Presenters & Panelists

A veteran of NASA’s human spaceflight programs for more than two decades, Dr. Michael Baine serves as Chief Engineer and Chief Designer at Axiom Space. He leads the technical design and design philosophy for the Axiom Station, envisioned as humanity’s next-generation home in space.

Before joining Axiom, Dr. Baine was Chief Engineer at Intuitive Machines, where he helped guide the development of planetary landers—an effort that evolved from NASA’s Project Morpheus, on which he also served as Chief Engineer. His NASA career included technical roles in power systems, propulsion, and test and verification for major programs such as the Space Shuttle, International Space Station, Orion, and various advanced development projects. He also contributed to the scenario team of the Columbia Accident Investigation Board.

Dr. Baine holds dual bachelor’s degrees in electrical and computer engineering (B.S. ’93) and physics (B.S. ’93), as well as an M.S. (’98), C. Phil. (’98), and Ph.D. (’00) in physics from the University of California, San Diego. His doctoral research in laser synchrotron radiation was supervised by Dr. Sally K. Ride. Following his Ph.D., he was awarded a National Research Council Postdoctoral Fellowship, during which he conducted research on high-power electric propulsion with Dr. Franklin Chang-Díaz.

Dr. Meghan Everett has over two decades of experience advancing human health and performance in spaceflight. At NASA, she served as the Deputy Chief Scientist for the ISS Program, the Crew Health and Countermeasures System Lead, and the Lead of the Human Physiology Laboratory, and now leads research strategy at Vast for Haven-1 and future space station programs.

Olivier Farache has decades of experience driving revenue growth and shaping business strategies across the defense, aerospace, legal, and law enforcement sectors. He previously served as the Chief Revenue Officer of CHAOS Industries, the Global Head of Utilities at Palantir Technologies, and in various roles with the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

Tim Kopra has been a career military officer, astronaut, and now senior business leader. He was previously the President of OneWeb Technologies, a U.S. company providing global, secure satellite communications. Additionally, Kopra was the Vice President for Robotics and Space Operations at MDA, a Canadian space company. He was also Partner and Co-founder of Blue Bear Capital, an energy technology venture capital firm.

Kopra served in various leadership and operational roles at NASA as an engineer, astronaut, and International Space Station Commander. While at NASA, he completed two spaceflights, three spacewalks, and logged 244 days in space.

As an Army aviator, Kopra deployed to Operation Desert Storm and then commanded an AH-64 Attack Helicopter Company. Following these assignments, he was the Developmental Test Director for the Army’s Comanche Helicopter Program until his assignment to NASA in 1998 and astronaut selection in 2000.

Kopra remains active in military affairs as a Civilian Aide to the Secretary of the Army. He is also involved in the Texas entrepreneurship ecosystem as an advisor to Greentown Labs Houston.

Dr. Randy Lillard is the senior director of program management at Blue Origin, where he serves as program director for Orbital Reef. Before joining Blue Origin, he worked at Capital One, managing the implementation of technology and cybersecurity initiatives across the enterprise.

Lillard previously spent 20 years at NASA, holding positions at the Office of Management and Budget (OMB); NASA Headquarters; the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL); and Johnson Space Center (JSC). His roles included program examiner at OMB, lead for JSC’s Exploration Technology Office, chief of the Thermal Design Branch, program executive for the Technology Demonstration Missions Program within NASA's Space Technology Mission Directorate, aerothermodynamics lead for the Orion spacecraft, and systems engineer on JPL’s Juno mission.

He holds a Ph.D. in aeronautics and astronautics from Purdue University and an MBA from the Naval Postgraduate School.

Yudai Yamamoto serves as the CEO of Japan LEO Shachu with the mission of building a business by leveraging Japan’s strengths in LEO.  He meets business needs by taking a stakeholder-centric approach, focusing on strategic planning, strong execution, risk management, and relationship management both internally and externally.  He managed the space station team at Mitsui & Co., built partnerships with U.S. commercial space station companies, developed commercial applications, and completed a concept study of a Japanese module.

Kazuya Yufu is the Director of MHI Launch Services and Manager of Global Business Development in the Space Systems division at Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd. (MHI). He began his career at MHI in 2003 and has gained valuable experiences over the years. He is currently leading Global Business Development team and dedicates himself to expand MHI’s activities for space sector and contributes to the growth of space industry.