About World View

World View® is pioneering a new frontier at the edge of space and leading the way in the emerging stratospheric economy.

As an active, full-service commercial launch provider, World View’s technology is already opening up new realms of possibility for commercial customers around the world.

World View’s disruptive Stratollite flight platform enables previously unthinkable applications at a fraction of the cost of existing technology. Stratollites serve a variety of mission functions – from short duration research flights to long-duration flights over specific areas of interest – and serve a broad range of critical commercial needs and applications.

World View is led by experts in high-altitude ballooning, veterans of human spaceflight, and a team of retired NASA Astronauts, with a flight platform that is rooted deeply in technologies that have been successfully and safely used for decades.

When we saw Earth rising in the distance … it made us realize we all exist on one small globe.

– Frank Borman Astronaut

Ryan Hartman

Chief Executive Officer

Prior to joining World View, Mr. Hartman served as President and Chief Executive Officer of Insitu, a pioneer in the design, development and manufacturing of unmanned aircraft systems for intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance in military and commercial applications. Mr. Hartman brings over 20 years of experience in unmanned flight systems and aerial remote sensing to World View. In addition to his tenure at Insitu, Mr. Hartman previously led Raytheon’s Unmanned Systems Directorate of the Advanced Programs Division. He is a veteran of the U.S. Air Force and U.S. Navy, and a graduate of Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University.

Dr. Matteo Genna

SVP of Engineering & Manufacturing

Dr. Matteo Genna most recently served as Chief Technology Officer of Space Systems Loral (SSL), a leading provider of commercial satellites, and brings decades of experience, leadership, and vision in space systems and engineering to World View. Dr. Genna served SSL for over 20 years in various roles including Manager of the Advanced Systems Group and Systems Engineer. Dr. Genna holds a bachelor of science degree in physics from the University of California, San Diego, and a Ph.D. in physics from the University of California, Berkeley.

Tom Pirrone

SVP of Business Development

Prior to World View, Tom held executive roles at Universal Space Network, where he led the team that created PrioraNet, a worldwide network of satellite ground stations, operated by USN in partnership with the Swedish Space Corporation. Today, PrioraNet provides support to over 100 on-orbit programs and communications for more than 220 launches. Tom is a Wharton Fellow and holds a Masters degree from Biblical Theological Seminary and a Bachelor’s degree from Cairn University.

Will Williams

VP of Mission Operations

Career aviation professional with 3000 + flight hours in rotary wing, fixed wing and unmanned air vehicles. Held multiple positions of leadership in aviation organizations including USN, FAA, DHS, and Boeing. Holds a Master of Aeronautical Science from Embry Riddle Aeronautical University, a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from The Citadel and attended the Naval Aviation Safety Officer Course at Naval Post-Graduate School. Has experience with aircraft test and evaluation, aeronautical procedures and technologies, Safety Management Systems (SMS) and Aviation Human Factors.

Justin Langlois

VP of Advanced Applications

Prior to World View, Justin held several positions at Google’s Terra Bella (formerly Skybox Imaging, now a subsidiary of Planet Labs), where he focused on product and go-to-market strategy for the satellite imaging company. Justin served as an officer within the Naval Special Warfare community with multiple deployments to combat zones and holds a bachelors (US Naval Academy) and Masters (Michigan) degrees in Aerospace Engineering and an MBA from Harvard.

Joey Weinmann

VP of Manufacturing

Joey Weinmann joins World View as a manufacturing leader to support development of the Stratollite platform and production system. Over the last 15 years Joey has held several engineering and manufacturing leadership roles in industries ranging from transportation and aerospace to agriculture tech and renewable energy. Joey spent nearly six years at SpaceX, a company that designs, manufactures and launches advanced rockets and spacecraft. Joey played a key role in transitioning prototype rocket hardware to product that was manufacturable. At SpaceX Joey managed day to day production and integration of major propulsion hardware as well as design and implementation of a radical value stream realignment initiative to reduce cost, improve quality and support increased rate introducing automation to processes traditionally manual. Joey moved on to head up manufacturing development at Local Roots Farms where he led engineering and manufacturing teams to design, manufacture and operate the world’s most productive indoor modular farming solutions, providing product to the largest retailer in the world.

