Janna Lewis
Janna joined Astroscale U.S. in May 2024 as Senior Vice President of Policy and General Counsel to provide strategic policy and legal direction to support the company’s growth and compliance with evolving regulations. She also serves as Secretary of the Astroscale U.S. Board of Directors.
Prior to joining Astroscale, she was a senior attorney and technology strategist with BAE Systems, Inc., focused on legal and policy matters in national defense, intelligence, and commercial space. She has unique, cross-sector expertise in advising programs and technology development for U.S. government and commercial initiatives, including launch services, satellite integration, on-orbit communications and sensing, microelectronics, and cybersecurity.
Janna began her career in private legal practice, where she served as counsel to U.S. and international clients in the aerospace and defense, commercial space, and telecommunications industries. She then worked for Facebook, where she helped frame industry partnerships to catalyze the delivery of space- based and high-altitude global connectivity solutions. From there, she facilitated innovation and strategic collaborations for Northrop Grumman’s Missions Systems Sector before joining BAE Systems.
Janna is a volunteer with the Space Foundation, served on the Defense Innovation Board’s Space Advisory Committee, and is a registered patent attorney. She is also a member of the International Institute of Space Lawyers and the AIA Intellectual Property Committee. Passionate about strategic space policy, Janna frequently speaks publicly about the rapidly evolving laws and policies affecting defense and commercial space. She is committed to increasing diversity in the space industry, and she is a strong advocate for new space professionals.
Johann Bradley
Johann Bradley serves as a Technical Consultant for Brainstorm Technologies, a world leader in Digital Engineering services and Modeling & Simulation (M&S).
Johann specializes in Model-Based Systems Engineering (MBSE) for Brainstorm Technologies. He has consulted and personally developed multiple advanced defense and space projects on effective Digital Engineering to support conceptual design and streamlined project development.
Johann is a licensed System Modeling Professional (OCSMP) and holds a Master of Science in Aerospace Engineering from Georgia Tech as well as a Bachelor of Science in Industrial Engineering from Worcester Polytechnic Institute.
Johann also serves as a 1st Lieutenant in the United States Army Reserve.
Maj. Gen. Steve Butow
Steve “Bucky” Butow is the Director of the Space Portfolio at the Defense Innovation Unit (DIU). He joined the team in 2015 as an early plank owner when DIU was known as the Defense Innovation Unit Experimental (DIUx) and helped establish the organization’s operating locations in Silicon Valley, California; Boston, Massachusetts; and Austin, Texas.
In his reserve capacity, Butow is a Brigadier General serving as the Commander of the California Air National Guard where he leads 4,900 Airmen assigned to five wings and a headquarters staff. Prior to this assignment, he was a Special Assistant to the Director, Air National Guard.
Butow is a former Commander of the 129th Rescue Wing at Moffett Federal Airfield, CA, where his responsibilities included organizing, training, equipping, and maintaining 970 combat-ready forces and $1 Billion dollars of special mission aircraft and equipment supporting the U.S. Air Force’s combat rescue and personnel recovery missions. He has previously served as the Deputy Director of the Joint Search and Rescue Center for U.S. Central Command in 2005, and as Chief of Personnel Recovery for U.S. Air Forces Central in 2007 supporting Operations IRAQI and ENDURING FREEDOM. Prior to joining DIU, Butow was the Vice Chief of the Joint Staff, California Military Department with responsibilities including cybersecurity, incident awareness and innovation. He has more than 3,500 flying hours in T-37, T-38, C-130, HC-130 and MC-130P aircraft.
As a researcher with the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence (SETI) Institute, Butow worked on instrument concepts for Mars surface soil analysis at NASA Ames Research Center in Mountain View, CA. He later served as co-principal investigator for a series of airborne science missions for which he was recognized for outstanding achievement and contributions to the Space Science Division in 1999 and received an Ames Honor Award as a member of an Astrobiology Mission Project Team in 2000.
Butow graduated from San Jose State University with a B.A. in Physics & Astronomy and earned a M.S. in Management with specialization in Air and Space Strategic Studies from the University of Maryland. He has also completed executive courses at Harvard’s John F. Kennedy School of Government, and was a member of the National Leadership Preparedness Initiative (NPLI) Cohort 16. Butow is a lifetime member of the Honor Society of Phi Kappa Phi for academic achievement.
Debra Facktor
Debra Facktor leads the Airbus U.S. Space Systems line of business, with a focus on small satellites produced for commercial and government customers at the company’s manufacturing facility in Merritt Island, Florida, and on space exploration activities in the U.S.
Debra sits on the board of directors for Starlab Space LLC, a joint venture between Voyager and Airbus to build and operate a next-generation commercial space station. She also served on the board of the Airbus OneWeb Satellites joint venture prior to its recent acquisition by Airbus U.S.
Before joining Airbus U.S., Debra was Vice President and General Manager of Strategic Operations for Ball Aerospace, leading the company’s Washington DC operations, strategic development, and marketing and communications.
She is actively engaged as an advisor and mentor in the aerospace community, serving as chair of the Space & Satellite Professionals International-Women in Space Engagement (SSPI-WISE) and is a fellow of AIAA, the American Astronautical Society (AAS) and an academician of the International Academy of Astronautics (IAA).
Debra received her bachelor’s and master’s degrees in aerospace engineering from the University of Michigan and is an alumna of the International Space University summer session program in Strasbourg, France.