Orbit reimagined: pushing the limits of very-low orbital flight.

• Former Director General of the European Space Agency, bringing decades of leadership at the highest levels of the global space sector • Deep technical expertise in rocket propulsion and microgravity research, with hands-on experience across frontier space technologies • Elected member of the National Academy of Engineering, recognized for his outstanding contributions to international space exploration and leadership of major space programs worldwide

• Dr. Dan M. Goebel is a Fellow and Senior Research Scientist at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory and an Adjunct Professor of Electrical and Aerospace Engineering at UCLA. He earned degrees in physics, electrical engineering, and applied plasma physics from UCLA. At JPL, he serves as Chief Engineer of the Psyche Mission and leads development of advanced electric propulsion and other spacecraft technologies. • Dr. Goebel is a member of the National Academy of Engineering and a Fellow of the National Academy of Inventors, AIAA, IEEE, and APS. He has authored more than 350 journal and conference papers, co-written two textbooks on electric propulsion, and holds 60 patents.

• Former Commander of Joint Forces Command, where he delivered specialist capabilities across all military domains • Commanded at the highest levels of UK defence, including leading the 4th Armoured Brigade in Iraq and Germany and later serving as Chief of Materiel and Quartermaster-General • Four decades of distinguished military leadership, beginning with his commission into the Second Royal Tank Regiment after graduating from Oxford, and spanning frontline command, major operations, and senior strategic appointments

• Mark Drinkwater led ESA’s Earth and Mission Science Division from 2007 to 2025, overseeing Earth Explorer mission selection and helping shape the design, development, and operation of the missions in the Earth Explorer and Copernicus Sentinel programmes. • Before this, he served as Project Scientist for several major missions, most notably GOCE —one of only two missions ever flown in VLEO. Operating at the edge of space, GOCE transformed our understanding of Earth’s gravity field, ocean circulation, and internal structure. • Earlier in his career, after earning a PhD at the University of Cambridge, he joined NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory.

• Paolo Ferri is one of Europe’s most accomplished space operations leaders. As the former Head of ESA Mission Operations, he oversaw operations across ESA’s unmanned missions, helping guide some of the agency’s most ambitious programmes. • Best known as Flight Director of Rosetta, Ferri also held senior roles on landmark missions including Mars Express, Venus Express, BepiColombo, and the GOCE VLEO mission. • His work in space mission operations was recognised with SpaceOps’ Lifetime Achievement Award in 2023 and by his induction into the International Astronautical Federation Hall of Fame in 2015.

"From day one, I've been able to shape real products and missions. Very Low Earth Orbit is still an uncharted frontier, and every engineering decision I make contributes to making it commercially viable. It’s rare to find this level of impact."

"The ownership in NewOrbit is unmatched. I’ve been making key design decisions from the start. It doesn’t feel like I’m just contributing — it feels like I’m co-creating something that matters."

"We have a culture that can move quickly and where you have a visible impact on success. NewOrbit is both ambitious and focused, opening up a new region of space that is both highly challenging and highly beneficial."

"The team moves fast — but never at the expense of rigor. We’re solving a problem nobody has cracked before: keeping satellites flying at 200km in a sustained way. That shared mission energy makes cross-discipline collaboration feel effortless."