Sean McMahon

VP of Product Engineering

Prior to joining the World View leadership team, Sean McMahon served as the VP of Product Engineering at Maxar’s Space Solutions division where he led engineering and production teams in the development of next generation satellite bus and payload technologies for communication and earth observation applications. Sean brings over 30 years of experience building and leading cross-functional engineering teams to create innovative, cost effective solutions to meet customers’ critical business objectives. Sean earned a B.S. in Electrical Engineering from Drexel University, a M.S. in Electrical Engineering from George Mason University, and an MBA from Santa Clara University.

Elizabeth Kryst

Senior Director of Program Management

Elizabeth joined World View in 2017 as a Director of Planning and now serves as Sr. Director of Programs leading the Program Management function. Prior to World View, Elizabeth spent 10 years in various technical leadership roles ranging from New Product Introduction and Program Management to Strategic Planning for industries ranging from advanced material science tech to environmental services. Elizabeth is a Lean Six Sigma Black Belt and holds her Master’s degree in Engineering Management from Arizona State University and a Bachelor’s degree in Chemistry from the University of Illinois at Chicago.

Ashley Smith

Director of People

Ashley Smith joined World View in 2018 to lead the People Operations team. Over the last 10 years, Ashley has worked with global mining and engineering firms specializing in recruitment and employment law. She developed and led full-cycle recruiting teams, strategic Human Resources initiatives, developed performance management systems, as well as workforce planning and development. Ashley graduated from the University of Arizona with a degree in Economics and Industry and her PHR from HRCI.

Sean Tanner

Controller

Prior to joining worldview Mr. Tanner held senior level finance roles in the manufacturing and aerospace industries. Sean served as the Director of Corporate Accounting at Dart Container where he was responsible for U.S. and International finance operations and the integration of Solo Cup Company (the “Red Solo Cup”) following their acquisition by Dart. Mr. Tanner brings over 15 years of strategic finance experience to the World View team. He earned his Bachelor’s and Master’s Degrees in Accounting from Michigan State University and subsequently joined Plante Moran where he practiced public accounting and provided assurance services and consulting associated with mergers and acquisitions prior to joining Dart Container. Sean previously served on several not-for-profit boards including Big Brothers Big Sisters of the Capital Area Region in Lansing, Michigan.

Maricela Solis de Kester

Director of Operations and Gov’t Relations

Maricela previously worked as District Director to Congressman Ron Barber, overseeing all district office operations. She was also Chief of Staff and Economic Development Policy Advisor to City of Tucson Mayor Johnathan Rothschild. Here she developed strategic plans for economic development opportunities with Mexico.

Sebastian Padilla

Chief Engineer

Mr. Padilla led the StratEx team as Program Manager and Flight Director. He headed a diverse core team of innovative engineers in the development, testing and operations of the entire StratEx System from inception to the record breaking launch. Utilizing multi-disciplinary engineering, Sebastian led the StratEx team in devising a revolutionary launch system that took manned balloon flight to unprecedented heights. At the heart of this enterprise was their novel approach of simply outfitting the StratEx Pilot in a state-of-the-art pressure suit and strapping him to a high altitude helium balloon.

Dexon Guzman

Senior Director of Business Development

Prior to joining World View, Dexon held Senior Business Development Executive positions in the Aerospace Industry at Insitu, Telephonics, Northrop Grumman and Lockheed Martin where he was responsible for domestic and international business development efforts for a diverse number of products, such as, Unmanned Aerial Vehicles, Airborne Radars, Airborne Mine Countermeasures, Air Defense and Air Traffic Control Radars and C2 Systems and F-16 Aircraft. Dexon is a retired U.S. Air Force Colonel with 2500+ hours as a Master Navigator/Bombardier in B-52 Bombers and holds a Master of Science in Systems Management from USC and a Bachelor in Electrical Engineering from Manhattan College.

Advisors

Tom Ingersoll

Strategic Advisor

Mr. Ingersoll brings over 30 years of experience in the space and communications industry to World View. As President and CEO of Skybox Imaging, Mr. Ingersoll was responsible for the deployment and commercialization of the world’s largest commercial imaging constellation, and ultimately oversaw Skybox’s acquisition by Google in 2014. Prior to Skybox, Mr. Ingersoll served as co-founder and CEO of Universal Space Network (USN). He led the growth of USN from an early stage start-up to its current position as the leading supplier of mission critical ground station services to NASA, the Department of Defense, and others in the satellite industry.

Ron Garan, USAF (RET.)

Strategic Advisor

Ron is a highly decorated combat Fighter Pilot, Test Pilot, Explorer, Entrepreneur and Humanitarian. Ron traveled 71,075,867 miles in 2,842 orbits of our planet over 178 days in space and 27 hours of EVA during four spacewalks. He flew on both the US Space Shuttle and Russian Soyuz spacecraft. Ron is also an aquanaut and has conducted research in Aquarius, the world’s only undersea research laboratory and is author of the highly acclaimed book, The Orbital Perspective.

