Taber MacCallum, Co-Founder And Chief Technology Officer Of World View Enterprises, Is The New Chairman

The Commercial Spaceflight Federation (CSF) has announced that Taber MacCallum, Co-founder and Chief Technology Officer of World View Enterprises, will serve as the new Chairman of the Board of CSF.  

George Whitesides, Chief Executive Officer of Virgin Galactic and The Spaceship Company, and Karina Drees, Chief Executive Officer and General Manager of Mojave Air and Space Port, will continue in their current roles as Vice Chairman and Treasurer, respectively.

Todd Lindner, Senior Manager of Planning and Spaceport Development for the Jacksonville Aviation Authority, Tim Hughes, Senior Vice President, Global Business and Government Affairs for SpaceX, and Bretton Alexander, Vice President, Government Sales and Strategy at Blue Origin, were elected as Officers at Large.

As Co-founder and CTO of World View, MacCallum has grown the business from a simple idea to a Silicon Valley backed global leader in stratospheric flight technology. MacCallum spearheaded the development of World View’s new Stratollite vehicle, a first-of-its-kind navigable and persistent stratospheric flight vehicle for remote sensing and communications applications. Prior to World View, MacCallum served as Co-founder, CEO and CTO of Paragon Space Development Corporation and also served as CTO and Safety Officer of Project StratEx, launching Google Executive Alan Eustace to the edge of space under a helium balloon for his record-breaking flight in 2014. MacCallum is a founding member Biosphere 2 design team and a crew member in the original 2-year mission inside the three-acre materially closed ecological system. He has also testified before congress on commercial space regulation and serves on FAA Aviation Rulemaking Committees.  

 “Taber brings an enormous amount of expertise and clout to the organization, and we are thrilled that he has agreed to take on this important industry leadership role,” said Eric Stallmer, CSF President. “CSF and its members will no doubt benefit from Taber’s experience and intellect, and we look forward to working together to continue to grow our ranks and expand CSF’s voice as a recognized expert in commercial space.”

“I am honored and privileged to have the opportunity to serve as Chairman of the Commercial Spaceflight Federation,” said Taber MacCallum. “I’m inspired by the great work and progress this body and its leadership have already accomplished, and I look forward to continuing that work in what will no doubt be an exciting and important year for the commercial spaceflight industry.”

During the meeting, CSF and its members acknowledged the pivotal role of Dr. Alan Stern of Southwest Research Institute as well as World View’s Co-founder and Chief Scientist, who served as chairman for the past two years.

The announcements were made at CSF’s bi-annual Executive Board of Directors meeting, held in Denver, Colorado, and hosted by Sierra Nevada Corporation (SNC).

(Source: Commercial Spaceflight Federation news release)

FMI: www.commercialspaceflight.org