Steven D. Nixon

Steven D. Nixon is President of the SmallSat Alliance advocating for U.S. government adoption and support of transformative smallsat (and related) capabilities. Previously, he was Vice President for Strategic Development at Stratolaunch Systems Corporation, leading the company’s activities involving strategy, government affairs, business development, marketing, and communications. He is a former strategy consultant and former CTO of the U.S. Intelligence Community, a position that helped shape the science and technology activities of 16 U.S. intelligence agencies. He was the founder and first acting director of IARPA, the Intelligence Community equivalent to DARPA. Prior to that, Mr. Nixon was a long-time professional staff member on the House Appropriations Defense Subcommittee. In 2008, Mr. Nixon was awarded the National Intelligence Medal of Achievement. In 2005, Space News recognized him in its global top 10 list of people making a difference in space. The same year, the National Journal recognized him in the “Hill 100” as a top congressional staffer in the category of “Defense Transformation.” Before working for Congress, he was a Navy analyst at the Pentagon. Mr. Nixon participated in the Executive Leadership Training at the Kellogg School of Management and has a master’s degree in national security studies from Georgetown University. He has bachelor’s degrees in both mathematics and electrical engineering from the University of Kansas.