Dennis Stone

About Dennis Stone

Dennis Stone is a multi-faceted space executive with over 40 years of experience in space commercialization, international relations, program and business management, investment, and system engineering. An expert in public-private partnerships, he helped lead NASA\'s investment of $1.4B in commercial space capabilities. He is Project Executive in NASA’s Commercial LEO Development Program at the Johnson Space Center where he supports development of Commercial LEO Destinations (CLD). He supported formulation of CLD and was Deputy Chair and Business Lead in the CLD competition which awarded over $400M to 3 companies. He helped define NASA\'s CLD service needs, managed demand stimulation, and now manages NASA\'s CLD partnership with Blue Origin & Sierra Space. He was Business Chair during NASA\'s investment of $800M in SpaceX and Orbital Sciences for Commercial Orbital Transportation Services (COTS). He helped execute the successful COTS program and stimulated demand for microgravity by the bio/pharma industry. Previously at NASA, he supporting the International Space Station (ISS) Program as Chief System Engineer of the Assured Crew Return Vehicle, Manager of Avionics Integration, and was responsible for multilateral software integration, risk management, quality, and commercialization. He began his space career designing avionics at McDonnell Douglas, developing upgrades for NASA\'s Mission Control Center at Ford Aerospace, and supporting payload integration in NASA\'s Space Shuttle Program for Rockwell International. Mr. Stone is founder and volunteer President of World Space Week Association, a non-profit organization which globally coordinates UN-declared World Space Week, the largest space event on Earth each October 4-10. In 2021, WSW was celebrated with over events in 96 nations getting Twitter impressions. He drove the organic growth of this international organization and supervises a small staff. He earned two Bachelor of Science degrees, in Physics and Electrical Engineering, from the University of Hawaii and is Associate Fellow of the AIAA.

Experience

1. Project Executive, Commercial Leo Destinations

   NASA - National Aeronautics and Space Administration

   Jul 2020 — Present · Houston, TX, US

   Helped start NASA\'s Commercial LEO Development Program Office. Led formulation of the Commercial LEO Destination (CLD) acquisition strategy and Announcement. Was Deputy Chair and Business Lead of the CLD Evaluation Panel which resulted in awards to three CLD partners. Led negotiations of Funded Space Act Agreements. Managed NASA CLD partnership with Blue Origin/Sierra Space. Chaired the Collaborations for Commercial Space Capabilities (CCSC2) competition. Worked with ISS-user organizations across NASA to forecast NASA\'s CLD service requirements. Managed demand stimulation including in-space production technology investments. Supported development of crew/human rating requirements, long-range budgets, and policies and plans for the CLD services procurement that is planned for no earlier than 2025. Trains NASA personnel on choosing between commercial and traditional methods of acquisition. Serves as expert advisor to commercial programs at NASA such as Communication Services Project and Tipping Point.

Education

• University of Hawaii at Manoa

  B.S., Physics

  1973 — 1977

• University of Hawaii at Manoa

  B.S., Electrical Engineering

  1973 — 1977