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May 31, 2020.

“People who end up as ‘first’ don’t actually set out to be first. They set out to do something they love.” – Condoleezza Rice

As innovators and champions know, being first is a singular experience: there can only be one, and it is truly remarkable. The impact of Saturday’s successful launch of the first crewed spacecraft by a private company will be felt in sweeping ways throughout both the business and science & technology communities. SpaceX, in partnership with NASA, has demonstrated with Crew Dragon Demo-2 what has previously only been achieved by three nations– the technological capability to safely send human beings into orbit. And today has brought even more great news: NASA astronauts Doug Hurley and Bob Behnken have safely docked with the International Space Station.

SpaceX has already followed a spectacular trajectory even before this unprecedented liftoff. They have achieved other important firsts, including the first propulsive landing and first reuse of an orbital rocket. After developing the first privately funded liquid-propellant rocket to reach orbit, they became the first private company to successfully launch, orbit, and recover a spacecraft, deliver a spacecraft to the space station, and inject an object into orbit around the sun. SpaceX has flown 20 NASA-contracted resupply missions to the space station, and in January became the world’s largest commercial satellite constellation operator with its Starlink project. And, just last month NASA announced the selection of Blue Origin, Dynetics, and SpaceX to develop the human landers that will carry astronauts to the Moon in 2024. Their achievements are impressive, and we commend them wholeheartedly.

NASA continues to set the benchmark for innovation as a leader and a partner. The agency’s first strategic objective for exploration is among its most compelling: “Lay the foundation for America to maintain a constant human presence in low Earth orbit enabled by a commercial market.” What we are now seeing the results of NASA’s bold and novel change in approach that is enabling the creation of a new space-based economy for the future. This is what dynamic organizations do, they evolve by continuously adapting and improving. SpaceX was given the opportunity to adapt their own technology development processes with insights NASA experienced and perfected during Apollo and the Space Shuttle. Advancing these methods in partnership is paving the way to the Moon and Mars.

The success of Crew Dragon Demo-2 makes me even more excited about the forward-looking approaches to technology development and acquisition that are the cornerstone of Artemis, which will serve as our proving ground for the Red Planet, bear the torch for many thousands of people working in the space program, and carry the aspirations of untold millions everywhere. For those of us supporting Stellar Solution’s Civil Programs, this achievement is particularly galvanizing as we look ahead.

Beyond the excitement of this weekend, these milestones are critical to organizations like ours that are part of an extensive, multilayered community of government agencies and industry partners collectively working to achieve sustainable human exploration with SLS/Orion, Gateway, Human Landers and more.  Stellar Solutions’ employee-focused vision, agile strategic planning, and relentless focus on customer needs are ways we embrace a mindset of collaboration and innovation through our mission and values. So, now we celebrate, knowing that the challenge continues tomorrow!

About the author: Amy Chaput is Stellar Solutions’ Vice President for Civil Programs

May 30, 2020.

On behalf of Stellar Solutions, I want to congratulate SpaceX and NASA for making history with the first launch of astronauts by a private company as part of the Commercial Crew Program, as well as ending the gap in U.S. capability we’ve had since 2011. This mission demonstrates that public-private partnerships can deliver in this new era, and what an exciting time!

At Stellar, we will use this moment as energizing fuel for our own date with destiny a few years from now (as we support various aspects of Artemis), and for our ongoing quest to make a difference for our customers and community every day.  

We congratulate and thank NASA and SpaceX for setting such a great example with their valiant efforts to guide our explorers, empower our economy, elevate our country, and inspire our future in space.

About the Author: Michael S. Lencioni is the Chief Executive Officer of Stellar Solutions, Inc.

May 30, 2020.

A defense thought leadership piece written by Stellar Solutions Advisors was featured in the Early Bird Brief by Defense News/Military Times editors.

Here is the full article by Doug Fraser, Frank Gorenc and John Shapland: https://www.realcleardefense.com/articles/2020/05/13/rolling_back_iran_in_iraq_115285.html .

May 27, 2020.

“We will build new ships to carry man forward into the universe, to gain a new foothold on the moon, and to prepare for new journeys to worlds beyond our own.” — President George H.W. Bush

Wednesday’s planned NASA/SpaceX Crew Dragon Demo-2 launch of astronauts to the International Space Station is making news, and there’s a lot to be excited about. Although the last such launch from American soil happened nearly a decade ago, some still might find any act of space exploration commonplace since humanity has been doing it for nearly 60 years. Nothing could be further from the truth!

We are now converging on a complete reimagining of the business of space that could hold limitless options for where we will go, how we will get there, and “who will that be” as famously said by astronaut Jim Lovell at the end of Apollo 13.  NASA’s most recent overarching strategic plan defines a robust partnership and commercialization approach that leverages private sector innovation to implement new, efficient, and effective missions and ultimately bolster national capabilities and competitiveness. We are seeing results from the agency’s Commercial Crew Program that embody this vision.

After numerous milestones seized and barriers broken along the way, industry partner SpaceX has marched toward its finest hour with a tenacity reminiscent of early days in our pursuit of the stars. And many have joined the journey – some directly and others as observers, competitors, and fans alike. As with the incredible Apollo missions before, the giant leaps made today will touch every person in the world. Together we all will marvel at the profound meaning of each triumph as individuals, communities and nations.

