor to Dynamic Industries
Drew is a go-to advisor for technology, telecommunications, aerospace, defense and infrastructure companies navigating today’s complex regulatory landscape. With a keen eye on fostering innovation and growth while ensuring compliance, Drew provides strategic counsel to clients at the forefront of technological advancement, commercial investment and national security imperatives.

Experience in Action
Specializing in representing space and satellite companies, mobile network operators and cutting-edge technology providers, Drew helps his clients shape the digital landscape of tomorrow. His strategic and practical approach ensures clients stay ahead in dynamic industries where innovation is the name of the game.

Thought Leader and Speaker
Drew is a recognized thought leader, regularly authoring insightful pieces on emerging technologies and new regulatory trends, especially at the FCC. He is also a sought-after speaker at industry-leading events, including conferences hosted by SatNews, the Federal Communications Bar Association (FCBA) and the ABA Space Symposium.

Pro Bono Commitment
Drew’s passion extends beyond the technology sector. He actively engages in pro bono work, collaborating with Human Rights First to represent refugees in political asylum cases before USCIS and DHS.

Industry Boards
Drew is a member of the Washington Space Business Roundtable Board and the Law360 Telecommunications Editorial Advisory Board.

Community Involvement
Outside of work, Drew enjoys rugby, running, traveling and is a devoted friend to cats and dogs alike.

Abhi Tripathi has been working in Human and Robotic Space flight for over 20 years. He is presently the Director of Mission Operations at the UC Berkeley Space Sciences Lab (SSL). The lab currently operates 2 NASA missions and has 5 more it is actively building and testing in preparation for launch. This includes the twin spacecraft ESCAPADE mission to Mars. Abhi is also an advisor to several exciting aerospace startups, both through his involvement as the Air and Space Track co-chair at the Berkeley Skydeck Accelerator, and on his own.

Prior to his role at SSL, Abhi spent 10 years working at SpaceX, starting a month before the first launch of the F9. He led certification (by NASA) of the Cargo and Crew Dragon programs at SpaceX. These vehicles were certified faster than any visiting vehicles, before or since. He served as the Dragon Mission Director from mission control on a dozen cargo re-supply missions to the International Space Station. He also served as a Dragon Chief Engineer for Flight Reliability on the Crew Demo 1 and Demo 2 missions. Before SpaceX, Abhi spent 10 years as an Aerospace Systems engineer at NASA Johnson Space Center. There he worked on NASA’s long term planning and design work for Moon and Mars campaigns.

Abhi has degrees in aerospace engineering from the University of Michigan and University of Colorado. He holds a Ph.D. in Geology/Micropaleontology from UCLA.