David Spencer

Founder & CEO

Dr. David Spencer is an expert in mission design and operations, with flight project implementation experience ranging from space technology demonstrations to flagship planetary missions. During 18 years at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, he has held positions as Mission System Manager for the Mars Sample Return Program, Deputy Project Manager for the Phoenix Mars Lander, Mission Manager for Deep Impact and Mars Odyssey, and mission designer for Mars Pathfinder. He is the Project Manager for the LightSail 2 solar sailing mission in support of The Planetary Society. He received his B.S. and M.S. degrees in Aeronautics and Astronautics from Purdue University, and his Ph.D. from Georgia Tech. He has served on the engineering faculty at both institutions.

Eileen Dukes

Chief Technology Officer

Eileen has decades of experience in leading the planning and operation of challenging deep space missions. She has technical expertise in attitude determination and control subsystems (ADCS), and has direct experience in the development and implementation of ADCS flight software algorithms, including modeling and simulation. She has led mission operations for planetary applications at Lockheed Martin, and she has been responsible for the ADCS implementations of the first atmospheric aerobraking at Venus and Mars. She received her B.S. degree in Aeronautics and Astronautics from MIT.