Founding Team

Taber MacCallum

Co-Founder and Strategic Advisor

Mr. MacCallum was a member of the Biosphere 2 design team and an original crew member. He is a co-founder of Paragon Space Development Corporation, serving as CEO for the entirety of his tenure. During his time at Paragon, Taber also served as Chief Safety Officer and core team leader of the StratEx Space Dive program, which hoisted Google VP Alan Eustace to ~136,000ft for a record-breaking space dive via high-altitude balloon. Mr. MacCallum holds technology patents in analytical chemistry, spacecraft thermal control, contaminated water diving and spacecraft testing. He has managed experiments on the Soviet BioSatellite, Space Shuttle, Mir and the ISS.

Jane Poynter

Co-founder & Strategic Advisor

Ms. Poynter is a member of the Biosphere 2 design team and a member of the original crew who lived inside the sealed, self-sustaining habitat for two years. She was co-founder, President and Chairwoman of Paragon Space Development Corporation, which develops technologies for extreme environments. Experiments in her patented, self-sustaining habitats have flown on the International Space Station (ISS), Mir and the Space Shuttle. Ms. Poynter is a recognized leader in sustainable development. She is the author of The Human Experiment: Two Years and Twenty Minutes Inside Biosphere 2.

Dr. Alan Stern

Co-founder & Chief Scientist

Internationally recognized planetary scientist, space program executive and aerospace consultant, Dr. Stern formerly served as NASA’s chief of all space and Earth-science programs. He has more than 25 years of experience in space instrumentation development, specializing in ultraviolet technologies. His academic research includes work on spacecraft rendezvous theory, terrestrial polar mesospheric clouds, galactic astrophysics and planetary astronomy. He led the team that planned, built, and flew NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft, which in 2015 was the first probe to visit Pluto. Dr. Stern has been involved in 27 space missions and has published more than 250 technical papers about astronomy and the space program.

Mark Kelly, USN (Ret.)

Co-founder & Strategic Advisor

Capt. Kelly is a former NASA astronaut with more than 50 days in space. He piloted two Space Shuttle flights, and commanded two, including the Space Shuttle Endeavour on its final mission. Capt. Kelly retired from the U.S. Navy as a test pilot with 6,000 flight hours in more than 50 different aircraft with 375 aircraft carrier landings. He flew 39 combat missions in Operation Desert Storm. He has earned many honors, including the Defense Superior Service Medal, Legion of Merit and Distinguished Flying Cross.

World View Research and Education Advisory Committee

Dr. Robert D. Braun

Is the David and Andrew Lewis Professor of Space Technology at Georgia Institute of Technology. Dr. Braun has over 25 years of experience performing design and analysis of planetary exploration systems. He was NASA’s Chief Technologist, serving as the senior Agency executive for technology and innovation policy and programs. He created and led the initial implementation of a spectrum of broadly applicable technology programs designed to build the capabilities required for our nation’s future space missions.
Dr. Sean Casey

Is an astrophysicist, and Senior Scientist with the Universities Space Research Association’s (USRA) Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA) program, a joint project of NASA and the German Aerospace Center to build and maintain an airborne observatory. Previously, Dr. Casey was Principal Scientist at NASA Goddard’s Infrared Astrophysics Branch with a focus on infrared instrumentation and observations aboard NASA’s Kuiper Airborne Observatory and the National Science Foundation’s Center for Astrophysical Research in Antarctica.
Dr. Craig DeForest

Is a leading solar physicist with the Southwest Research Institute. He heads the NASA-funded development of a miniature portable observatory to fly onboard suborbital vehicles. His research focuses on the formation and heating of the solar corona, as well as developing tools to conduct such study.
Bobby Russell

Is the CEO and founder of Quest for Stars, a nonprofit that enables students to perform research at the edge of space via high-altitude balloons and other vehicles. Quest for Stars is one of the leading educational organizations working with suborbital flight providers.
Dr. Stan Solomon

Is a Senior Scientist at the National Center for Atmospheric Research, High Altitude Observatory, specializing in the physics and chemistry of the upper atmosphere and ionosphere. He has received numerous awards from NASA and others, has been on committees for NASA and the National Science Foundation, and served as the Secretary for Aeronomy of the American Geophysical Union.