Moments like this pave the way to the future – for those steadily working on other aspects of the integrated exploration enterprise, for entrepreneurial innovators seeking the next wave of opportunity in the space economy, for the next generation of scientists and engineers, and for countless girls around the globe waiting to see a woman set foot on the surface of the Moon.

This mission reminds us of what is possible working from the ground up, and what it takes to perform feats of technology that transcend requirements and expectations. The commercial world views these efforts with hope, like Olympians cheering teammates to gold and from those victories drawing the final inspiration for their own contests to come. Because excellence in action firms our belief in ourselves—as said by Robert H. Goddard, transforming the dream of yesterday and the hope of today to the reality of tomorrow.

At Stellar Solutions, we celebrate this launch as both a turning point for the next era of humans in space and a compelling validation of NASA’s refocused approach to R&D and public-private cooperation in spaceflight. The process being demonstrated so vividly right now is providing other benefits too–stirring the aspirations of the public and the resolve of those tasked to deliver the critical technologies and capabilities that will take humans back to the Moon and more. This achievement will crack open the door to the cosmos for the entire aerospace industry. Our company continues working diligently to help our civil and defense customers meet critical needs on Earth and in space, and soon it will be our turn, our responsibility and our privilege to push that door even wider.

It has truly been an honor to witness and contribute to one of society’s greatest challenges. Bush 41 said that we would build new ships–and how! This week, far more than the station crew will know in their hearts that the Crew Dragon, carrying precious cargo, promise, and future possibilities, has arrived.

About the Author: Michael S. Lencioni is the Chief Executive Officer of Stellar Solutions, Inc.

May 9, 2020.

“We are providing the most exciting possible answer to the age-old question of whether life, as we know it on Earth, can exist on the Moon and the planets. The answer is yes. Men working together with modern science and technology can extend the domain of terrestrial life throughout the solar system.”

-Thomas 0. Paine, NASA Administrator

It is a truly exciting moment in one of the greatest adventures in the history of civilization: human spaceflight. After celebrating the 50th anniversary of the Moon landing last year, we are now poised to set even greater milestones for humans in space. NASA recently announced that the agency’s Commercial Crew Program partner SpaceX will launch astronauts to the International Space Station at the end of this month, the first liftoff of crew from the United States since 2011. Over the past several years, industry partners in the U.S. have been diligently designing, testing, and refining new launch systems to protect and deliver crews and materials across new horizons.

Since its earliest days, the space program has been the benchmark for innovation, technology development, and national prestige—fueling countless business sectors along the way. This is one of the reasons why human space exploration has become part of the DNA of Stellar Solutions. Founder and Board Chair Celeste Ford worked for many years supporting the Space Shuttle Program and applied those compelling experiences and lessons to the groundwork of this company. Our cadre of expert engineers and extended pool of advisors learned their craft through support of programs and contracts across the gamut of spaceflight, even going back to the Service and Command Modules for Apollo. 

Right now, we are part of a new space community that is leveraging more than forty years of unique experience gained from learning to fly, breaking the bond of our planet, journeying into space, orbiting and landing on the Moon, and living and working in orbit around Earth. Beginning in 2004, the national focus transitioned from flying space shuttles and sustaining the space station to the development of the next generation of vehicles for crew exploration and launch—and Stellar Solutions has played a key part of this evolution at every stage through our civil programs.

A recent and important example is Artemis, the new NASA program to send the first woman and next man to the Moon by 2024. This multifaceted effort includes NASA’s powerful new Space Launch System that will take astronauts into space aboard the Orion crew spacecraft, where they will dock at the Gateway outpost in lunar orbit and journey to the surface of the Moon using a human landing system. The Stellar Solutions team has provided ongoing systems engineering, project management, acquisition support, and outreach support directly to NASA and prime contractor partners like Lockheed Martin on nearly all components of Artemis. In March, the Orion Artemis I Crew and Service Module completed four months of extensive and successful thermal vacuum and electromagnetic testing at the Plum Brook Station in Ohio that were planned and supported by our team.

True innovation and lasting implementation are dependent on determining impactful and achievable advancements, getting the right experts and organizations involved (which can be a broad spectrum), and then pursuing a rigorous, stepwise course of development, testing, evaluation and analysis.   The gap in operational capability in the U.S. enabled a laser focus on the development of these new technologies and has been a driver to an unprecedented engagement of commercial stakeholders. We are seeing the fruits of this long-term strategy across the board, and I am inspired by the progress being made every day.

As the final flight test, this month’s Crew Dragon Demo-2 mission will validate the SpaceX crew transportation system and help usher in the next era of exploration. NASA astronauts Robert Behnken and Douglas Hurley are scheduled to lift off on a Falcon 9 rocket aboard the Crew Dragon spacecraft on May 27 in Florida, for an extended visit to the space station.  We wish the best of luck to the crew, and send our congratulations and thanks to both NASA and SpaceX for this tremendous step on the path to flying again, toward the ultimate goal of extending humanity’s presence to the Moon and eventually on to Mars.

About the Author: Michael S. Lencioni is the Chief Executive Officer of Stellar Solutions, Inc.