Steve Kaufman has been a satellite lawyer for more than 20 years. A corporate partner and space practice co-head at international law firm Hogan Lovells, Steve uses his space industry knowledge to negotiate and close many types of space deals globally.

For 18 of his 30 years at the firm, Steve served as outside general counsel for space clients, leading strategic joint ventures, “bet-the-company” contracts, complex financings, and M&A deals.

What Steve does best: understanding complex business issues for space clients and translating them into legal documents. If a client can describe something, Steve can draft it. Working from complicated to simple, he has many times reduced a lengthy contract into a few pages of bullet points, showing the client what it needs and how to obtain it. Many clients comment that the business guidance from Steve is as valuable as the legal advice.

Steve relies on his familiarity with issues common to space and communications companies to give him an edge in advising space clients, particularly in negotiations. This experience produces extra benefits when Steve deals with specialized satellite, launch or ground system contracts, creative terms, use of insurance to close gaps, license and spectrum issues, and even finance and accounting matters. According to Chambers Steve Kaufman is “a real authority and somebody who will always know the answer.”

In advising clients, Steve emphasizes practicality, striving to achieve the client’s business objectives for the transaction, whether economic, risk reduction, regulatory/compliance, or transaction speed. This carries over into deal management as well as negotiations, where he willingly takes the lead. Steve is a regular at the satellite conferences, making connections among clients and even adverse parties. He is listed in Chambers, Super Lawyers, and Legal 500.

William Dickson serves as Chief Revenue Officer for Canopy Aerospace & Defense, a platform advancing signature-reduction solutions via high-temperature materials for space, hypersonic and defense systems. In his role he leads commercialization, strategic partnerships across government and industry, and the scaling of mission-critical technologies into space and defense applications. Canopy A&D is a critical supplier and innovator for customers in commercial launch, rocket motor manufacturing, maritime surface warfare vessels, NASA, and USAF among other high-performance mission operators.
Prior to joining Canopy Aerospace (acquired and merged into Canopy Aerospace & Defense in August 2025) as the first employee in 2023, Will’s career had encompassed roles in engineering, product development, corporate innovation, technology transfer, federal contracting, and entrepreneurship. He holds a Bachelor’s and Master’s degree in Materials Science and Engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and the University of California, Berkeley, respectively.

Clint Hunt, Colonel, USAF (Retired), is the senior director and deputy of Government
Operations for United Launch Alliance (ULA). In this role, he leads ULA’s team responsible for
shaping critical policies and decisions related to ULA’s business.

Clint previously served 27 years as an operator and acquisition officer in the United States
Air Force, focusing largely on space control, intelligence and space launch systems. In his
final assignment, he was the director, Office of Space Launch at the National
Reconnaissance Office (NRO). In this role, Clint led several hundred government and
industry team members at five locations, executing a multi-billion dollar budget across the
future year’s defense plan. He was also responsible for the technical and operational
planning and execution of the NRO’s launch requirements.

Prior to this assignment, Clint served as the chief, Space Control and Advanced Technology
Division at headquarters Air Force, representing an eight-billion dollar portfolio that
encompassed 28 space control-related programs, and advocating for Space Control
requirements with the other services, Congress, Office of the Secretary of Defense, Joint
Staff, Intelligence Community and the White House. He held numerous other leadership
assignments during his career, serving as the chief of the Space Professional Management
Office at Headquarters Air Force Space Command and commanded the 1st Air and Space
Test Squadron at Vandenberg Air Force Base. He also held positions in the NRO’s Signals
Intelligence Directorate, as the Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle Program Element
Monitor and duties at the Squadron and program office level.

Clint holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Tennessee at Knoxville and
Master of Science degrees from the Air Force Institute of Technology and Lesley University
and is Level III certified program manager.

Devon Papandrew is Vice President of Business Development at Stoke Space, where he leads the company’s global growth strategy and customer engagement across commercial and government sectors. He is responsible for driving revenue, market strategy, and strategic partnerships as Stoke develops and deploys fully reusable medium-lift rockets designed for daily flight. Devon has been instrumental in securing major government contracts and anchor commercial partnerships, positioning Stoke as one of the fastest-growing entrants in the launch industry.

Previously, Devon served as Vice President of Business Operations at Spaceflight Inc., where he integrated business development, mission management, and engineering to enable a high-cadence rideshare launch program. He holds a B.S. in Physics and Economics from Georgetown University.

Eric Salwan is a NewSpace advocate and entrepreneur. As one of the seed investors and first employees of Firefly Space Systems, Eric was a member of the initial team that worked to create an innovative small satellite launch solution. He has since led cross-departmental initiatives, including setting up Firefly’s IT infrastructure. Now as the Director of Commercial Business Development at Firefly Aerospace, Eric is responsible for developing the commercial business pipeline for Firefly’s Alpha launch vehicle.

Pablo Gallego Sanmiguel is PLD Space Senior Vice President. Pablo brings extensive knowledge and experience in the aerospace market, specifically in the sector of Commercial Launch Services.
Since March 2019, the former SpaceX employee has been working in the commercial and customer management of the Spanish company, representing PLD Space.
Before joining PLD Space, Pablo developed his professional career from California (United States) working as Mission Manager of Launching Services with SpaceX as well as providing aerospace consulting services.
Previously, Pablo had participated actively in several other rocket launch operations, such as Ariane 4, Ariane 5, Soyuz, Dnepr, Vega, Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy.
Pablo has participated in more than forty launch campaigns with different clients and launch bases such as Kourou (French Guiana), Yasny (Russia), Vandenberg (California) and Cape Canaveral (Florida).
Currently, Pablo coordinates his activities between the United States and Europe where he directly addresses the needs of customers.
In addition, Pablo is registered with the U.S Department of State Directorate of Defense Trade Controls (DDTC), to be able to interact with different types of customers and suppliers, both in the commercial field and in other more restrictive areas, such as defense whose activities may be subject to ITAR regulation.

Francesco Sgarbossa is the Sales Director for Launch Services at Avio in Paris, where he leads commercial activities for the Vega C launch system. An aerospace engineer by training, he began his career at Leonardo and held multiple roles in technical sales and management within the industrial sector. Francesco joined Avio following the company’s transfer of Launch Service Provider activities from Arianespace, and today he focuses on strengthening Vega C’s position in the international launch market