Shey Sabripour

Shey Sabripour founded CesiumAstro to enable the next generation of space-based connectivity. Headquartered in Austin, Texas, with additional locations in the U.S., U.K., Germany and Japan, CesiumAstro has grown—in a steady and disciplined manner—from a handful of employees in January 2017 to more than 450 employees today. The company proudly serves national security programs, as well as commercial customers. As CEO, Shey leverages 30 years of leadership in the design, development, and launch of low-Earth orbit (LEO) and geosynchronous orbit (GEO) telecommunication satellites, launch vehicles, and other interplanetary space vehicles. During his 24-year tenure at Lockheed Martin Space Systems, Shey advanced through various roles, culminating as the director of spacecraft design. In this capacity, he managed a team of 370 professionals and oversaw missions valued from $100M to $1B. From 2001 through 2005, Shey served as the director of the agile payload program, where he led a multidisciplinary team responsible for the design, development, qualification, and successful flight of the first Lockheed Martin commercial active phased array payload. His last program at Lockheed Martin was the design, development, qualification, and production of the U.S. Navy’s first Mobile User Objective System (MUOS) communication satellite. Shey was recognized 14 times by Lockheed Martin Corporation as a visionary innovator and program leader and awarded 2005 person of the year at Lockheed Martin Commercial Space Systems. From 2014 to 2016, Shey served as chief technology officer at Firefly Space Systems, a rocket company in Austin, Texas. In that role, he was responsible for technical and program management of the Alpha Rocket. He was instrumental in growing the small team of 11 engineers to more than 160 by 2016. His team successfully bid the NASA Venture Class Launch Services (VCLS) mission and two DARPA contracts. Shey earned his Bachelor of Science degree in Electrical and Electronics Engineering from North Dakota State University in 1985. He has pursued continuing education in both electrical engineering and executive business management at institutions such as New Jersey Institute of Technology, Carnegie Mellon University, Santa Clara University, University of Maryland, and the Lockheed Martin Center for Leadership Excellence. Shey holds three issued and two pending U.S. patents. He is a member of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) and the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA).