World View Accelerates Global Expansion with Appointment of Indo-Pacific Managing Director

Strategic appointment of veteran technologist will scale World View Indo-Pacific operations

MELBOURNE, Vic.(Feb. 11, 2025) – World View, a global leader in stratospheric exploration and flight, today announced the appointment of Clayton Fernandez as managing director of World View Indo-Pacific. Fernandez is a veteran technologist who has been at the forefront of Quantum, Artificial Intelligence, Internet of Things and Cloud technologies. He will lead World View’s growth in the strategically significant Indo-Pacific region as the company expands its stratospheric remote sensing services and capabilities across the globe.

Prior to joining World View, Fernandez spent the past 20 years starting and scaling nascent technology practices inside technology powerhouses like Microsoft and Hewlett-Packard across the globe. He has successfully incubated and scaled technology practices that specialise in next-generation technologies, beginning with mobile security and cloud solutions, he advanced to leading and incubating the Internet of Things, Artificial Intelligence, Edge and Quantum Computing practices at Microsoft.

“World View has a proven stratospheric flight record in the United States,” said Fernandez. “It is time to bring that expertise to the Indo-Pacific market – and to tap into exceptional talent, technology and capital found in Australia – to meet the rising demand for stratospheric remote sensing services from our commercial and government customers.”

In addition to scaling World View Indo-Pacific’s operations, Fernandez will also play a key role in developing World View’s global artificial intelligence and machine learning data strategy to better serve the needs of its current and future remote sensing customers.

“Clayton’s experience successfully scaling technology practices inside some of the world’s leading technology companies will be central to World View’s successful expansion in the Indo-Pacific region,” said Ryan M. Hartman, World View President and CEO. “Additionally, his prowess as a leading-edge technologist will help World View develop its global artificial intelligence and data delivery strategy to deliver on our vision of ‘knowledge created and insight delivered.’”

To address growing market demand in the Indo-Pacific region, World View recently announced its establishment of a second headquarters in Melbourne, Victoria, operating as World View Indo-Pacific.  

World View Indo-Pacific’s headquarters is based at The University of Melbourne’s cutting-edge Melbourne Connect technology incubator. This proximity to a vibrant community of researchers, academics, industry professionals, students, and some of the most forward-thinking and innovative businesses in the world give World View Indo-Pacific a valuable strategic advantage as it seeks to develop a Stratospheric Centre of Excellence in Australia.

Fernandez, a Melbourne native, is excited to return to home. “My family and I have had the great fortune of exploring the world as I worked for some of the most advanced technology companies,” Fernandez said. “But I cannot wait to return to my hometown of Melbourne and help World View Indo-Pacific revolutionise how we understand this unique corner of the world.”

‍Filling a critical gap in remote sensing

World View’s novel approach to remote sensing via stratospheric balloons offers significant advantages not available via the traditional imaging sources of satellites and fixed-wing aircraft. World View offers its customers superior imaging resolution by flying closer to Earth than traditional satellites. Additionally, through its proprietary altitude-control technology, World View provides up to 30 days of continuous flight, while delivering persistent, small-radius station keeping over a specific area of interest for several weeks at a time.

World View’s configurable stratospheric remote sensing systems allow governments, organisations and commercial entities to gather data and analytics to meet a variety of mission criteria. Versatility of payloads allows systems to collect data from multiple sensors at once, including electro-optical, short- and mid-wave infrared, radar, hyperspectral, thermal and more.

The data collected from a stratospheric remote sensing flight informs actions across a wide and rapidly expanding range of use cases, including:

• Command, Control, Communications, Computers, Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance (C4ISR)
• Asset monitoring and supply chain tracking
• Pipeline and utility line inspection
• Methane detection
• Non-invasive energy exploration
• Wildfire and storm tracking
• Climate change research
• Agricultural monitoring
• Maritime monitoring
• Beyond-line-of-sight (BLOS) Communications

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World View Communications
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About WorldView

World View is a leading global stratospheric exploration company, founded in 2012 and headquartered in Tucson, Arizona and Melbourne, Victoria. World View has a proven track of successful stratospheric flights, and is leading a new era of stratospheric exploration to take humanity’s understanding and appreciation of Earth to inspired new heights. With a sharper vision for a brighter future,World View exists to inspire, create and explore new perspectives for a radically improved future. Through its stratospheric remote sensing business and Stratollite^® imaging, World View is working to ensure its ultimate objective: honor the planet so that future generations will feel blessed to call it home. For more information, visit worldview.space.

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