David Barnhart

Arkisys • Founder & CEO

David Barnhart is currently CEO and Co-Founder of Arkisys Inc, holds a Research Professor Appointment in the Department of Astronautical Engineering at USC, and is currently a Board member of CONFERS, having helped co-found this public-private consortium previously.

At Arkisys he is leading a team to break through to true sustainable commercial operations in space with a unique scaleable services platform called The Port. The Port provides operational realization for commercial companies to innovate and optimize their businesses in space instead of on the ground, changing Space from a throwaway economy to one that can organically grow after launch.

At USC David specializes in developing innovative technologies and architectures for 2nd generation space morphologies, rendezvous and proximity operations technologies/techniques, and hands-on projects with students, faculty and staff through an “engineering teaching hospital” construct.

David has served as a senior space Project Manager at DARPA, pioneering cellular spacecraft morphologies, satbotics, space robotics and low cost high volume manufacturing on the Phoenix (RSGS) and SeeMe projects. He represented the first DARPA space project at the United Nations COPUOS in Vienna Austria addressing new technology pushing the need for updates to space regulations and policy issues for next generation missions.

David’s entrepreneurial ventures helped initiate two commercial space companies; co-founding and serving as Vice President and CFO for Millennium Space Systems in Los Angeles CA (now a Boeing Co subsidiary); and was the youngest elected member of a three-person international Executive Management board for a German startup in Bremen, Vanguard Space, one of the first companies working commercial spacecraft servicing.

Events

International Astronautical Congress 2024

14-18 October 2024

Milan, Italy

Participation: