Tooling Commercial Observation Services for Government Customers

Brian Weimer is a partner in the firm’s Washington, D.C. office and Leader of the firm’s Telecom Team and Co-Leader of the CFIUS Team. Mr. Weimer provides regulatory and transactional advice across the entire telecommunications ecosystem. He is perhaps best known as a leading lawyer for the satellite industry, and he leads the firm’s Space & Satellite practice as well.

Brian’s experience includes:

• Obtains market access and FCC licenses for space station operators, both GEO and Non-GEO.

• Advises companies on obtaining cable landing licenses and the regulatory issues presented by undersea cable companies.

• Advises satellite and wireless companies on regulatory proceedings impacting the value, uses, availability, and sharing of spectrum resources.

• Lobbies the FCC at the highest levels to achieve optimal outcomes for clients on their most important regulatory proceedings.

• Assists telecom companies navigate the myriad regulatory approvals necessary to consummate M&A deals, including Team Telecom and CFIUS.

• Secures special temporary authority and experimental licenses for telecom companies of all kinds.

• Prepares petitions for declaratory ruling to exceed foreign ownership benchmarks under the Communications Act.

• Obtain earth station licenses for satellite networks.

• Advises on regulatory aspects of business plans to assist fundraising efforts by start-up companies.

• Analyzes feasibility of foreign investment in telecom (and other) companies in light of strictures imposed by the Communications Act, Team Telecom, and CFIUS.

• Prepares applications for 214 authorization at the FCC and similar initiatives at the State level.

• Advises foreign companies on the need for and structuring of proxy companies in the U.S. to assist in obtaining specialized U.S. government contracts.

• Serves as a trusted advisor to founders and entrepreneurs in their most important strategic decisions as they relate to FCC, ITU, and market access actions around the world.

• Negotiates and drafts commercial contracts and M&A agreements for telecom companies.

• Advises companies through regulatory enforcement proceedings at the FCC and other federal agencies.

• Counsels telecom companies through restructuring efforts, including Chapter 11.

• Advises media and other telecom companies with all manner of regulatory requirements for their businesses.

Mr. Avila is the Deputy Director of the Source Operations Group, where he leads the integrated operational GEOINT collection, processing and dissemination mission supporting warfighters, policymakers, and first responders worldwide. Mr. Avila is a member of the Senior Intelligence Service (SIS).

Previously, Mr. Avila served as the Deputy Director of the NGA Commercial Operations Group, leading the discovery, assessment, and acquisition of trusted commercial GEOINT solutions for the NSG; the Director of the Commercial GEOINT Discovery & Assessments Office, leading the coordination, and managing the discovery and assessment of commercial geospatial solutions; the Senior Scientist for the Office of Sciences and Methodologies in the Analysis Directorate, providing scientific and technical leadership in aspects of Imagery Science, and led the Analysis Directorate’s effort in developing its technical workforce to broaden and deepen analytic expertise; the National GEOINT Officer (NGO) for Imagery Science, the principal subject matter expert to the NGA Director on all aspects of GEOINT collection and analysis related to areas of Imagery Science.

In February 2012, Mr. Avila completed a Joint Duty Assignment with the National Measurement and Signature Intelligence (MASINT) Office at DIA as the Vice Chairman of the National MASINT Committee (MASCOM). During his years with the National Imagery and Mapping Agency (NIMA) and NGA he has led technical teams in Information Services and the Production Directorates, as well as serving as a Project Scientist in NIMA’s Science and Technology Directorate managing research and development projects related to spectral remote sensing technologies.
Mr. Avila has been with the U.S. Government as an Image Scientist for most of the last thirty plus years. He began his career in the Intelligence Community at the National Photographic Interpretation Center (NPIC) as an Image Scientist working on the processing and exploitation of spectral imagery. In 2022, Mr. Avila was awarded the Intelligence Presidential Rank Award in recognition of his sustained exemplary performance.

Currently, he is a member of the National Geospatial Advisory Committee (NGAC), a Federal Committee sponsored by the Department of Interior and the Chair of the Landsat Advisory Group (LAG), an NGAC sub-committee, advising the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) on the future of the National Land Imaging Program.

Alan Campbell is a Principal Space Products Solutions Architect at Amazon Web Services (AWS). His focus is on empowering customers with innovative new Cloud-based scalable solutions for the Aerospace & Satellite segment. Alan specializes in Data Analytics / ML enabling key insights in Satellite Communications, Earth Observation, and IoT platforms.

Prior to joining AWS, Alan directed the Panasonic Avionics Satellite Engineering team, delivering premium QoE to Inflight passengers. He led a major Cloud & Data migration of 100+ applications resulting in cost savings and SLA improvements.

Alan’s experience ranges from a Fellowship award at CERN, the European Organization for Nuclear Research, to authoring a book on Embedded Systems at Texas Instruments. He holds multiple Cloud certifications, satellite credentials and patents.

Tara Gattis spent 21 years at the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency, leading innovation in intelligence analysis, artificial intelligence and computer vision, and industry engagement. She supported the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, and led budget and strategy development on incorporating commercial analytics and analytic modernization efforts. At OSK, Tara serves as the VP, Government Affairs, where she oversees strategic partnerships, business development, and program management.

Skip is Vice President, Public Sector for Pixxel Space Technologies, Inc., a commercial satellite company working in the hyperspectral imaging technology space. He has over 35 years of experience as an executive, strategist, business growth leader, program manager, and technologist within the public sector and defense and intelligence community.

Skip’s senior leadership and corporate officer roles include those at Leidos, Maxar, Raytheon, Textron, Northrop Grumman, and General Dynamics predecessor organizations among others. He is also a member of the Janes Defense National Intelligence Advisory Board. He is a former Army intelligence officer, conducting military operations, instructing imagery intelligence analysts and collection managers, space imaging research and development, and defense systems fielding.

He was assistant principal investigator on two Space Shuttle missions (Army Man in Space) developing optical and hyperspectral sensors and analysis of complex data. M.S. in remote sensing and image processing (Civil and Environmental Engineering) from the University of Wisconsin (Madison) and a B.S. in geology and philosophy from Dickinson College (Carlisle, PA). He participates in triathlons; is a single dad to his college age son, Aidan, and daughter, Camerin. He is a published poet with several books and awarded submissions. Skip lives in Ashburn, Virginia just outside Washington, D.C.