The Sky’s the Limit
For Dan Hart, the sky’s the limit.
As Virgin Orbit president and CEO, Hart oversees a team of more than 400 dedicated to “building a launch system to carry small satellites (300 to 500 kilograms) to orbit. Our first launch to orbit will be this year, so we are under full steam in our Long Beach [Calif.] headquarters and at our test range in the Mojave Air and Space Port.”
Hart notes: “The satellite industry is going through a transformation much like consumer electronics has over the years. Capabilities that once were only possible on satellites the sizes of SUVs can now be accomplished by satellites the sizes of washing machines, microwave ovens … and even toasters.” These new resources, he adds, are “enabled by the density of electronics, advances in electric propulsion, laser communications, and phased-array antennas, among other things.”
Over the past few years, “a large array of start-up companies has formed, aiming to provide communications, imaging, data storage, and a host of other capabilities using fleets of small satellites,” explains Hart. That’s where he and Virgin Orbit enter the picture.
“Unlike most launch systems, we are air-launched. Our 747, Cosmic Girl, carries our rocket out to sea, up to approximately 35,000 feet, and drops it. The rocket engine ignites, and the satellite goes to orbit.”
Hart says that 2018 promises to be “a very busy year for us.” His goal is to “lead this team to orbit and ramp up production of more than 24 rockets a year, then expand the company into other aspects of space transportation.
“Working with Richard Branson and the Virgin Team has been very exciting. They are fast moving – a true entrepreneurial group under a unified purpose to change business for good.
It’s an inspiring place to be.”
Hart was recruited to Virgin Orbit in 2016. “I had been running Boeing’s Government Satellite Business and completing a number of satellite launches – GPS, NASA TDRS, X-37, etc. – when I received a call about a new space company that was looking for a CEO. One thing came to another, and here I am,” he recalls.
Currently, “Virgin Orbit is more focused on improving life on earth by enabling beneficial capabilities in space that serve earth and humanity,” adds Hart, who majored in physics at UAlbany and once aspired to a career as an astronaut. “That said, we’ll provide supplies to people in space or partner with Virgin Galactic and propel people into outer space.”
Given the opportunity, would Hart go into space?
“If there’s something I could contribute, something that needed doing, I’d be there in a heartbeat,” he responds.
Dan Hart will serve as a keynote speaker for the University-wide Undergraduate Commencement ceremony May 20 on the uptown campus. For more details, visit www.albany.edu/commencement.
