Shawn Hendricks
Chief Operating Officer, Orbit Fab
Friday, Sept. 29 | 10:40 a.m. | AERO 120
Abstract: Imagine if every time you ran out of fuel you had to buy a new car? For a satellite that’s the paradigm. Satellites are not and have not been capable of refueling. When the propellent runs out... the mission is over.
What if we changed that? What if instead of disposal we concentrated on renewal? What would that change? It would change everything.
At Orbit Fab we are focused on in space refueling. This commercial capability will result in lower cost for payloads to orbit, extension of the useful life of space assets, new missions and enable a bustling, in-space economy.
Bio: Shawn Hendricks is the Chief Operating Officer at Orbit Fab, an on-orbit refueling services company based in Lafayette, Colorado. Prior to Orbit Fab, Hendricks served as Senior Vice President of Operations for Terran Orbital, where he managed a team supporting a broad range of capabilities including spacecraft manufacturing and assembly, integration, and testing, supply chain and quality assurance. Previously, he held management positions with L3 Harris, where he supported developmental and production systems for space, airborne and maritime markets.
Hendricks’ career includes diverse roles and missions over nearly two decades with the U.S. Navy, including as a Navy Program Director managing the world’s largest enterprise network and the development of next-gen networks providing communications to more than 800,000 Navy personnel around the world. Hendricks led spacecraft production for a $13 billion national imagery satellite and managed cost, scheduling and launch for reconnaissance satellite production, overseeing more than 600 engineers and technical specialists and $4.5 billion in critical defense assets. He helped successfully achieve on-orbit delivery of two first-of-its-kind spacecraft for critical national security missions.